A Crabby Happy Birthday

THE BIRTHDAY GIRLS

THE BIRTHDAY DINNER

My birthday was last week. I turned 55. I used to think that anyone who was 55 was over the hill, old as dirt, on their last leg. Well, I have changed my opinion of that now that I am there. I am enjoying my life, more than at any other time I have lived it.

My friend, Lynn, also had a birthday last week. So, Jim and I, our friends Lynn and Charlie, their friends Sandy and Phil, and our new friend Linda all went out to a neat little restaurant in Fairfield, Pennsylvania for dinner in celebration of the event.

Dave and Jane’s Crab Shack is a pleasant little surprise. It is located at 2989 Tract Road in Fairfield. Fairfield is about 10 miles west of Gettysburg, and about 2 miles north of the Maryland state line. It is nowhere near an ocean, or any body of water for that matter. But, they have the best seafood I have eaten in a long time.

As their name implies, they serve steamed crabs by the dozens. Even on a Wednesday night, we had to have reservations to get in the door. I was surprised at just how many people were there because it is out in the country.

They have an ALL YOU CAN EAT menu, as well as regular entrees. The AYCE specials are Steamed Crabs (In Season) for $29.95, Alaskan Crab Clusters for $29.95, Steamed Shrimp for $28.95, and an AYCE Trio for $31.95. If I had been with other people who love to eat steamed crabs as much as I do, I would have opted for the AYCE steamed crabs, but I did not because I would have been the only one, and the rest of the gang would have to have waited for me to finish. (Believe me when I say I can eat some crabs!)

So, instead, I ordered the Seafood Lovers Platter. For $22.95, I had 1 dozen steamed clams, 1 lb. of crab clusters, a half pound of steamed shrimp, a cup of cream of crab soup, and a tossed salad. I thought they would never stop bringing out my food! And talk about delish! It was soooo yummy! I also ordered a basket of 3 steamed crabs. I wound up bringing part of my dinner home with me, and that was after sharing with others at the table.

Jim ordered a Combination Seafood Platter. His included broiled shrimp, a crab cake, a broiled fish filet, broiled scallops, and fried oysters. There was more than he could eat, too, and we brought some of his home. The price for that platter was $18.95.

We really enjoyed our dinner party at Dave and Jane’s Crab Shack. If you are ever in the Gettysburg area, I think it is a “must go” place. To get there, take US 15 south from Gettysburg to Maryland 140 in Emmetsburg, Maryland. Turn west on 140 and drive about all the way through Emmetsburg. On the other side of town, you will see a large billboard on the right, at Tract Road. Turn right onto Tract Road and drive about 2 miles or so. Dave and Jane’s will be on the left. Call ahead to make reservations and to make sure they are open. 717 642-5025. You will be very glad you did. OH, they also sell crabs by the dozen to go. And they have a landlubbers menu, including steaks, chicken, sandwiches, and pizza. Prices start at $3.00 for a burger.

Weather or Not

We had a another very busy weekend here at the campgound. It was the annual Down on the Rivah Rally,which included a dinner on Friday night, followed by a concert with a country music band; breakfast on Saturday; an all-you-can-eat steamed crab feast on Saturday night; and breakfast on Sunday morning. There was also an RV show in the park for the weekend, with several dealerships from the area displaying new travel trailers, 5^th wheels, and park model trailers for sale. And there were supposed to be river cruises on the company boat.

However, there was that bit of weather know in this area as a "nor-easter", that
dumped several inches of rain and brought 30 mile per hour winds on Friday. The front stalled in Virginia and dumped even more rain on us on Saturday. So, with about 220 rv's scheduled to arrive Thursday and Friday, and water standing in a lot of campsites, it made for a lot of work just to get the people parked when they arrived. We only had about 20 "no-shows", which was pretty good, considering...

Most of the rain was about 30 miles west of us along the route of I-64 from Norfolk to Richmond. They were getting about 4" of rain PER HOUR! Because it was to the west of us, we only got about 4" of rain in two days, but the flooding in other areas caused a lot of our campers to have trouble getting here with roads flooded or washed out, and they had to make detours. The rain and high wind along with the October full moon caused a really high tide for this time of year and our dock
where the boats come in was under water for about two days!!!

We all had to work long hours. I opened the office on Thurs, Fri and Sat at 7:45 am, and worked there until 5 pm. On Friday night, I went over to the Group Rally Center next door and worked on the serving line until 7pm. On Saturday, I worked until 2pm in the office, then went to the GRC and worked on the serving line from 5:45 til 9:oo pm. It was fun though, and even though I was tired, I had a good time doing it. After we finished serving the crab feast on Saturday night, the manager gave each of us a flat of crabs, which is about 18
or so steamed crabs. My friend Lynn gave hers to me because she doesn't eat them. I took them home and cracked off the shells, and put the legs and and meaty little crab bodies in the fridge. It makes them take up less space in the fridge if the shells are taken off. So now I just have to eat them all!!! :) I just LOVE steamed crabs!!!

The boat rides up the Rappahanock River had to be cancelled on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Jim and a couple other guys were hard at work pulling the floating dock by hand out to the boat (with people on it) so they could board the boat for the cruises That was the only way they could get people on the boat. I have posted a pic so you can maybe see what I am talking about. It was like he was pulling a ferry from the boat ramp out to the boat. Anyway, he was having a good time doing it, bare feet and all.

The Dock

The main reason we came to Virginia to work this season is that my daughter the artist lives in Norfolk. She moved up here about eight years ago to go to graduate school and never left. She is pretty much a Virginian now, and probably won't leave there. She has visited us where ever we have been, but we decided to make it easy on her to come to see us. The place where we are living and working is only about 85 miles from her home. Here she is on a recent day trip to Kilmarnock in an antique store, hamming it up with a fake cake.

Like I said a few posts ago, she was an art teacher at a private school for children with learning disabilities for several years, but has decided to pursue her dream and work on marketing her own artwork. She entered her first juried art show and won Best of Show! We were very proud of that.


The second reason (well, it came in pretty close to being the first reason but I couldn't very well say to my daughter that eating crabs was more important than being close to her!!) we came to Virginia is the abundance of blue crabs, free for the taking, out of the river. All you have to do is put some chicken necks in your crab trap and go back the next morning and there they are. Steam them with some Old Bay seasoning, and you have the best dinner (or lunch or breakfast) you could ever want. And if for some reason you forgot to put the chicken necks in your trap, someone is always bringing you some already steamed. How could anyone NOT want to be near a place where they could have steamed crabs anytime they wanted them?


Finally, here is the real reason we came here:
Jim loves to fish.
Here he is "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay", fishing his heart out.
This campground is on Robinson's Creek, which goes into the Rapphannock River, which goes into the Chesapeake Bay. There are six or seven docks to fish from on the creek, canoes for rent for getting even closer to the fish, and a large freshwater lake on the property. He goes fishing on his lunch hour almost every day. Fishing is what keeps him happy. Oh, and I love fishing too!