Day 36: Fresh Crabs for Dinner

Day 36: Thursday, June 20, 2013

One of the things on my list of things to do in Alaska was to eat some fresh crabs right from the dock. Thanks to Joyce, the great owner of the Oceanside RV Park where we are staying, I crossed that off my list on Thursday night.

I went for an early morning walk around the harbor and then hoping to see some more Bald Eagles, we drove a few miles down the road to Chilcoot Lake in Chilcoot State Park and along Mud Bay Road to the seafood cannery.

I walked around Haines Harbor in the early morning

Haines Totem by the harbor

Chilcoot Lake

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Mama Bald Eagle on nest in Chilcoot State Park, Haines, AK

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Then we went down to the dock to help clean today’s catch of 38 Dungeness Crabs.

Deadliest Catch!

The guys are hard at work

Joyce and crew cleaning crabs on the dock

A trip to the Hammer Museum sounded like a fun way to spend the afternoon before dinner.

Henry and Blondie at the Hammer Museum

Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska

This one is for our friend Chuck, president of a small bank in Georgia

This is for Henry and all his buddies at BellSouth

A display of seafood hammers. Our mallet came in handy when we had a dinner of Dungeness Crab

Finally, it was time to eat!

Owner Joyce and the camp host getting ready to cook

38 Dungeness Crabs

Time to eat

Joyce, the owner of Oceanside RV Park, often puts on a crab boil or salmon bake for her guests. Joyce organizes everything, teaches everyone how to clean them, and then cooks them. Everyone brought a covered dish and paid for however many crabs they wanted. After we ate our fill of our six crabs we picked the rest and froze it for later in the trip.

Joyce is one of the hardest working RV park owners we have ever seen and goes out of her way to make you feel at home. If you are going to Haines, Oceanside RV Park is the only place to stay. This is NOT a paid advertisement! She doesn’t even know I’m posting this.

11 thoughts on “Day 36: Fresh Crabs for Dinner”

Wow! What an awesome day! Those photos of the bald eagle are spectacular. I bet y’all felt right at home there, cleaning those crabs. The picture of Dad is my favorite 🙂 Did you know Brian used studied Dungeness crabs the summer before I met him?

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Wandering Dawgs says:

June 24, 2013 at 11:35 am

I hope Brian got to eat a few of the crabs. They are so good. You boil them and cook them just like blue crabs.

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Looks so delicious & fun! I love the bald eagles, very nice pics.

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Wandering Dawgs says:

June 24, 2013 at 11:33 am

Thanks Angie! The bald eagles are amazing to watch. The crabs were delicious, bigger than our blue crabs at home but you pick them the same way.

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My brother still works at at&t (bell south) that’s interesting

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Your eagle photos are amazing Beth… And the crab cookout and cleaning sounds like it was great fun. I am really enjoying your scenery photos, too. Have a great day!

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Wandering Dawgs says:

June 24, 2013 at 11:32 am

We saw so many Bald Eagles we lost count. I think we were the only ones in the campground who didn’t see a grizzly. We’re still looking.

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Wow! Fresh Dungeness Crabs cooked in the campground, what a treat. Love the Bald Eagle pictures and hearing all about your day. Who would ever thought there would be a hammer museum. What great adventures you are having and yet, so many more adventures to come.

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Wandering Dawgs says:

June 24, 2013 at 11:31 am

We had lunch of crab salad the next two days. Yum. There is crab stew in our future, too!

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Hope you have the happiest birthday ever -enjoying the Last Frontier.
Charlie and I are thoroughly enjoying your blog. Thank you for sharing your trip with us.

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