So Much Eating

And of course I have to talk about the food as it relates to the Ragnar SoCal race because all good races are fueled by good food as I always say. Ok no I don't always say that but I should.

The Wednesday before the Ragnar SoCal relay, I was sitting at Cucina Enoteca lamenting to M about how I had not started packing yet. I soothe my worried non-packed soul with some tasty Fruitti Di Mare Squid Ink Linguine and the Farmer's Chopped Salad (aka the world's best salad). M had the Roasted "Jidore" Chicken served with roasted asparagus and Swiss chard over fontina polenta. Everything is just so good here.

Thursday night after Ragnar van decorating party, the team went to Veggie Grill for dinner where I tried their new Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with a side of chili. It was good but I actually like their regular Chickin' Sandwich better. The sandwich was large. I ate half but that's only because I was saving room for their amazing vegan carrot cake. It was worth it!

Our first food stop during the Ragnar was at In-N-Out Burger. I had a hamburger. It was 11am in the morning and I had ran all of 2.7 miles so I wasn't all that hunger but this is always good.

At our second break during Ragnar we made a stop at a Subway Sandwiches and I ordered a 12 inch meatball sub on wheat with tomatoes and peppercini. I eat half and M ate the other half the next day. I forgot to take a photo because I was out of it by that point.

After we finished our last van leg, we all headed to the Original Pancake House for a late breakfast. I order the Blueberry Waffles. I ate the whole thing. I guess the hunger finally caught up to me.

Instead of driving back up to Irvine immediately following the Ragnar, M drove down to San Diego and we stayed at the Glorietta Bay Inn. It was about half a mile from the Ragnar finish line. That's the very bed where I passed out for 13 hours. It was comfortable. Cute little hotel that I loved.

They even brought milk and cookies during turn down service. The continental breakfast was pretty good as well. I liked this place a lot.

After crossing the Ragnar finish line with my #SMCOL teammates and checking into the hotel. M and I decided to take a stroll to find some dinner. I wanted some pasta. Ristorante La Terrazza was the first Italian place we came upon. The restaurant was upstairs but the hostess sat outside at the bottom of a flight of stairs and then would escort customers up into the restaurant. I don't know why this seemed weird to me but it did. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had not slept for 36 hours. At that point I was more tired than hungry but I wanted to eat something before I passed out.

I have to say that this place was not very good. The calamari was decent but my spaghetti and meatballs was just terrible. I haven't had spaghetti and meatballs in a really long time because I was trying to limit my carbs and this place was not a good way to waste my carb allotment if you know what I mean. Wish I would have just gone to sleep instead. What a terrible thing to say, right? The pasta was overcooked and the sauce was runny. I give it two thumbs down and I could have been easily won over in my tired state.

The next day, M and I went to pick up Sister K and D and we all went to the Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill near Seaworld. This restaurant appeared on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and it was actually M's idea to come here. His taste-buds have grown so much since I've met him. I might do a proper write up on this place if I go back another time but here is a short one for now.

Sister K and I shared half a dozen raw oysters. They were great! We also shared a small Cioppino Soup. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would because the only seafood in there was fish. It would have been better with some shrimp or scallops or something. The fish that was in there was very good. It was not overcooked and dried like it can be. Sister K and I both ordered the Red Crab Sandwich. The sandwich was very big. We were so full. I thought I was going to burst. M ordered the beer battered cod tacos and they were amazing. Get that if you go. It was amazing!

On Sunday afternoon, I drove Sister K back home and we managed to align a visit to see my niece, Sister S and the B-I-L. We went to dinner at Sam Woo. Sister K and I were not that hungry because of the large sandwiches we had for lunch but somehow when we showed at this place the delicious aroma of the food was all it took to get our stomachs going. We followed dinner with a visit to Half and Half tea house.

So much eating went on that I am just getting over it. I probably should go for a run later.