Looking for a Blue Crab dinner - and some sightseeing (Baltimore: renting, houses)

[leggo]

Morning all

We are looking to come down to Maryland for a long weekend trip in the near future for a little sightseeing and for a famous Blue Crab bushel feast.

Is May and June a good time to come down? Are the crabs in season? The reason I ask is that from where I am from you can get Lobster all year round, but certain times it is soft shell and they are not quite as good IMHO. From what I gather - some restaurants serve NC or LA,TX crabs. Are there any that serve Native MD crabs?

My wife saw on one of her cooking shows where they take a bushel of crabs and spread it on your newspaper covered table, and you commence the eating - and she really wants to try that. Me --- I would like some REAL crab cakes.

We will be flying into Baltimore and renting a car - so...... Any restaurant suggestion that serve crabs bushel and newspaper style and any sightseeing suggestions?

I am going to do some searches on old threads too.

Thanks
Leggo

[marielally]

Patuxent River crabs and Wye River crabs are the best, in my opinion...If you venture into St. Mary's County in Southern MD, try SeaBreaze Restaurant off of Sandgates Rd, in Mechanicsville for crabs - you won't get the newspaper covered table, rather a brown paper covered table...they have been consistently good. May/June is still a little early - not that it has ever stopped me from eating them! But the best crabs come late in the season (October)...

[marielally]

Oops, forgot Sightseeing and crabs... try Saint Michaels on the Eastern Shore of Maryland... quaint town, great food, Wye River crabs...

[newleaseonlife]

What part of Maryland are you visiting? We can narrow it down from there. As far as getting MD crabs that is highly unlikely. Not being a regular crab eater you won't be able to tell the difference in taste from a MD crab versus TX,NC or LA. Us native Merliner's can though

[NYMD67]

There are all kinds of true crab houses all over MD, especially the Eastern Shore where they will just cover your table in paper and spread the crabs out with fried chicken,corn on the cob,etc...
I would say that in the Summer, you are more likely to find local MD crabs, especially in the St.Michael's / Tilghman Island area on the Eastern Shore.

[marielally]

Also, I think it was G&M Restaurant in Baltimore (or just outside of Baltimore) where I had exceptionally good crab cakes - they were a little different than traditional crab cakes in that they were puffy and very light...and if you really like the crab cakes, I believe that they will ship them to you via mail order, too!

[leggo]

Thanks for the replies

We think we want to do a short road trip around the Chesapeake Bay area, and see the sights there.

I wrote down these restaurants, and have my trusty Frommers guide book --- now I got to book my tickets!

Thanks a bunch
Leggo

[North Beach Person]

Cantler's in Annapolis is good for crabs. You may want to re-think a bushel if there are only two of you. That would be around 60 or 70 crabs depending on their size.