I'm on vacation in the U.S., visiting family on North Carolina coast. I'll be back in France soon.
My home town, Morehead City, is located on the central North Carolina coast about half way from the Virginia and South Carolina borders, 500 miles south of New York. One of the traditional trades here has always been crabbing. People fished crabs out of the oceans, sounds, and estuaries. There were crab houses where the caught crabs were steamed in big vats (the meat is sold already cooked). And there were teams of workers, usually women from the area, who picked the cooked crab meat out of the shells and packed it into plastic tubs for shipment by refrigerated truck north to urban centers like New York and Philadelphia for sale.
My home town, Morehead City, is located on the central North Carolina coast about half way from the Virginia and South Carolina borders, 500 miles south of New York. One of the traditional trades here has always been crabbing. People fished crabs out of the oceans, sounds, and estuaries. There were crab houses where the caught crabs were steamed in big vats (the meat is sold already cooked). And there were teams of workers, usually women from the area, who picked the cooked crab meat out of the shells and packed it into plastic tubs for shipment by refrigerated truck north to urban centers like New York and Philadelphia for sale.
A gigantic inflatable blue crab in front of the local visitors' center, advertising the N.C. aquarium
Most of that industry has now died out. There is still crabbing on a commercial scale, I'm sure, but I don't know who picks and packs the meat. Maybe the work is mechanized now. The little crab houses are all gone. For a while, back in the 1980s and '90s, migrant workers from Mexico and Central America were brought in to do the job because the local people no longer wanted to do it, or wanted to be better paid. The local crab, called the blue crab, is now more of a tourist attraction, I guess.
Cute crab! Do you plan to go to Wilber's for BBQ while you're there? Have fun and enjoy the weather.
ReplyDeleteI plan to go to Wilber's on Tuesday, on the way back from Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteI'll be in Charlotte today on my way to Paris.
ReplyDeleteBon voyage, BettyAnn. Here's to a smooth, comfortable, on-time flight.
ReplyDeletePretty good title, Ken :)
ReplyDeleteYou've blogged about Wilber's before, I'm thinking?
Hope you're having delightful weather, as we are (finally).
Judy
Judy, the weather was pretty nice yesterday, and it's supposed to get better and better this week, at least until Friday (rain predicted). We're headed to Charlotte today, a six-hour drive.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a blue crab. Do you think they taste better than the Dungeness that is most familiar to me on the West Coast? Too bad all the little crab shacks are gone. I usually choose local places when I've been traveling. There must be larger places, though, that still have the local flavor...Wilbers, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteMy (now deceased) brother-in-law hailed from Maryland (I cannot remember the name of the town). The town he was from was famous for crabs and crabbing.
ReplyDeleteCleaning crab is hard work, but I've rarely had a more enjoyable meal than lobster or crab. It's so delicious and worth all the hard work of cracking and enticing the meat out of all the appendages. Stinky fingers notwithstanding, East coast crab is a treat!
ReplyDelete