Not too Crabby!

In crab races, as in life, sometimes you win and sometimes Grenada wins. Last night we were BIG winners!! James and I went with a few friends to watch and bet on crab races at The Owl on Grand Anse Beach. Although the crab races are usually directly on the sand, the event was relocated to the dining room due to sudden cloudburst. We arrived at the little restaurant with high hopes and few Eastern Caribbean dollars. Having never been to a crab race I had no idea of the treat we were in for!

First, six crabs were placed into an obviously well used kitchen salad bowl; they were named for the countries from which they came (or so we were told) and marked with chalked numbers on their shells. We were asked to examine the crabs to determine our wagers. After some careful consideration, we decided to go with our patriotism and bet on USA. Because I had never bet on crabs before, I did not know that there would be multiple races; I went for broke and put all twenty Eastern Caribbean dollars on Uncle Sam. Please keep in mind, twenty Eastern Caribbean dollars converts roughly to eight United States dollars. When I sat back down James asked how much I bet and I told him everything. It was then he chose to tell me how there would be multiple races... Whoops!

Next the man orchestrating the event took the crabs, in the salad bowl, to the middle of a large wooden circle and turned the bowl upside down. When the bowl was lifted back off the ground the races began.   This was the Olympics of crab racing. The first crab to make it to the edge of the circle and fall off the wooden ledge, would be named the champion. As everyone knows, both James and I are extremely competitive, so our courteous encouragement soon escalated into full blown jumping and cheering as our little crab made his way for the edge of the circle. It was between USA and Sweden; Sweden was hanging onto the edge by two little legs when USA made the leap. It had been a long flight for Sweden, and no one blamed him for his timid hesitation. We had won the race and doubled our dollars!!

After our big win, we decided to bet more cautiously, putting a more reasonable amount of Eastern Caribbean dollars on the little crabs we had chosen. We must know how to pick winners because we won every race we bet on but one! The one race we lost was to none other but the Grenadian crab. Some say he was just plain fast like his cousin, Kirani James, but I think it was due to the home court advantage! If James' medical school doesn't work out, I think I have a real future in crab race gambling!

Hope you are not having a crabby day! O.M.Grenada!

xo, Steph

The Arena

The Well-Used Salad Bowl and Crabs

 Picking the Winner!

 Solo Shot of the Winner

 Victory Lap