Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Memories are made through the stomach

Andi and I have traveled to a lot of places together and one thing always holds true. No matter where we go, there's always one memorable food that sums up the entire trip. Who knew food held so many memories?

Nassau, Bahamas - Vinaigrette Salad
Our first trip together was a four-day cruise. I remember walking along the beach to find a restaurant for lunch and Andi and I stopping at the Ocean Club Resort - one of the nicest hotels in the area. We strolled into the beachside restaurant which was absolutely stunning. It felt like a movie - a cool breeze was sweeping through the white shear curtains, dark wood floor boards and a beautiful view of the ocean. I remember being so overwhelmed - it was one of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced traveling. I think mostly because I'd never really seen anything like it before.
We ordered cocktails and I remember being stunned by the prices. This was the first time I'd been somewhere like this! We ordered a vinaigrette salad to share :) I'm sure the waiter thought we were cheap asses.



Mazatlan, Mexico - White Cheese Nachos
Mazatlan was the first and last time we stayed at an all-enclusive resort. It's just not our kind of travel. While we had an absolutely lovely time at the El Cid Marina, we consumed about seventy-six plates too many of the white cheese nachos. It's not that they were bad, just too much of a good thing. I shudder at the thought.
                                           


Kauai, Hawaii - Kabobs
In 2007, Andi and I spent a week in Kauai, Hawaii. We stayed in our timeshare Coast Resort at the Beachboy which is fabulous because it has a full kitchen with plates, utensils, etc. So on the first day there, we hit up the island Wal-Mart and stocked up on groceries for the week. The resort has a few grills and patios outside for guests to enjoy which we thought was way better than going out for every meal. For some reason, we thought kabobs would be the easiest thing to make ... and make them we did. For every meal it seemed. I guess it's because we bought groceries and we wanted to make sure we used them all up before our week vacation was up. Sadly, now three years later, Andi and I still can't stomach the thought of eating kabobs. Yuck.
                                          


Caribbean Cruise - Champagne and Strawberries (the expensive kind)
An up-side of cruising is the abundance of food at your fingertips. Truly, it's pretty difficult to tire of one kind of food because there's seriously so many options. Ice cream after every meal? Yes please. One memory that does come to mind is the $14 glass of champagne I just had to have at the Chocolate Lover's Buffet one evening on the boat. It just sounded so romantic to drink champagne and devour all that chocolate around us! $28 and two glasses of champagne later ... we conquered that dream. Yikes!
                                           

Panama - Seafood Suprise
One of the most memorable moments of our Panama trip was the 'seafood suprise' dinner we ate one night in Bocas del Toro. The first night at our resort was absolutely magical. Earlier that afternoon, our resort host saw a red snapper fish swimming near the dock. He jumped into the water with his spear gun and killed the very fish we ate for dinner that night. Not only was it a cool experience, but it was seriously the best fish I ever ate (and I don't even care for fish!). The next day, our resort host asked us what we wanted for dinner that night. "Dinner was so amazing last night! Whatever you want to make is perfectly fine with us," we said. Later that night, we sat down to dinner and were served this:


...a dish we happily coined Seafood Suprise. OH.MY.GAWD. I still gag at the thought. I barely made it through dinner that night. All the slimey, slippery pieces of seafood were way too much for my poor little stomach to handle. Later when Andi and I were back in our room, I asked him what was in the seafood suprise. Octopus, squid, shrimp, and a few other fish varieties. Which might be a dream for others, but not me. Yuck!

Bangkok, Thailand - Pad Thai
I'd have to say overall, the food in Thailand wasn't bad at all. We ate some really great Pad Thai and other local specialties. There was also lots of Americanized food like eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast, European cheeses and breads, and pizza of course. However when in doubt, we always ordered Pad Thai and ate tons during our two-week trip. And eight months later? I have absolutely no desire to eat it again. No thank you, sir.

I wonder what kind of food memories our Maui trip will bring?

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