I GOT STONED YESTERDAY

I did get stoned yesterday and it was hardly my first time. Actually during the winter months I get the urge a lot, you see here in Florida it is not only our high tourist season but it is the beloved Stone Crab season as well. Yes folks this treasured delicacy from our shores is only available for catching and eating from Dec. 15 through may 15th each year.

Yesterday I attended the Fort Lauderdale Stone Crab Festival held on Las Olas Blvd. which is our "Rodeo Drive" so to speak. Being outdoors in 78 degree weather in January is great enough but there is something special about cracking open one of these meaty succulent claws out under a palm tree with a calypso band playing nearby.

I would like to know how many tons of these claws were consumed because @ up to $39 a pound in the grocery store these little guys do not hold the same allure to me as when I used to be able to catch them off of Key Biscayne myself with my bare hands as a kid:) Those days are long gone but the fun of cracking, pulling, dipping and savoring are still the same.

Here's to the Stone Crab and all the folks that set their traps to deliver them to us!