Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Have you ever had a meal, either good or bad or whatever, that you know you'll remember for the rest of your life? I know this is completely random, but Pete and I were talking about it the other night and I wondered if anyone else felt the same way.
So far in my short time on Earth, I have two meals that stand out far beyond the rest as "The Best Meals of My Life". The first one was in the summer of 2000. It was the 2nd day of our honeymoon. We'd driven all day from Lake Tahoe, Ca. to Park City Utah. We were on our way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We'd driven all day across the dessert of Nevada and through the Salt Flats of Utah and finally made it to our hotel in Park City around 8 o'clock that night. We were tired and hungry. Park City is such a cute little town. This was before the winter Olympics were held there in 2002 (?) We decided to take a walk and see if we could find something to eat. Mind you, this is Utah (home of the Mormons) and Sunday (in my experience most Mormon's don't work on Sunday) AND it's the middle of summer in a WINTER resort town. Yeah. Not much going on in Park City that night. We walked down a couple blocks and decided to turn down a side street and head back for our hotel, figuring we could just get room service or something. And then, there it was....a little steak house type restaurant right there on the corner. I have not idea what the name of it was. But we walked in and almost thought they were closed. There was no one in there. In fact, the hostess said they were just about to close. But they sat us anyway. I remember thinking that it was going to suck because you know they just wanted to go home. They were going to feed us leftovers off the floor or something. I ordered teriyaki chicken, thinking that would be safe. They also had tons of wild game like elk and buffalo on the menu. I don't remember what Pete ordered, but I think he actually passed on the wild game that time.
I remember waiting for quite a while. I think they actually had to turn the ovens back on. It was that late. The food finally came and we were pretty hungry, but I tell ya.....That chicken was and probably still is the best chicken I've ever eaten. It was so tender and juicy and the sauce...oh the sauce was wonderful. Its just one of those meals I'll never forget. I think it's probably the entire situation that led to the memorableness of it. I mean we were on our honeymoon, and we were hungry as heck and the people in the restaurant were extremely hospitable despite the late hour. But the food really was good. I wish I could remember the name of that place.
The second Best Meal of My Life was in August of 2002. It was my birthday and we had been camping with some friends up on the Mendocino coast in Northern California. We'd been at the beach all day. Pete and the guys had been diving for abalone and me and the girls were searching for treasures on Glass Beach. We were dirty and cold and wet. Summer at the beach in Nor Cal is COLD. It's almost always foggy and there's a stiff wind that comes off the Pacific. But it's the most beautiful place in the world. (in my opinion) Anyway, we were driving back down to our campground when Pete pulled of the road into the parking lot of a little bed and breakfast. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Well, it's your birthday and I thought we'd have a nice dinner tonight", he said. (Awwwww!) So, he went in and made reservations just for the two of us. We went back to camp and cleaned up as best we could. We were camping, you know that's kind of hard to do! We drove back up to the B&B and were seated for our meal. This place was SO nice. The nicest restaurant I'd ever been in. One of those restaurants with a French gourmet chef and a different menu every night. It was just about sunset and we were seated right next to the window which overlooked a beautiful garden and then cliffs down to the ocean. The restaurant sits right were the Albion River meets the Pacific Ocean. It was incredibly romantic. I'm usually not all mushy like that, but this place is just...wow-amazing. We both ordered the fillet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. I remember the first bite. Pete and I both put our forks down and looked at each other. It was like nothing we'd ever eaten in our lives. Like we were offered a tiny peace of heaven right there on our plates. It was just so amazingly good. I can't even describe it. Worth every bit of the $120 dollars! *yikes* Again, the experience made it just that much more enjoyable, but it was still the best meal we've ever had. Hands down.
We were lucky enough to go back there for our anniversary in June of 2006. We actually stayed the night at the B&B this time. It was another great meal and the breakfast the next morning was phenomenal. But nothing can top that first time. Plus I was like 8 months pregnant the 2nd time...nothing's that enjoyable when your 8 months pregnant!
So how about you guys? Ever had a meal you'll never forget? If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you request for your last meal?

****Side note****
Thank you to everyone for your words about my last post! And hello??? Where have I been? Super Why! is like AWESOME! Is there any better pre-reading program out there? I went directly to the PBS website after Jude and Kim recommended it and watched an episode right here on the computer. I then went to iTunes and downloaded a couple of episodes. They are great. And I also bought a Leap Frog DVD at Costco so we're on a roll!
Thanks for all your input!

4 comments:

Jude said...

Your memorable meals sounds amazing, and yes I can think of some too... ahhh, the power of food! I am glad you liked Super WHy too!!

camport said...

SuperWhy! That's one we've never delved into. Maybe I'll check it out for Felix.

The only memorable meal that pops into mind is a place we stopped in N Cal on the way to meeting you. It might be b/c "the friend" I was with was acting like a complete moron towards the owner of the restaurant. It was the best pizza ever, but she was being obnoxiously loud about it and making a fool out of us. Ah well. That should've been a sign of things to come!

Oh wait! A meal Sean and I ate on our honeymoon! We ate at Lady & Sons{Paula Dean's restaurant in Savannah, GA} and Sean got a salad w/artichoke hearts and will not eat them to this day. He broke out in hives on our HM and said it was b/c of the hearts. I believe it was nerves as they lasted an entire month, he still stands firm with the artichokes. That was a pretty memorable meal, but not b/c of the food!

:)

Melissa said...

Man, I would really have to think about a good meal....but, it sounds like you have some good memories attached to your happy meals and that is probably what makes them even more memorable!

I'll have to check out Super Why too!

nicole said...

trying to think if i've had a meal that memorable...honestly can't think of one - ok now one popped into my head - but seriously I think that means I need to get out more....hungry though after reading about yours :)
and super whys are great... they are on at kind of a weird time here but the kids like them..
also word world (also on pbs) is good - and they have tons of learning toys at target with characters from that show...