Memories of adventure and a delicious surprise in rural Virginia
October 2026
by Margo Oxendine, Contributing Columnist
Do you like lobster?
I am in the “love” zone. I’ve loved lobster since my very first buttery, unforgettable bite, maybe 50 years ago.
It’s not as if I’ve been able to have as much lobster as I might like. Shoot — I’d like to have some every day! For a while in Key West — when I first arrived — I was a “lobsterette” at the A&B Lobster House at the foot of Front Street. I’d sneak lobster whenever I could manage it. All us lobsterettes did. It wasn’t easy, but it sure was delicious!
After the A&B, I went to work for Treasure Salvors. We spent our time at sea, looking for remains from the 1622 Spanish almiranta (chief treasure galleon), the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. It was the adventure of my life.
What we salvors did in our spare time was spend more time out on the water. I was one of just three women; the rest were very manly men. We were all buddies. About nine of us lived a stone’s throw from each other. Several of us had boats — little Boston Whaler runabouts. These were great little boats.
On good “sea days,” we’d all gang into the Whalers and head out to sea. There was a spot in the Gulf of Mexico that we called “The Supermarket.”
We hardly made any money at this job (before we hit the motherlode sometime later), but we knew our way around anything maritime.
One Thanksgiving Day, we had no money, of course, but we sure would have welcomed a great meal. So, we piled in and headed to The Supermarket with masks, fins and snorkels.
On that record day, the gang of us snagged 88 “bugs,” Florida lobsters some called crawfish. That may have been unlawful, but we were hungry!
For our big dinner, we each brought anything we might find in our kitchens or pantries. I remember, I brought lots of butter, and oddly, some turnips. (With no potatoes to mash, we all decided we liked turnips after all!) It was quite the feast, and I’ll never forget it.
Around here in the rural mountains of Virginia, lobster is pretty hard to come by. And when I do see it, I can’t really afford it.
So, I was shocked one day last week when I drove through the little burg of Mitchelltown, near Hot Springs, to see a big crowd of people milling about in front of a large, black food truck emblazoned with Cousins Maine Lobster. I made an illegal U-turn and zipped back. Lobster! In Bath County!
I bought as much as I could afford. It was delicious!
I went online to find out when, if ever, the truck would be near me. Sadly, I couldn’t find another stop nearby in the future. So, I signed up for their email list. Maybe I’ll get lucky someday. Someday soon …
Then, I can order Maine lobster, Connecticut lobster, garlic butter lobster, lobster mac and cheese, lobster grilled cheese, lobster tacos, lobster tots, lobster bisque — really, just about any type of lobster I might have a craving for (which is all of it!).
You can even order it from the site, although it is probably frozen. Why have frozen when you might stumble onto fresh some happy day?
We’re all in the same (lobster) boat around these parts. So, get online. Believe me, a two-hour drive is worth it! I guess there’s always a Red Lobster somewhere, but why not go for the real thing?
