Maryland takes its seafood personally, and once you understand that, everything else makes sense.
This is a state where people have genuine opinions about crab cakes, where the debate over who does it best can fill an entire evening, and where a plate of steamed blue crabs is not just dinner but something closer to a local religion.
I grew up thinking I understood seafood until I sat down at a waterfront table in this state and realized I had been operating with incomplete information my entire life…