Potential Spree Inducements - Part 1

So, for the last three weekends KD and I have gone to eat crabs at various crab shacks in the DC/Virginia/Maryland area. We are experimenting with different places in the area. If this seems excessive, I should probably mention that I grew up less than 2 miles from the Chesapeake Bay and have been eating blue crabs since I was a child.  I used to go crabbing with my family when I was young, in high school I would go with friends, and after I went to college, I would come home in the summers and go with friends.  It's like fishing but less boring.  We would walk down to the pier, tools in one hand, and a cooler of beer with us, and it would be a blast.  Have you ever chased a blue crab down a pier after 3 beers? No? Then you're missing out.  (I have not been crabbing in years, I need to fix that this summer.)

Anyway, in the last 3 weeks, after we have finished eating, my hands have started to swell a little.  It goes away after an hour or two.  I think this is probably from the act of picking the crabs apart, which is not an easy process.  You get tiny cuts on your hands from the claws/shells and I'm sure that causes issues, but in all of my years (30?) picking apart blue crabs this has never happened before.  It occurred to me that I might be developing an allergy to shellfish, and I assure you that if this is the case, it is not going to end well for humanity as a whole. In the meantime, I've decided to take an 'ignorance is bliss' approach to the whole damn thing.  Maybe I am getting microcuts (I think I made that word up) on my hands, which is causing the swelling.  I won't be bringing it up with my doctor unless something more substantial happens, like my throat closing up or something similar (drastic).

For your review and enjoyment, here is a list, in order of preference, of the crab houses we have been to so far this season.

1. Obrycki's - Baltimore, Md.
2. Hooper's Crab House -Ocean City, Md (this is pretty far, but we were in Ocean City anyway)
3. Captain Pell's - Fairfax, VA
4. Cantler's Riverside Inn - Annapolis, Md

  Maybe I will keep a list in the sidebar of this blog. This is important information.