I didn’t know too much about stone crab claws when I moved to South Carolina in 2016. In fact, there was a substantial amount that I didn’t know about a lot of types of seafood. Given that I had grown up on the water along the shores of Long Island, NY, I was surprised at how much I really didn’t know. How had I escaped this information growing up? It is still a mystery to me, but what I didn’t know then, I surely learned quickly when I got to Hilton Head.

The seafood restaurant where I worked gave me an hours-long, crash course in a classroom setting, and also a real world, hands-on approach to learning through our chef and back of house staff. As I would arrive to set up the restaurant for lunch and brunch shifts, I would watch as they wheeled in large coolers and overflowing baskets from the docks behind the kitchen, craning my neck to see what was inside them.