The Chesapeake, Crabs and Cake!

Crisfield,  Home of the famous Maryland Bluecrab  

5/15  Chesapeake Bay

Tangiers Island

     We traveled 35 miles to Crisfield, which is in southern Maryland on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay.  On the way to Crisfield, we drove through Tangiers Island.  This island is in the middle of the bay and is slowly sinking.  We could actually drive through the middle of it!  People still live here, but I don't think it will last too much longer.  It is only accessible by boat and there is a ferry that transport visitors.  I don't know if this is caused by global warming, soil erosion or whatever reason, but it seems sad that the islanders are losing their homes and way of life. 

Smith Island Cake

Local Catch, these are in the soft shell stage

Male crab!  

     Crisfield is famous for their seafood, especially Maryland blue crab.  They ship these crabs all over the world.  When we checked into the marina, we were given two pieces of Smith Island Cake, which is another regional favorite!  It is an eight layer yellow cake with chocolate icing.  Crabs and cake, yum!  We tried the crab at a restaurant and it was delicious, as was the cake.

     Karl had to dodge all the crab pots on the way here.  I have never seen so many crab traps!  This is a mixed blessing, because I appreciate the hard work that goes into catching crabs, but the traps do present a boating hazard.  Crab traps are marked with a small colored buoy floating on top of the water.  It is attached by a line to the crab trap that sits on the bottom of the water.  The propellers on a boat can really get tangled up if it hits the line.  Our props have what are called "spurs" attached to them, to cut the line if we accidentally go over the line to a crab pot.   Luckily, we avoided the traps, but Karl had to practically zigzag his way through the many miles of  floating buoys.  I don't know why the fisherman put the traps through the channels. The bay is huge, with plenty of room for traps and boaters. 

 

Tangiers Island

The calm  before the storm