Honeymoon food porn

Because who doesn't love a little Monday morning food porn? I had such an amazing weekend, I thought I should spread the smiles by reminiscing about our fare on the honeymoon in January. If there's one good thing about cruising, it's the endless amounts of amazing food at your fingertips 24 hours a day. You don't eat when you're hungry,  you eat when you're not full anymore from your last meal. There were 21 restaurants on the ship we were on, the Norwegian Epic. We didn't get to try them all but we sure did give it a good old college try!

 

I do have to share a little disappointing news with you. It's not like I didn't know this already but it sort of hit home that my 20's are gone-dy last week when I got a text from Main Man saying: "You're no longer a 20 something food blogger. Did you forget that you're 30?"  Jeeeeeeeeesh! So I suppose I have to change my banner/title, but am thinking I will give myself this week to enjoy it for a bit longer. Don't judge :)

 

I have a new blog I would like to share with you, it's not food related, but you can bet it's on my regular reading list. My good friend Leslie has started a new blog regarding her workout regimen, her struggles with it, and a new challenge she is undertaking for herself to hit her fitness goals. Main Man and I actually joined her at hot yoga this weekend (he was surprised at how hard it actually is, and promised to go back with me) so it's fun to read about her progress, and her outlook on life. She's a very talented writer and she is just as insightful in real life as she is in her writing, so you see why I love to hang out with her! If you would like to join me in following her, check her blog out HERE!!

 

Every morning we hit the breakfast buffet and they had an omelet station where someone would make your eggs however you desire them. I had an egg white omelet with everything in it each morning...some toast, turkey bacon, and a roasted tomato and I was good to go for the day!

The first place we docked the ship after 2 days at sea was St. Maarten. We had arranged to do an America's Cup regatta boat race, so we headed straight for that in the morning after getting off the ship. We were put to work on the Stars and Stripes, the actual boat that won the 1986 America's Cup race, and we raced a Canadian sailboat....and ended up winning! 'Merica!!

We worked up quite an appetite spinning the gears on the sailboat, so we went in search of the authentic Caribbean food. This was a jerk spiced conch dish that we got at an open air restaurant right on the beach in St Maarten. This is tied for my favorite meal of the entire trip (I didn't get a picture of the competitor, the salmon oscar I had the first night on the boat), I can't even explain the flavors in the spice profile...a tiny hint of sweetness followed by the heat...amazing! And so cool to gaze at the blue water and white sand beaches while nibbling on lunch and sipping on a beer...this meal was the epitome of vacation.

Main Man had a grilled fish sandwich that day on the beach, and it was just as amazing as my meal. The fish was so fresh and flaky with such a great seasoning on it. Mmmmmm, I need to live somewhere that's not landlocked at some point in my life...

This was at Taste, one of the free restaurants on the ship. We were super impressed with the free choices on board, as well as the specialty restaurants. You have to pay a small fee at the specialty places, and can order anything you want on the menu, two meals each if you have the room in your tummy. We got appetizers, salads, and were never hungry by time we got our meals at dinner each night...the food was better than I remember on past cruises. I had a black mussels and seafood pasta...

 

And Main Man was pumped to enjoy prime rib and a baked potato...he was impressed that the meat tasted as good as it does at home. If an Iowan says your prime is good, you know you're doing something right!

 

In St Thomas, we chose a ziplining excursion since neither of us had ever done it before. Main Man has an aversion to heights so I'm not sure how he did so much better than me at this, but we both really enjoyed it. There were 6 ziplines, each getting steadily longer and higher up as we went. The last one was so tall, that if there had been any other way down, I would've taken it. But I had to just shut my eyes and go.....wheeeeeeeee!

 

The view above is of the famous Megan's beach overlooking the area where all the celebrities homes are on the island...

 

 

We had lunch at a little place in the shopping district of St Thomas after we finished our ziplining tour...I was a little obsessed with the conch so I got it every place it was offered, although I never did get the conch salad I was looking for. This was conch and onion in a garlic sauce with macaroni and cheese and sweet potato mash with a salad. This was amazing as well but came in second in my conch meals for the trip...

 

 

Main Man had the jerk chicken with the same sides as my meal. He liked it so much he has requested it at home, so you will be seeing a jerk chicken recipe sometime soon on the blog.

 

The Norwegian Epic is the only ship that has a Cirque du Soleil show at sea...amazing doesn't even begin to describe the talent these people were showing with balance, strength, and poise (in the tiniest space, mind you) while the ship rocked from the waves so much that I walked myself into a wall on the way to the bathroom after only one glass of wine. I don't know how it's humanly possible to do what these people do...the show included dinner, and it was fabulous but we were not allowed to take photos once the show started so as not to disturb the performers. This was an unbelievable experience that we will never forget...

The last day of the trip, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas for the day. We embarked on an underwater submarine type trip that took up most of the day, so we didn't have much time for looking around. This was probably one of the neatest experiences of my life...it's so unnatural to feel like you're breathing underwater. I would recommend this to anyone who visits the Bahamas! We went to Atlantis the last time we were there, and spent the whole day racing each other up the steps to the slides having a blast like 10 year old kids, but we wanted to try something different this time. We've decided that we love Nassau so much, we want to take a trip just there sometime....

We stopped at a place called Sharkey's right on the beach as we were heading back to the boat, so we could grab some conch fritters to fill our craving...yummo! There's our honeymoon in a nutshell...I wish I would've made this post sooner, I am now longing for white sand beaches and piles of extravagant food at my beck and call. I hope you all enjoyed your Monday escape to the Caribbean...now get back to work!!