Deadliest Catch, North Carolina Style

Having grown up in Western PA, all things crustacean are rather novel to me. I didn't eat my first crab until I met Gideon, who being a Marylander, picked blue crabs as a toddler. Now I embrace the crab wholeheartedly and will happily pick all night to get 3 ounces of their succulent meat.

Here in North Carolina, not only do people pick crabs, they go out and get them right out of the marshes that line the coast. Yesterday, Duke, Gideon, the kids and I went on a crabbing excursion. We spent hours tossing chicken necks tied to strings into the crab-rich marsh. Despite the fact that I hate getting my hands dirty, I got in on the action and caught a bunch of crabs myself. Now, I have to admit, I would not have anything to do with the nasty chicken neck bait and I made Duke tie it to the string for me, but once that was taken care of, I lured many crabs to shore and into my net. Mu-whaa-ha-ha!!! Unfortunately, all the crabs I caught were too small to take home, but I thoroughly enjoyed my stint as crabber-extraordinaire. Gideon and I were thinking of getting in touch with the producers of "Deadliest Catch" to see if they wanted to do a North Carolina edition.

At the end of the day we took home (are you ready for this?) FOUR crabs. Economically speaking, perhaps crabbing wasn't the best use of our time, but we had a ball. And to top it off, Gideon and Duke made the most scrumptious crab dip last night with the keepers (and a few supplemental store bought crabs... but who's counting?).

The marsh

Crabber and crabette

Crabbies

Keeper crab