Friday, April 19, 2013

Traveling: The Food Experience

I may have said a time or two before that I am part Italian and that I love food. I love everything about it: cooking it, eating it, and every aspect of the restaurant experience as it relates to food.

In the days when our family was young most of our traveling was limited to camping. Our typical day in relationship to food consisted of bacon and eggs or french toast and Brown 'n Serve sausage links for breakfast. Lunch would be sandwiches if we were hiking, or fast food if we were out and about. Then back to the camp site for hotdogs or brats over the fire for supper.



There were no fine dining experiences in those days. Partially due to Mallory's limited palatable range, mainly consisting of hot dogs, chicken fingers, and grilled cheese. Mostly though, it is hard to have a fine dining experience on a fast food budget.


The first memorable dining experience that I can specifically relate to a trip occurred in June, 2002 at the Painted Horse Grille in Kalispell, Montana. Ironically we were on a two week road trip then through Montana, and South Dakota with a slight detour through Yellowstone. I think what made the experience so memorable was that it was a completely different dining experience than we were use to. The waiter was outstanding, yet it was double of what we were use to paying for a meal. I still have the receipt from that dinner in a scrapbook. (And yes Glen, I checked they are still there, so if we find ourselves in Kalispell this summer we are going back.)

Covent Garden - London
When Mallory and I went to Europe in July, 2007, I got a little smarter and started taking pictures of some of our meals. I think mostly because we were in a foreign country and the food was so different and unique. I wanted to document that in the scrapbook I was planning on doing.


Fish & Chips
Over the years I have been hit and miss with this aspect of the travel experience. I do want to be more consistent with it in the future, not just for big traveling trips, but also on experiences closer to home. I know having an iPhone will make it easier, much less conspicuous than a big dSLR.

I started putting this into practice this week when I was at a local coffee shoppe working on another project. I took a picture of my Vanilla Latte and yummy Chocolate Chip Scone. I do love a good scone.



Do you have a memorable traveling food experience? I would love to hear it.


9 comments:

Karen Lakis said...

I love food, also - but not cooking. For some odd reason, I do make a really great scone, though. This looks like a great step in capturing your travel.

Lovable Derek said...

Fish and chips reminds me of home.... Thanks for that.
Food everywhere in the world seems pretty good to me - not that I've been everywhere in the world. I particularly like French food, and travelling in the States seems to offer some good nosh ups too.
Have a good weekend.

Helen said...

I love good food. The best pizza ever from a woodburning oven in a little take-away shack at Malcesine on Lake Garda in Italy 25 years ago. We took our kids there a few years ago and they all agreed it was the best they'd ever tasted too! The problem is that now I'm very picky about pizza - it has much to live up to!

Kate said...

When I was in the Peace Corps, I was often the guest of honor and invited to people's houses to eat. I learned that, when faced with tripe, raw hamburger or carp in aspic, it was OK to take just a little taste. ("Symbolic! Symbolic!" people would say.) Everybody would watch to see what I thought of the dish.

Anonymous said...

The calk board menu reminds me of my trip to London, although I didn't get to try the beef and ale pie...must go back. In the US, hubby and always look forward to going far enough East to stop at a Cracker Barrel or a Bob Evens - just don't have either of them in California.

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

A Devonshire cream tea that would be yummy , fish n chips and mushy peas a true British pub meal...it's a real family tradition that photographs are always taken at meals hence my fish finger sandwich in the groupies !!

Denise Fabian said...

Oh, I wish I could post this photo on your blog...traveling on vacation in the 60s, you stayed in "Motels" and never made a reservation. When you started to stop, you just started looking for them with "vacancy" signs. And we NEVER ate out...except maybe at the 1964 World's Fair in the luncheonette! My mother would pack the trunk with our Coleman stove, a cooler containing milk and eggs and bacon, we would have bread and stuff for sandwiches, those varity packs of single serving cereal boxes that turn into a bowl, and then canned meat, spam, etc. and hunt a roadside rest!

Nancy said...

My sweet fisherman is the one with the pallet that loves all food. He says I have a cheap pallet meaning I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal...plus chocolate...any chocolate. He loves taking time to eat and enjoys trying new foods but not me...I guess he is the one who should be answering your post, uh?

I do think it's a neat idea to journal your trips and the food since it's something you enjoy so much....

Cathy H. said...

Until about two years ago when taking my first photography prompt classes, I never even thought to take photos of the food I ate. Right about the same time, my sister and I went on a weekend trip together to visit a historic town in Texas. We took pictures of everything we ate and had such fun doing it. We got a few strange looks, but those are some of my favorite images from our trip.