Food fun

We enjoyed some delicious food during our trip to the Caribbean. But before I describe the food that we actually ate, I'll show you some photos of the fun food sculptures that were scattered around one of the dining rooms, the eating area that served meals buffet style. We often ate in this dining room for lunch during our days at sea.

We all got a kick out of the viewing the fruits carved into interesting shapes.

Some of the items were turned into animals. Below is a monkey. Love the banana arms!

And here is a very creative rabbit.

On the last day of the cruise the employees hosted an "extravaganza" where various talents were displayed in progress so that cruisers could witness how the extraordinary items such as the food carvings were created. This is also the same place where we saw the staff creating towel animals and napkin foldings. Below Amelia is standing next to two ice sculptures and a food carving.

This one is great! It is a watermelon carved into the face of a woman, with carefully peeled orange slices arranged as hair.

We actually watched the chef carve the watermelon woman above. What is even more amazing was that it probably took him (only!) about 20 minutes to complete this.

Now for some of the meals that we enjoyed eating. On St. Thomas we ate lunch at a Caribbean restaurant called Cuzzin's. 

My meal was delicious. I ordered a lunch platter of shrimp creole, peas and rice, local stuffing, and plantains. The stuffing was unusual yet good. Scott's mom and I could not identify the flavors, but after asking the waitress it turns out that the dish is made with sweet potatoes, raisins, cinnamon, cumin, and other curry-flavored spices. The flavors of the food tasted so fresh, and I loved the Caribbean take on dishes that have different meaning for me, like stuffing.

On St. Maarten we had lunch at a "Lolo" called Scooby's in the town of Grand Case. "Lolo" is the term for a specific type of eatery, of which we saw about a half dozen lined along the boardwalk next to the beach. Basically a lolo is an outdoor, picnic off the grill stall, that serves dishes such as BBQ meats and seafood with traditional Caribbean-style side dishes.

Lolos are not fancy - customers eat off of paper plates on picnic tables underneath canvas awnings outdoors - but we found this experience to be really fun. Our cab driver directed us to this particular lolo because his wife worked there, so we felt somewhat taken care in terms of getting good food and friendly service.

Below John was patiently waiting for his food. I made him take this photo to show off his missing tooth. The bottom tooth had been dangling for days and thanks to grandmommy's pulling skills, John lost this tooth the previous day on St. Thomas.

Now to the food at Scooby's. We all shared a platter of johnny cakes as an appetizer. Let me tell you, my johnny cake was delicious! Scott's dad, who was raised in the Bahamas, also declared that the johnny cakes were very good. If you are not familiar with the johnny cake, they are fried dumplings where the dough is made with flour, salt, and baking powder, which is kneaded and shaped into a sphere, which is then deep fried. We didn't add any condiments to the fresh johnny cakes, but just enjoyed their doughy goodness fresh out of the frier. This was almost a meal into itself.

Scott and I elected to split a ribs platter for our main meal. We were served a large plate of the following: tender and delicious barbecued ribs, macaroni and cheese, plantains, rice, and a fresh lettuce salad with tomatoes and corn. So good!

And last but not least, this is the only dessert photo that I have from the trip. This was taken on the ship during a dessert showcase where diners could sample lots of bite-sized dessert options. Pictured below are a small chocolate brownie, chocolate-covered strawberry, vanilla meringue, and fresh melon dipped in chocolate. Yum!

Surprisingly, I don't think I gained much more than one or two pounds during the week on the cruise, if that. I exercised in the ship's gym four of the seven vacation days (mostly the days we were at sea) and I felt that I was decently active the other days with the shore excursions and onboard activities (ice skating, rock climbing, etc.). Plus we were constantly walking all around the ship and we tried to take the stairs between levels as much as possible, so I actually feel like we were active enough (and careful about enjoying moderate portions of the foods we wanted to enjoy). I ate everything I wanted to try and enjoyed it all in the moment. Writing this post is making me want to relive these food memories again - so good!