Rip's Country Inn has been a local establishment since 1952, and has since grown to encompass a restaurant, liquor store and deli.  The interior decor fits the exterior, with a seating area that looks like horse stalls, and antiques adorning the walls.  They also pride themselves on making everything from scratch, which lends itself to their homestyle feel.  On their menu are the Maryland Crab Cakes.  Does being home made make them worth the visit?  Let's give them a try and find out!

Shoreline Seafood has been a local area landmark since 1981, providing fresh seafood for sale as well as food for carryout.  While the building isn't much to look at, walk inside and you'll experience an unexpected seafood market.  Everything from crabs to a wide assortment of fish to clams, mussels, and other fish you never thought you'd come face to face with. Certain items can be steamed onsite, or you can take it home and cook it yourself.  They do have steamers and seasonings available for sale, in case you decide to do some work yourself.  Carryout items cover a wide range of seafood delicacies, from sandwiches to soups to seafood salads.  On our visit, the backfin crab cake sandwich was on the lunch special board, so we decided to check it out.  How was it?  Read on and see for yourself!

The Sly Horse Tavern has been around since 1985, located on Crofton's Village Green.  The restaurant may look like a historic house from the 18th century, but it is really a replica of Colonial Williamsburg's Raleigh Tavern.  They bill themselves as "modern American" cuisine, even if the menu has a bit of a German influence.  Just don't ask about the name -- it's a secret they aren't willing to share.  But one secret the CCR is willing to share is their crab cakes.  How were they?  Read on!

According to local legend (or the About page of their website), Stoney Creek Inn actually started out as Bill's Seafood Carry-out and Crabs, way back in 1998.  It wasn't until 2001 that Bill and his family opened a full service restaurant at the Inn's present location. Aside from making a point to provide quality food, they also serve Maryland crabs during the crab season. Their food is so good that Guy Fieri visited the joint in 2008 to tape Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Will their crab cakes also take us to Flavortown? Let's find out!

One thing we always wonder here at the CCR is just how good a retail crab cake can be as we are roaming the grocery store aisles.  One past reviewee was Bloom, a niche chain of supermarkets operated by Food Lion (AKA Food Kitty).  The ones in a past review were the ones you could get fresh at the seafood counter.  Shop a little further, perhaps into the frozen food aisle, and on your way to Ben and Jerry's latest flavor, you might just notice the Taste of Inspirations crab cakes.  Calling.  Beckoning.  Wanting to jump into your shopping cart.  And then you think, "What would the CCR do?"  Well, the CCR has been in that predicament.  (Cherry Garcia and Half Baked, if you must know)  And those Taste of Inspirations cakes did fall into our cart.  How were they?  Read on and see how it went down!