I went to Orlando, FL with my mom in early November and one thing that was on our list was perhaps a lesser known sea delicacy to most: stone crab claws. Their season is only from Oct to May. We had arrived just in time for them, yet still a little early in the season start. So it took some doing to find a restaurant that had them that day. Lucky for us, we asked the guys who ran the airboat ride we had just gone on where to find them and they had just the "restaurant" for us. (After calling three places.) Ms. Apple's Crab Shack.
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| Yes, that is a retail fish market. |
At this moment you may be noticing this wasn't exactly a restaurant. (The word shack should have given that away.) It was a roadside fish market, just over the bridge. When we first walked in there were lots of tanks holding all kinds of live Maryland blue crabs in different sizes and price points. Which you could get steamed right there for lunch or dinner. As we worked our way to the back, I found the treasure for which we had traversed so far for. (I think it was 12 miles from the St. John's River.)
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| There they are! |
The price was amazing! They were $11.99 per pound. Oh yes! When I got back to Virginia I checked out the grocery stores that carried them and they were $24.99 a pound! So don't knock the shacks. Plus, when you get in season local specialties, you can really get a great deal.
The stone crab claws were already cooked. Another little known fact about stone crab is that any reputable place doesn't freeze them because they don't hold up well. So cooked up fresh is what you get, settled in on a cool bed of ice and sold super fast. We got a bit over a pound. As an added convenience, they asked us if we wanted them to par crack the claws for us. If you ever saw a stone crab claw, they are like Teflon-coated, cast iron super hero crustaceans with a thick shell. Let your fish mongers do the work for you. While wearing proper eye gear. Then grab your plastic bag and garlic butter sauce and saunter your way out back to the picnic tables with the hammers bolted to the tables. High class. (That sign in the back is for the restrooms.)
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| Casual dining. But there were palm trees. |
Once we disinfected our hands and prepped the table with proper germ barriers, we were ready to relax and eat.
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| Never has such great food been delivered in such a low cost plastic baggie. |
Let me show you the view from our picnic tables, to upclass the whole outdoor experience.
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| Puffy clouds. Rippling water. |
Back to eating. Claw and garlic butter sauce. You may be thinking what's the big deal? Crab is crab and it all tastes the same. Tut tut, not so. Stone crab claws are big and the meat is so sweet. Truly incomparable to any other sea creature.
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| This wasn't even the largest size claw available. Some were ginormous! |
They were delicious and gone all too fast. I could have eaten twice as much. But then how would I fit in ice cream?
Now, two more random Florida things. 1.) I had my first churro at Disney outside of my first in person Cirque du Soleil show "La Nouba." (Absolutely amazing show if you ever get to see it. Those people defy all laws of physics.) A churro, by the way, is a Mexican fried dough stick and the one I chose had Bavarian cream inside. Oooh. Double treat. ('Cause in America, we crank it up a level. Keeps the insurance companies in business.)
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| Covered in cinnamon & sugar. |
2.) After our airboat ride, I held a 15 lb alligator. Why you ask? Because it was there. And the slightly crazy airboat driver offered it up to me. Who can say no to the chance to hold an amphibian that normally you can't in the wild because it will snap your arm in half with its jaws of death. (Thank goodness for that sturdy rubber band and the fact that it was only a toddler.)
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| Take that other boat patrons who didn't have the guts to hold Hollywood. Wimps! |
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