Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Day 4 of the cruise


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 entrĂ©e. 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