Gulf Coast for Family Spring Break in March?

Greetings,

My teenage children and I are traveling to the Destin, Florida area for Spring Break to visit grandparents in late March.

It is a trip we have looked forward to in the past, even though we haven't been able to go in the last few years. Their Grandfather hasn't been well lately, so the trip is especially important to make this year and spend some family time together.

Recognizing that the BP Disaster is still having an impact and will for years to come on the environment, economy and health of the people and "destinations" of the Gulf Coast region, I need to ask questions and get better informed before embarking on this journey. Where do we stand on the health or toxicity of the environment in the Gulf Coast - not only from the oil, but from the solutions that were employed like corexit?

Would you let your children swim in the gulf water? Should we let them play in the sand and eat the amazing crabcakes at The Crab Trap next to the beautiful white sands and aqua waters? We want to support the merchants we have supported in the past, even coming home with I'm sure a few hermit crabs in a see through habitat complete with the plastic palm tree. But, given the massive scope of this disaster, I have to ask - what are the facts today?

I appreciate any information members might share on the conditions, concerns and still beautiful benefits of visiting the Gulf Coast. Thanks!

Peace

i was in destin in the fall and ate at the crab trap and everything myself. i had no problems with oil and swimming, although parts of pensacola beach had clean up crews and were shut down, i didnt see anything in destin. and this was within the last few weeks of the "clean-up." i think you're alright, personally. i have fun in destin, its beautiful!

We were at the beaches by sarasota in summer & at the beaches in tampa as late as october - even digging in the sand and saw no signs of oil at all. No sheen on the water, no oil in the sand (even deep down), although it seems there was a stronger than usual scent of dead fish coming in from out at sea.
We'll be going back this summer, I'm certain.

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


I don't know about Destin, I am in Tampa Bay, but yeah we went to the beaches afterwards(through October 2010 actually) and none of us has been affected negatively. It seems LA is having issues with the blood testing I think it impacted them worse. I would not eat the crabcakes, though unless it's maybe alaskan king crab or maryland or snow crab as they come from up near maine/alaska/MD. I refuse to eat local fish and will not be fishing this year, just until I see a report done on the health of the fish in the natural Gulf habitat, however we have many fish farms and those fish I would eat. I'd stay away from local crab and mollusks and shrimp and lobster, until there's evidence they are clean. JMO.

Originally posted by ldyserenity
reply to post by DancedWithWolves

 

I don't know about Destin, I am in Tampa Bay, but yeah we went to the beaches afterwards(through October 2010 actually) and none of us has been affected negatively. It seems LA is having issues with the blood testing I think it impacted them worse. I would not eat the crabcakes, though unless it's maybe alaskan king crab or maryland or snow crab as they come from up near maine/alaska/MD. I refuse to eat local fish and will not be fishing this year, just until I see a report done on the health of the fish in the natural Gulf habitat, however we have many fish farms and those fish I would eat. I'd stay away from local crab and mollusks and shrimp and lobster, until there's evidence they are clean. JMO.

The "Maryland" blue crabs you would be buying this time of year will NOT be coming from Maryland. More than likely they will be crabs shipped up to Maryland from Louisiana. Even when I lived outside of Baltimore up till 1991, a good majority of the crabs were coming out of Louisiana instead of Chesapeake Bay. That was even during the Summer months. During the winter, the crabs up north are dug in underneath the mud in the cold waters of the bay and estuaries, which can only be caught by dredging through the mud. Most crabbers just aren't going to do that, and besides, the crabs will taste like mud.

I actually bought a half bushell of steamed crabs from an outfit in Crisfield, MD in October and had them shipped down to me. Those crabs smelled so bad my wife and I could not eat them. The guy swore up and down they were local, but I have eaten blue crabs all my life (I'm now 60) and I have NEVER smelled crabs like that before. They weren't dredged crabs, but I really don't know what to say they smelled like. Matter of fact, even the raccoons and possums didn't mess with those crabs for the longest time when we threw them outside. That in itself is HIGHLY unusual, as they will normally rip into crab shells that are discarded with wild abandon. Even some earlier orders of crabs in the Summer had an odd brownish stain to the meat where the legs join the body, which I have NEVER seen before. Something was definitely different about the crabs this year, and my guess is that the crabbers in Louisiana were practically having to give away the crabs because no one was buying them locally. Interestingly enough, when my wife and I drove up to Delaware last Summer, we stopped in at the town of Crisfield thinking we would be able to get a meal of fresh local seafood. The woman at the restaurant seemed to choke when I asked her if the seafood was local. She said nearly NOBODY there sells locally caught seafood any longer. There was only one place called Linton's (I think) that still caught their own crabs and sold them. So just a FYI....

Personally, my seafood eating days are probably going to be limited to Alaskan king crab and Maine lobsters for a while.... Which pains me greatly as I love steamed blue crabs over most anything else I eat, but I just do not TRUST anyone about what is going on out in the Gulf.