Summer Memories of a Southern Lady

When the Summertime hits, I always think of eating seafood. In addition, I like to travel to various cities that are in major ports. Seafood is best in the Summertime because it does not take long to cook. When I eat seafood, I think about how someone had to go out into the ocean or river to fish, crab, shrimp, or oysters.

Fried oysters are something that I have enjoyed. The first experience I got eating oysters was visiting the Virginia Diner in Smithfield. They have some of the best oysters yet. After that visit, I wished I could have had oysters more often.

Shrimp that you peel and eat is another favorite. I like to season it with Old Bay. I first got into eating this type of shrimp during a trip to Philadelphia. I was visiting a family member there. She liked this type of shrimp. So my family and I went to the store and purchased three pounds of it. At first, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. But, after the first bite, I wanted to peel and eat shrimp.

On another occasion, my family and I traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, to Toby's Dinner Theater. Before the show, they usually serve a meal. This meal also consisted of peeling and eating shrimp. In this case, the kitchen staff served the shrimp cold. It sat over a bed of ice. I enjoyed the shrimp, despite how it was done, which was over ice.

I went to the Golden Corral, and they served shrimp you peeled and ate. I was flabbergasted that the restaurant did it. They put the shrimp on the service bar, and I enjoyed it. I never thought I would see the day the Golden Corral Restaurant would serve peel and eat shrimp.

Fried shrimp is another favorite also. At first, I was not sure I would enjoy the taste of fried shrimp. However, after eating some butterfly shrimp, which Golden Corral serves, I was instantly hooked on it.

I attended a summer barbeque with my mother's cousin. She resides in Maryland. That day, I was hoping to enjoy some authentic Maryland crab. However, there was other food available. That day, I wanted some crab. I realized they were gone just as I was about to get some crabs. At first, I assumed that someone in the family had eaten the last of the crabs. I later heard that they were rotten. It was unpleasant, but I couldn't blame the relative who threw it out. The last thing we needed was a case of food poisoning.

The only other time that I ate crabs was several nights before my college graduation. A good friend served it, and she had gone to the seafood market in downtown Petersburg. The crabs smelled terrific. She instructed me on how to eat them. The crabs had Old Bay Seasoning on them. I had to pry them open on the side with a knife, and the meat was delicious.

My family and I were on a ship cruise through New England. One night on the cruise, we had lobster for dinner. That was the first time in my life I had ever eaten lobster. Earlier, the cruise ship docked in Portland, Maine. There were lobster pots everywhere. The chef served it and assisted us in cutting out the meat. That night, dinner was enjoyable.

Seafood is always welcome for me at any time of the year. However, I enjoy it more in the summer. It is good to be able to travel and go to a city that is on the water. Cities on any body of water have more of a choice of seafood restaurants.