We did finally leave Kinko's and headed along the jagged coastline of Rhode Island toward an area rumored to have good surf: Narragansett. Cruising along Highway 1 our first search was for propane. We spotted it at an equipment rental place and swung around to park in an alley behind the little propane shed. Before we could even turn off the engine, a blue pickup pulled up alongside us. The driver gave the universal "roll down your window" sign, and we obliged. He then asked the second most frequently asked question of the trip:
"Are you those guys on T.V.?"
(The first most frequently asked question is 'What is The Extreme Road Trip?' The show on T.V. that everybody thinks we're from is Road Rules on MTV...which from the half-an-episode we saw is nothing like what we're doing.)
We told him we were not from T.V. and his smile only downgraded a few notches. He still seemed stoked on the idea when we explained what we were doing, though, and planned on checking out the site. Away he drove.
So we hauled our three tanks over to the propane shed, and while we're waiting for them to fill, he pops up again.
"I've got something extreme for you to do. Are you going to be in town tomorrow? I'll take you Blue Crab Trotting. It's extreme and I need someone to go with!"
Mike, as his name turned out to be, explained the process of Blue Crab Trotting. Basically you lay a long line out on the bottom of a blue crab neighborhood. To the line you tie bits of chicken or dog food or other smelly pieces of meat, which blue crabs apparently love. Then you go back over your line in a little boat, and slowly pick it up as you go along. The little blue crabs hold onto the odiferous carcass, proud of their prize and not about to easily let go, until the last moment when the surface looms near. The trick as a trotter is to get your net in there swift-like to snatch them out of the water before they get wise, let go of dinner, and swim away.
The propane guy chimed in agreement that blue crab meat was so good it made lobster seem like Swanson's TV Dinner food.
We were planning on heading down the road, and Mike was attending a bachelor's party that night, so the early Sunday morning trotter outing never came to be. But Mike, if you're reading this, we hope you made a great catch...and we'll take you up on it next time we're in The Ocean State.
