Food, Food, and More Food

We love to eat and try new things! We got to do that on this trip. We tried escargo (which is snails), grandilla (which is a fruit only found in South America), frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolate (only found in Key West), conch fritters (conch comes out of that conch shell that I posted a picture of yesterday), and stone crabs to name a few. We had so much good food on the cruise and in Ecuador. Ecuador had plantains every which way you could think of. Also, they had wonderful desserts. In the mall where we would normally have a cookie place or dots ice cream (the ice cream of the future for the last 20 years), they had elaborate cheesecakes and chocolate fondue. Trent found his favorite cheesecake in the world at a little shop in the mall that you could purchase for $2. I'll tell you about my favorite food experiences from our trip...

We were able to pay a little extra and go to an exclusive restaurant called the Murano on the boat. It was a six course meal that was a 2 1/2 hour experience. This was by far the fanciest meal I've ever had. We had two waiters for the four of us who synchronized it so that all four of our plates were placed before us at the exact same time. After our entree, they brought out a cart with all sorts of cheeses on it which we could try. I didn't know there were that many various cheeses out there! Then, we had what they called a "7 bite" dessert. It was more like 24 bites! We were so full, but it was amazing!

My absolute favorite meal is the one we had in Salinas, Ecuador. This was a beach town that we went to at the end of our trip. One day, Kay, Trent, Brock, and I sat in chairs on the beach under umbrellas for seven hours! During that time, vendors would come by offering us sweet plantains for 25 cents or a coconut for 50 cents. I had the best empanada I've ever had that day. One guy came by with lobsters that were still alive. He told us that he would go prepare them for us and bring it back. So, for $20, he brought us 3 huge lobsters and a plate of delicious sides right there on the beach! That was an amazing day. It combined two of my favorite things in life...the beach and food.


Brock trying escargo on the cruise.


Brock eating a grandilla.


Me eating a frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolate in Key West.


Brock goofing off with the inventor of the chocolate dipped key lime pie, Kermit.


Us in Grand Cayman Island eating conch chowder and conch fritters.


Stone crabs...can you spot the face of one?


Brock after he tried a bite of the cheesecake and Trent before he took a bite of the cheesecake.


This was Trent after he had a bite of the cheesecake. He almost fainted because it was so good!


Us eating at the Murano.


This was the best empanada ever!


This guy cut the coconut right there for us.


Kay and Trent drinking the coconut juice.


This was the amazing lobster dinner right there on the beach!