As a vegetarian traveler, I often get tired of eating out every meal and the options are usually quite limited. Cooking in allows for many options on any sized budget, especially when traveling and visiting. Besides budget, food quality and creativity, it is fun to learn new techniques from other cooks.
Our hosts, my boyfriend’s sister and her boyfriend, worked great as a team in the kitchen, wonderfully orchestrating pasta dishes laden with seafood surprises and mouth-watering feasts. Including wine, we successfully fed the four of us for under $10 a piece on most nights; a huge success in a more tourist-oriented town. As a vegetarian, the trip was a protein-filled feast of a beach vacation and I enjoyed every delicious second of it. The lack of decent seafood in local restaurants was shocking. We joked about finding that hidden gem that foodies dream of, but the reality was that the best meals were the ones dreamt up in the kitchen.
At first, it was a bit nerve-wracking to stick an arm in a pool filled with stingrays and other aquatic life (we like to pretend that they do not share the ocean we enjoy, but I digress), however after a while I got used to the unique, slimy texture of the rays. Although I could have easily spent another 20 minutes petting the amiable sting rays, there was so much left to explore.
Back in the daily grind of chilly Chicago, I cannot help but daydream on mounds of coconut shrimp and long runs on the beach. Send me a postcard if you go for a visit and say hi to the sting rays for me.
So jealous that you got to eat so much seafood! But I am really, really jealous that you drank a coco rico! Such a lucky girl – I am happy for you.