La Jaiba Downs Crab Race Track

On Wednesday nights at 7:00, the Isla Grand Hotel on South Padre Island holds a local event in the Quarterdeck Lounge. It’s free to attend – you only need to have a drink of some kind in your hand! And if you happen to win the jackpot, you receive Isla Grand dollars to help reduce your bar bill!

On hand for the event are the Crab Trainer, the Crab Assistant, the Announcer and Crab race fans from around the globe. A huge round table (probably 8 feet in diameter) sits on the middle of the dance floor and it's covered with a yellowy-orange table cloth. There are four Tupperware containers sitting nearby on the stage - once for each of the four races. Each container holds eight hermit crabs. Each hermit crab has a number on its back - the numbers run from 1 to 8 incl. Each crab also has a name but you need to be a regular to recognize them by name!

The Announcer picks up one of the Tupperware containers, removes the lid and sprinkles (what he says is) a few ounces of Tequila over the occupants. He then carefully retrieves one crab at a time from the container, shows the contender to the crowd and announces the name and number. Some are small and some much larger. The announcer then places each individual crab on the table to assess its’ immediate interest in racing to the edge. Race fans then get a chance to bet by recording which crab will win the race on a piece of paper. All the bets are collected and set aside until after the race.

After presentation to the crowd, the announcer places each crab under an upside-down silver serving plate centred on the table – this is where they await the start of the race. Once all 8 crabs have been presented, the odds picked and the bets collected, the silver plate is lifted high and the race is on! Here’s a pic of this particular moment:


The winner is determined when the first crab meets the edge of the table. As each heads off in different directions, the crowd screams wildly for one crab over another. When the winning crab meets the edge of the table, the announcer scoops it up in his hand and tenderly returns them to their particular Tupperware container. This madness goes on for four races. The crabs are eventually placed back into the aquarium at the entrance to the bar.

Here are a few basic rules for race fans as noted on the distributed pre-race info:

- no wandering, meandering or philandering near the crabs;
- no bribing the crabs;
- any attempts to take the races too seriously will result in immediate dismissal from the track; and
- (I love this one) the rules are subject to change depending on the announcer and the general disposition of the crabs.

I mentioned that each crab has a name as well as their number. Here are the names of a few of the racers – I randomly selected two names from each of the four races so you can get a sense of the depth an importance of the event: Crab Cake, Murphy’s Claw, Herman’s Hermit, Bull Crab, Taxi Crab, Tomorrow’s Dinner, Hard Hat and, John’s favourite, Holy Crab!

And just to make sure their liability is covered, there is a message on the handout identifying the Gamblers Anonymous Hotline number!

Too much, eh? A lot of fun though! Not exactly NASCAR or the Kentucky Derby but certainly more laughs!

Today is US Thanxgiving and it just so happens we are going back to Isla Grand to their restaurant for turkey and all the fixins. We’ll catch up with you in about 2 weeks. We are headed for a wee vaca to the Virgin Islands to see Jimmy and Amanda, John’s son and daughter-in-law. Have fun until then... m.