They Do What to the Crabs?!?!!

Leaving the Outer Banks, we traveled along NC-12 towards Virginia Beach passing Jockey’s Ridge State Park and the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Opening the picture will allow you to see a person walking atop the huge sand dune at Jockey’s Ridge. You can read more on the park and the memorial in the blog entry from our visit to the area in May 2008.

We didn’t do a lot while in Virginia Beach. Drove down to the beach the day we arrived just to check it out….large beach area, windy, and only a couple people there. The dolphin in the front yard of this beach house is just one of many that appear all over the area and each is painted or decorated differently. During our stay, we also saw the new Star Trek movie, and it was excellent. They did such a great job of casting that at times the young stars looked as if they really were younger versions of Shatner, Nimoy, etc.! Russ and I figured the last time we had been to a movie theater together was about 4 years ago, so this was a real treat.

Since the internet connection was not good at the campground and I needed to post the blog, we drove down to the Boardwalk for a better signal. It drizzled and rained most of the day so no beach time; we just drove around looking for somewhere good and reasonably priced to eat. (Passed this building with a cool mural painted all around it.) On a recommendation we headed towards a place not on the Boardwalk and ran across a seafood shop that had quite a number of soft-shell crabs for sale. For those who don’t know, soft-shell crabs are considered a delicacy and are not always available. As crabs grow larger, their shells cannot expand, so they molt the exterior and have a soft covering for a few days. They are meant to be eaten whole in this state, generally cooked lightly breaded, and Russ really likes them. Not having ever cooked them, I was asking this older lady who worked there how they are “killed” before cooking, afraid I might have to hit them on the head with a mallet or something. She replied, “basically you cut off the face, pull out the lungs, and that pretty much quiets her down.” Now that was definitely a visual I didn’t need!! She said they’d do it for us, but that pretty much put an end to me wanting to have anything to do with them! We wound up eating at a restaurant near the campground that had also been recommended, sharing a huge seafood platter (no, there were no soft-shell crabs on it!)

From Virginia Beach we were heading to my sister’s in Rehoboth Beach, DE, and decided to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (http://www.cbbt.com/history.html). It’s considered the world's largest bridge-tunnel complex consisting of more than 12 miles of low-level trestle, two 1-mile tunnels, two bridges, almost 2 miles of causeway, four manmade islands including a pier and restaurant, and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads, totaling 23 miles. It provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia.











Just on the other side, traveling north, is the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge (www.fws.gov/northeast/easternshore). We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, initially just stopping to get some info and ask a couple directional questions but wound up chatting with the ranger for a few minutes. On one of the walls was a piece of artwork created by area high school students of a paper-mâché turtle on which they had attached pieces of balloons and their ribbons symbolizing the danger these items can be to wildlife. Also, they had a huge whale bone skull and a large glassed in wildlife viewing area complete with binoculars. They also had a live camera feed of a nesting osprey, which was pretty cool. We didn’t stay for the 16 minute video because we had to get back on the road, but it was a pleasant side trip.







Not far from my sister’s is Mountainaire Farms, a food processing plant, and on the way we passed one of their trucks full of live chickens heading for the plant…almost makes you re-think eating chicken!



The campground near my sister’s does not allow check-in until 2pm, so once we got settled, it was nearly 4pm before I left for her place. Fortunately she only lives about 20 minutes away. After the initial greetings saying hi to her husband, she and I left for our annual first night ritual of dinner and a movie. We ate and had “perfect” margaritas at Applebee’s, and then saw The Soloist, another great movie.

Julie had made reservations for a free tour on Tues. at the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (http://www.dogfish.com/). Opened in 1995, they started with only 2 12-gallon kegs and are continually expanding the operation. In fact they are in the midst of another expansion and have guaranteed that next year’s tour will be different. The place is run by some crazy, kooky people, and they try to keep the day-to-day activities light and fun. They are currently brewing up to nearly 20 styles of beer that are sold in more than 25 states. After the tour, we got to mosey up to the bar and sample 4 of their “off-centered ales”. That night we ordered pizza, drank some wine, and watched the first part of the American Idol finals. This is the first year I have watched AI from start to finish, and Julie and I have been having weekly fun e-mail exchanges regarding the contest. We were excited that the finals were going to be during my visit.

For the last couple years we’ve planned to spend some time at the beach but something always kept us from doing so. Though it was a little cooler this time of year, guess the third time was the charm because we finally made it. We spent a couple hours at the beach in Lewes on the Delaware Bay side, just relaxing and enjoying some rays. Not far down the beach at the ferry terminal sat the Kalmar Nyckel (http://www.kalmarnyckel.org/) a replica of one of America’s pioneering colonial ships which serves as Delaware’s seagoing goodwill ambassador and is docked here in the summer for a crew training program. I also got a nice shot of the Cape May – Lewes Ferry as it departed with the Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse in the background. Later back at her place, she cooked her “famous pasta dish” for dinner, and after the AI final show (Adam was robbed!), we said our good-byes till next year’s visit.










The next morning it was time to head for Russ’ sister’s house in Atco, NJ. We took a back road for part of the trip and while still in DE, passed the Taylor’s Bridge School built in 1923. The school was closed in 1949 and has since operated as a community center. Traveling further down the road, we could see the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in the distance. For miles you could see the stack and though actually located in NJ, I was able to zoom in with my camera and get a great shot. And here’s a bit of trivia: Bruce Willis worked at the plant as a security guard before pursuing an acting career.

We arrived at Terri’s house Thurs. afternoon and will report on that visit next week.