Growing up in Portland, Oregon, I never thought of Washington D.C. as a place to buy or eat great fish. In my mind, the city was comprised of the federal government, the beltway, and talking heads on cable news.

It didn't occur to me that the city sat right on the north bank of the fourth largest river on the Atlantic coast, the Potomac, which fed into the Chesapeake, the largest bay in the United States known for blue crab, striped bass, oysters, clams, and rockfish.

But when I moved to the area in 2002, I saw more mallet-wielding crab eaters than I'd ever seen on the Oregon coast, where Dungeness crabs are sold individually and eaten whole or in soups or salads. Here, blue crabs are sold and eaten by the bushel with loads of Old Bay Seasoning.

What I learned was that the Chesapeake Bay, which boasts more than 62,000 square miles of water and reaches six mid-Atlantic states, yields 45,000 short tons of fish and shellfish per year.

Seafood is a huge part of the history and culture of the region, especially in Maryland where locals roll out construction paper and hand out wood mallets for annual summer crab-eating feasts.

In D.C., the region’s love of seafood is most evident at the city’s fish market, one of the few surviving open-air fish markets on the east coast and a melting pot of cultures and people, mostly working class.

Maine Avenue Fish Market, otherwise known as "The Wharf," is located on the southwest waterfront under the Interstate 395 overpass and offers an array of fish and shellfish including blue crab, lobsters, butterfish, mackerel, croaker, perch, grouper, snapper, porgies and tilapia.

On a recent visit, I saw fish mongers yelling out their bargains of the week while couples wearing flip flops waited in line for oysters on the half shell with lemon wedges served on paper plates. Fast-moving plastic gloves blurred with raw fish, credit cards, and cash. Muscled men with tattoos yanked apart live crabs and steamed them right there. And everyone, including me, so far from the cold, northern Oregon coast, got our bargain fish for the week while breathing in the humid air and fresh fish smells of D.C.'s best kept secret.