As a fifth generation Texan, I have deep ties to this great state. I love being a native Texan, and apparently with the influx of people moving here we may become an endangered species! LOL I want to share one of my favorite childhood memories with you. Growing up on the Gulf Coast was wonderful.

Sometimes on the weekends my grandparents would take us to go "crabbing". Nana would stop by "The Colenal's" and get a bucket of fried chicken for us to have for lunch. Then we would head for the marshy parts of Galveston to collect crabs.

This was a fun and exciting afternoon for us as children. We would often get distracted by chasing hermit crabs or collecting sea shell and sand dollars. I still have one of the largest sand dollars that I found when I was about six. It is one of my personal treasures as it takes me back to a time when I had no worries and all the people I love were still around.

We would take our lines and tie a chicken neck to it and throw it out into the shallow water. The crabs would grab it and start their lunch. We would slowly reel in the string and catch the unsuspecting crabs in a net close to the shore. Little did they know that icky raw chicken neck would be their last meal, before they became our dinner.

Sometimes this was a treacherous task for us kids. I remember once my sister got stuck in the sandy mud and fell down on the crab I was reeling in. Of course the crab was now pretty angry and he pinched her on the behind. She screamed and all crabbing came to a halt as my mother scooped her up to see what the problem was. Then she got pinched too! Needless to say this little fellow went into the bucket and did not pinch anyone else, ever!

That evening we went home and Nana would put on a huge pot of water to boil. Then Mom and Nana would season up the water and toss the freshly washed crabs into the pot. Sometimes Nana would remove the crab-meat and make the most delicious spicy crab cakes, which was always a favorite in our house. In no time at all we would be feasting on some delicious crabs and huge salad. Mom showed me a trick for extracting the claw meat. The claw meat is the sweetest and the hardest to get to. Everyone should do this at least once in their life.

It is a great family experience and it created memories that can't be matched by simply going to Gaido's and ordering a plate of softshell crabs.