Whales gulp them up, but we usually peel them before consumption. Galveston business owners have handed these peewee crustaceans with the task of shifting the economic tide of a financially depressed island.

The draw to Galveston for years has always been about the food. Not the beaches, or the people. The food.

Food is what brings us together when nothing else can. Most holidays revolve around the main course. But what about when your neighbor is in need? In Vincent Sherman’s Mr. Skeffington (1944), the once-wealthy Trellis family is down and out financially. Bette Davis plays Fanny Trellis (the most beautiful girl in the New York), who makes it her prerogative to marry rich by throwing frequent dinner parties to troll potential suitors, risking further debt.

By no means is Galveston gold-digging, but the dancing shrimp on the website for this weekend's Wild Texas Shrimp Festival do have an alluring effect.

Here's a quick guide to the festival:

Start by getting there early Saturday for the 5K run to shake off any premature impending gluttony guilt . Then, after your guilt and a couple of calories are gone, make like a beast and head for The Strand for a gumbo-in-a-cup stroll around noon and quench your thirst with a some vino at the Texas Wine Sampling at Saengerfest Park.

Finally, after waking up the next morning feeling like a beached whale in a Galveston hotel, rent a bicycle (and costume!) and head to Stewart Beach for a Sunday "Funday" tailgating event during the Texans-Cowboys game.

In a release, Mike Dean the president of Yaga’s Entertainment Inc., a local events company says, "We invite not only our local residents, but all Texans to join us in celebrating the return of Galveston Island from Hurricane Ike and take this opportunity to honor the shrimp industry in Texas.”

All summer during the oil spill catastrophe, I averted from eating shrimp, fish and other sea creatures. This put me in an uncomfortable seat next to my father who practically lives on his motorboat in Kemah. I dared to order chicken, which is a practical sin when dining at the Fisherman’s Wharf, owned by Landry’s Restaurants Incorporated.

It took me a couple of weeks to feel assured my health wouldn’t be affected by devouring delights from the sea. Part of the aim of the festival is to convince people that Texas seafood really is safe in the wake of all the oil spill publicity.

This is Galveston's first year throwing the Wild Texas Shrimp Fest and this renewed seafood lover hopes it's not the island's last.