Eat Local, Tour Local.

Yesterday, we took the kids on a “family adventure” to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, courtesy of our local Whole Foods Market.  I had seen the post on the Whole Foods Facebook page, and decided to sign us up – SO glad I did.

The scoop is, Whole Foods likes for their employees to be informed about where their local products come from, and they schedule day trips frequently for their team members so that they will be knowledgeable about their local vendors.  Our local store decided to try out inviting customers on the tour, and we are so glad they did!

We went on a tour of the J.M. Clayton Seafood Company, and got to see everything behind the scenes – the room where they pick the crabs, where they package the meat, etc.  We even got a little lesson about all things crab from Joe Brooks, one of the owners.

After our tour, we were treated to a fantastic lunch next door at Snappers Café, a quaint, little local restaurant on the water. 

We then hopped on the bus and were driven back to Whole Foods, where we were given goodie bags filled with local grocery items – coffee from PA, honey from VA, granola and chocolate from MD, and more.  Yum!

Here are some of Instagram shots of our day --

Coffee and breakfast provided by Whole Foods while we waited for the bus.

The kids loved the bus ride.  Why is it that trees, cars and clouds are more exciting when viewed from a bus window?

J.M. Clayton has been in Cambridge, MD since 1890.

The crab picking room – where we got to sample some of the crab meat – yum!

These women can pick crabs faster than anyone I’ve ever seen!

Feeling crabby?

Joe gives us a lesson on how to tell male crabs from female crabs.  (I already knew how, because I’m a proud Marylander and all.)

The kids loved checking out where the crabs live.

Such a pretty day on the water.

Lunch, where Kennedy discovered crab dip.

I love my sweet, little family.

Our fabulous Whole Foods swag bag.  Be jealous!

We really cannot thank Hannah, Whole Foods Annapolis, Joe at J.M. Clayton or the rest of the Whole Foods team enough for such an amazing day.  Bennet is still talking about when the next time is that we can go “see some crabs.”

Here’s to fun family day trips, and to supporting local vendors!