The Cape Charles Museum has been unable to host the annual fundraising events due to the pandemic. Instead, on the afternoon of Friday December 11, they will be selling bags of 50 Salty Bayside Oysters and bags of 100 Littleneck Clams for $25 a bag.
All clams and oyster are freshly harvested from local waters.
Pre-order by calling (757) 642-6882 and pay by cash or check at pick-up, or visit our website at “www.capecharlesmuseum.org” to reserve and pre-pay by credit card.
All pre-orders can be picked up at the Cape Charles Museum on December 11, 2020 from 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Supplies will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis, cash or check only, without pre-order.
Scotiagirl says
Scotiagirl thanks you for the notice. While she was weaned on crustaceans, she loves her mollusks. Yum!
Blue Hoss says
Why are you talking about yourself in 3rd person? Did you think that was in some way funny or cute? What the hell is wrong with you?
Paul Plante says
She comes from Canada – that’s how they do things up there.
Although she could simply have thought that it was in some way funny or cute.
I guess that is a valid possibility as well.
I think it is how they do things in Canada, however and old habits are hard to break.
That’s how I’m seeing it right now, anyway, based on the evidence as I see it.
MJM says
I once made the decision with a buddy many years ago to make the VERY LONG DRIVE to The Maritime Provinces of Canada. Way back before cell phones, cd players, before I really paid any attention to how long it would take to get someplace. I was lucky to have lots of available time one summer, cause that place takes a long time to get to. I’ll never forget driving down a tiny lane or 3 somewhere on Nova Scotia and coming to a small dock on the water where there were a couple of guys selling boiled lobster. Yeah they looked at a couple of college brats a little funny, and had some fun with us, but it was all good cheer. We loved that time. Folding table and chairs and a Labatt’s if you wanted it, which we did. No signs, roof, waiters or t.v. hanging on a non existent wall. Best lobster I ever had. Wasn’t out of the water more than 10 minutes before it was in the boil. My point is that if I was from there, I’d a been weaned on crustaceans as well. I also had a few wonderful conversations up there. Discussing the tides in The Bay of Fundy, trying to understand their salt life. Things like that. The architecture of much of the area is as pretty as could be. Inspirational. It’s easy for me to understand how anyone from there, or anywhere, could want to study any language or writing technique and perhaps inject some narrative creative license into some writing from time to time. A tool such as 3rd person singular. It’s just as normal as using a pen name like MJM, Scotiagirl, or even Blue Hoss. Just these few short days after Thanksgiving Scotiagirl, I’d like to thank you for you opinions. I always look forward to them. I especially like the cute ones.
Scotiagirl says
So you were once a “come here” when you were there. Scotiagirl is a “come here,” now that she is here, yet we have shared sea breezes, wondered about ships on the horizon, marveled at some of the creatures we’ve found in traps, visited the harbour just to watch the boats rock gently on their moorings, blown the foam off a chilled Labatt, cracked some meaty claws, tapped our toes to a Celtic fiddle perhaps and struggled at times to understand those who do not understand us. Scotiagirl is happy to have made a friend!
Paul Plante says
What I’m curious about, Scotiagirl, and being from there, you can probably confirm this one way or the other – are there any liberals in Nova Scotia?
Or are they all in New Foundland, which we hear went big for Joe Biden this year?
Scotiagirl says
It is with regret that Scotiagirl must affirm Nova Scotians tend to be liberal — even those who proudly profess to vote ” conservative “. She knows many people there who hate Trump, love marijuana, look forward to government subsidies when they are not fishing, and don’t think it odd when women prefer each other to the company of men.
Scotiagirl says
Scotiagirl regrets to tell you that Nova Scotians are mostly liberal, even though they believe that they are not! Elaborated in a previous reply to you but it seems to have been deleted.
Crabbepotter57says says
I went o Grand Manan isle two times in 2004, One time to look at a novi boat, the second time to bring it home. Came through customs in Machias Port ,Maine. Down the coast we came. The people of Grand Manan are some of the nicest people you could meet. Was quite an adventure.
MJM says
There you go. The cute ones like this. The words you choose get us all straight to your point. When you are so descriptive with such imagery you best your last writing. ” A shared sea breeze” is what we all do every day, and too many take it for granted. For all of us who appreciate this place in time, you reach so many of us with just 4 words. I see good reason to appreciate your romanticizing how you look at that which surrounds you. This Come Here who appreciates where I am, knows how special this place and so many more are. I too will keep my Come Here Heart that I believe helps keeps me kindly focused on a growing appreciation for this place.
Blue Hoss says
There isn’t such a thing as a ‘salty’ bayside oyster.
MJM says
Well, there “kind of” is such a thing. Yes Blue Hoss you are correct that oysters raised seaside are well known as salty oysters. Then oysters raised bayside are from waters with lower salinity, and not as salty, so they do not generally receive the moniker of “salty”. In some cases the bayside oyster can grow to a market size faster, so it’s a good idea for farmers. Some people who raise oysters have farm leases both bayside and seaside. In some instances there are more requests for the salty oyster so the grower moves the bayside oyster to a seaside farm for a while and the oyster then feeds seaside, pumps salty water through itself, and becomes saltier in a kind of hybrid manner. In many instances you can tell the difference from the shape and appearance of the shell. Then again I could be wrong as to the origin of these, but you can ask the museum. My guess is that is what the museum is planning to sell, and here would be your opportunity to try them for a good cause.
Crabbepotter57 says
Blue Hoss forgot more about oysters than most will ever know. He had one if not the largest oyster business on the shore in his day. Many a gallon was shucked in Oyster.
Nioaka Marshall says
Yep! And there is NOTHING better than a seaside oyster. A Bayside oyster pales in comparison.
Blue Hoss says
The Fools who raise them on the Bayside take them to the Seaside to increase their salinity…..The Yankees that eat them for $2-3.00 a piece won’t know the difference.
Buyer Beware…..
Paul Plante says
Isn’t skinning the Yankees part of the rural charm of it?
Blue Hoss says
I was raised on the seaside with mud between my toes. I do not need you to correct me or affirm I am right. My family is from the community of Broadwater on Hog Island.
Scotiagirl says
Eh????
Paul Plante says
Me, too!
Blue Hoss says
I have passed more Channel Markers in my life that you have passed Telephone Poles….I would like to have seen you telling that diatribe to some Real Waterman, back in the day, around Quinby. They would have embarrassed you to tears and laughed at you every time they saw you for years to come.
MJM says
Hey Blue Hoss. In no way do I disrespect you or try to school you. I want to Thank You for your decades of grit and local knowledge to carry on in the face of winter and NE winds. The life of a waterman is no cakewalk, and takes gritty determination. I am not any kind of a fool who wouldn’t appreciate your talent and determination.
I too am like you in that I know the big difference between a bayside and seaside oyster. I know the difference in their flavor just by looking at them. So school us please. If an oyster moved from bayside to seaside is not called a salty bayside, then what is it called ? Does it remain a bayside no matter what ? Just like a come here remains a come here even after 50 years ?
Blue Hoss says
The Good Lord has not made an oyster yet, that could make that journey between the bayside and the seaside. Yes, you will always be a Come Here. Please do not ask me anymore foolish questions. Do your own research and formulate your own answers.
MJM says
Well Blue Hoss, I have come in here and voiced a simple opinion. I have asked you a simple question like a perfect gentleman. I declare my respect for The Eastern Shore and your work as a waterman, because I meant it, and in return you insult me. I have watched you lash out and insult Scotiagirl for absolutely no reason, other than you are an apparent schoolyard bully who likes to pick on girls. You are such a tough guy. Or are you a mean drunk ?Now I see you respond to my question with horrendous arrogance and apparently refuse to answer the question because you don’t know the answer and try to insult my intelligence when all you do is demonstrate your own ignorance. I never said the oyster got itself to the seaside you putz. One of your fellow locals raised it bayside and took it to his farm seaside because it helps him make money. You didn’t get that ? So then you insult the people he sells to ? Did you think that’s gonna help his sales during these hard times ? What’s wrong with YOU ?? I’m surprised you figured out how to use a keyboard you Neanderthal knuckledragger. You brag to have passed by more channel markers than the rest of us have passed by telephone poles, but apparently a problem occurred that while you passed those markers you hung your head off the port side and smacked your head into them because you come across like the punch drunk backside of a mule. You have zero ability to discuss a subject with folks and are leading me to think Hog Island may have helped the breeding of it’s residents to become horrendously pig headed. I get along with plenty of locals and have tons of respect for them, and they in return for me, but I’m not gonna sit here and take your crap when you’re gonna act as common as this. I can sit here and create tons more insults for you, or I can talk to you like a perfect gentleman. You decide what you want. Don’t have a nice day. And all this started simply because Scotiagirl wanted to support the local museum. You jerk.
Blue Hoss says
Bless your little heart…You would do well to look over that log before you leap.
Scotiagirl says
There seems to be no end to the differences of opinion when it comes to what we prefer to fish or eat from the waters around us. Scotiagirl tires of the fight over whether Maine lobsters are better than Canadian lobsters (same species, different marketing techniques ) or whether PEI mussels are bigger\smaller\cleaner\bluer than other Atlantic mussels (again, marketing has a lot to do with it; Scotiagurl is old enough to remember when these were plowed under as fertilizer for the potatoes! Most of the foregoing falls under the category of “distinction without a difference” BUT, as far as the oyster argument, Scotiagirl has been served platters of oysters in France that had numerous species which didn’t look or taste alike. All different, all delicious!
Now, though, Scotiagirl needs your help. She is tired of being asked if the blue crab in our Bay swim out to sea and grow to be the snow crab that are trapped by her family off the shores of Cape Breton. She needs a (polite?) answer for the many who ask this stupid question!
MJM says
The diversity and comparisons of flavors that come from the sea really are a treat. Obviously it’s an industry unto itself. With civility such conversations can always be fun and informative. The marketing is such a hoot. Having spent some good time in R.I. with oystermen and lobstermen from there, I have shared quite a few chuckles with them over how many lobster come to shore in Galilee and are marketed as Maine lobster ! Anyway, to the question….a polite answer ? Well let’s see. Grandma always said if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all with a smile. You can always use that old standard. Or, you could go with the theory that when they ask a stupid question they get a stupid answer. Like, tell them “no. It’s actually quite different. Cape Breton snow crabs head south to mate. While failing to eat on their journey, like pacific salmon as they prepare to spawn, the crabs swim through the polluted waters of N.Y. The crabs then turn blue and shrink to become blue claw crabs”. If they say “oh”, you caught one. Then see if they spread the story and it comes back to you. Fish, and shellfish stories can take all sorts of form.
Scotiagirl says
To MJM: Scotiagirl is humbled by the support you have given her. As the spawn of some crusty, seafaring Scots she has developed a thick shell and yet she remains perplexed by some of the vitriol that has been written here–to her, to you, to a few others!
Thank you for helping with answers to crab questions. Now, if you could help out just a little more…How should Scotiagirl respond when asked, “Is it necessary to kill lobsters before eating them?…Or, Eewee!, what is that orange stuff under the tail and how did it get there?, Or her favorite: “This lobster has green stuff inside, should we throw it away?”
MJM says
You are most welcome.
MJM says
Sorry for the delay in response Scotiagirl. Flurries early a.m. while we launch seem to tire me a bit as winter is hitting, and sometimes shorten my day. I am also doing quite a bit of scurrying as shellfish sales are terrible right now. Too many closed restaurants. If you are asking can you eat raw lobster, sure you can. I have at sushi restaurants. Sweet n tasty. Follow the usual shellfish precautions for freshness if preparing yourself because vibrio is not a good thing. Or, if the question is should you kill it before you cook it, my thoughts are not that I know of. From what I know, most chefs say the flavor is better retained if boiled alive, or killed just before boiling. From what I know, a lot of those who say you should quick kill a lobster before eating, is a humane opinion is solely because boiling to death is quite a bit more painful. To the lobster. The orange stuff ? Eggs. Roe in some vernacular. Some think tasty. Some think not. The green stuff ? Is the lobster’s liver. I’m not a liver liker, or lover, so it’s a no for me. Some folks say it’s real tasty. The FDA, whose recommendations are driven by lawyers, say don’t ever eat it.
As far as misplaced vitriol from the mouths of babes……..I have no idea why some folks think better of themselves after they bully or put others down, but it’s their problem. I accept a slip of the tongue here or there, but not forever as you have seen. We’re all Bozos on this bus in my opinion and are better off if we just try our best to get along. Most locals are wonderful people who seek that joie de vivre, and others think they are more special than others just because they got here first and have been passing gas in their waders here longer than the rest of us. That excess methane has created a false reality I guess. This sad behavior happens many places as you well know. In the meantime, again you are welcome and I’m wishing I could meet you. I know Island Girls are special. Perhaps we’ll get that feeling someone is watching in Cape Charles one day and say hello by chance.
Scotiagirl says
Hope and expect to meet you, don’t know where or when– sifting through sweet potatoes at Quail Farm?, looking for a widget at the hardware store in Cheriton?, keeping the required distance at Food Lion?, watching boats launch at Oyster?, savoring a sunset at the Harbour? This is a small pond and that only adds to the intrique. I do believe that we’ve been swirling in the same eddy–maybe for years, starting in the Maritimes and drifting down through New England and finding ourselves here (where the sharks have caught up?)
Anyway, love your insight and your courage in calling it how you see it.