The Best Meal I Ever Had

I’ve only been out of the country twice, and I’m not including Canada. Both times I traveled, I went to Mexico. Most recently (2006), I went to Oaxaca and Hautulco. Josh lived in Oaxaca as a young boy, and it was a fabulous trip for the family to see a bit of his boyhood. Let no one ever tell you that traveling with kids or in-laws can’t be fantastic. Josh’s dad is fluent in Spanish and knew the area, which made the trip great! On one particular outing, we’d rented a taxi bus to take about 10 of us into the mountains to an aquarium. On the way back, Bob asked the driver to find us a great place to eat.

The driver pulled over to a cliff-side shack where a few tables and hammocks were under a canopy. There were (I think) five choices for a meal. No menu. We were the only customers. And that’s where I had the most delicious meal I’ve ever eaten in my life. It included a fish cooked whole on my plate. And oh so much deliciousness. The only thing wrong was that Josh had stayed behind with a sick kiddo and missed sharing it with me.

Have you ever seen the movie (1998) After Life? I linked the trailer there, if you want to see the preview. Anyway, it’s a touching movie. The premise revolves around choosing one memory to live in for all your eternity. It really fascinated me, and occasionally I’ll get lost in thinking about which memory of mine I would choose to stay in forever. The memory of pulling up to this shack and eating such a simple meal with such a grand view, is definitely a front-runner. It’s imperfect, like I said. And the truth is, I haven’t found the memory yet that I’d want to stay in forever. Could you pick one?

So, what got me thinking about all this was a Guatemalan restaurant GUATELINDA that Josh and I recently found. I ordered the fish, and it came to the table looking exactly like the one I ate in Mexico. Not as good as in my memory, but a reeeeeeeeally good restaurant. I can’t wait to go back, actually.