Stone crab day

Today is a holiday down here that isn't on any calendar. Stone crab season opens.

If you're not from Florida, here's the short version. Stone crabs are harvested for one claw, and the crab goes back in the water to grow it back. It's the rare seafood that comes with a clear conscience. The season runs from mid-October into spring. The first week, every seafood place with a chalkboard puts it right at the top in large letters, and that's all the advertising it needs.

They're served cold with a mustard sauce that everybody has an opinion about. They're also expensive enough that ordering them feels like an occasion. You don't get stone crabs because it's a Tuesday. You get them because somebody's in town, or somebody got good news, or it's opening week and you've been thinking about it since May.

I like how seasonal it is. Almost nothing down here has seasons you can feel, and the calendar mostly runs on heat and hurricanes. This one is different. For a few weeks in October it has an opening day, like baseball, and the whole coast quietly celebrates at the same time.

My advice for first-timers: go somewhere with a view of the water and let them crack the claws for you. Don't talk much. Save the good napkins for the end.

And if a local tells you which sauce is correct, just agree with them. It isn't worth it.