Day 4
The continuing food saga of our cruise in the Gulf of
Mexico.
It was time for our first port adventure; we were setting
dock at the Cayman Islands. After learning the previous morning that we are not
very sociable morning people and do not enjoy eating with the rest of the
heard. We decided to try the dining area for breakfast. It did not have a grand
buffet, but you could order anything you want off the menu. The disappointing
part was you had to eat with other people.
As I sat down with the group of people, I was hoping no one
would talk to me and if they did the consequences would be out of my control.
That must have been the expression on my face, because everyone just smiled and
nodded at me. I think it is an unwritten rule to not speak to someone in the
morning until they get something in their stomach. So we sat and the waiter
quickly offered us some coffee or juice, as if he knew someone was going
overboard if that didn’t happen. Then we ordered and they had a basket of bread
for us as we waited for our meal. As my mind and body was finally starting to
realize we were among other people, my wife started to talk with the people
around us. We were discussing the captain’s meal from last night; I was
suddenly awake when the guy across from me said he had three lobster tails and
a full plate of shrimp. He had my attention at lobster tails. I guess all you
have to do is ask for more or an extra entrée. I could have kissed him on the
lips for this piece of intel. I almost called the waiter over to see if they
had anything leftover from last night. But, decided it would not go with my
French Toast and turkey bacon. I don’t know why I ordered turkey bacon when I
could of had good ol’ actual pork bacon. Guess my wife has finally brain
washed me into eating healthy.
It was off to Cayman. My first time on foreign soil, more on
that trip at www.when-life.blogspot.com.
We did our tourist thing of sailing, swimming with some sting rays, and
shopping. While on the boat I tried some meat from a conch shell, it was like
eating sushi. We were done about 12:00 and it was time for some lunch. But, I
wanted to taste the local cuisine, my lovely wife did not. So we made a deal
that I could get something small to eat on our way back to the boat. I got a
deep fried veggie patty and some coconut bread from a local vendor. I wanted one
of the chicken or beef patties, but my smart wife reminded me that we were
basically in a third world country and their meat may not be as safe as our FDA
approved meat. I was very happy with the veggie patty and bread. We got back to
the boat for lunch at the dreaded buffet.
I was really hoping we would beat most of the people back on
the ship, but I was wrong. Once again it was like throwing slop in the pig
trough. We at least new we were headed to our favorite deli spot and were able
to avoid most of the stampede. We had the tuna and a salad, again something
healthy. But I didn’t care the pizza buffet was always opened and I had a
routine down of having a few slices before dinner. We found a quiet booth and
enjoyed watching the boat pull away from the dock.
So it was dinner time and we had learned to take our time to
get there. Otherwise you would end up just standing in line. So we were able to
walk to our table and join our friends we met every night and compared notes on
our excursions. They had one of my
favorites as an appetizer, sushi. Not too many people like raw fish, I think
it’s awesome and get it whenever I have the opportunity. Thanks to the great
advice I got that morning, I ordered two appetizers. The other was shark. Had to try it and as the saying goes….It taste like chicken. I don’t equate chicken and
shark, but from now on if I see someone afraid of something I’m going to say,
“Don’t be a shark.” Then came the main dish, I had ordered the pork chops and
potatoes. Not very good and very disappointed, I was so excited about ordering
another meal after the tip I got this morning. But, I had the rest of the trip
to try again I thought to myself with an evil laugh. For the first time I
actually had something that ruined my appetite. It was like Superman finding
his kryptonite. So thankful for the 24 hour Pizza buffet and ice cream bar.
The wife and I enjoyed the rest of the evening walking around the boat and
talking about what we had seen that day. Read about those unforgettable sights
at
