I did bring my appetite with me on boarding Carnival Imagination.  Fortunately, since I have had some very special culinary experiences in the Pride Dining Room.
In the past year Carnival has made some major upgrades in its dinner menus and in the future a whole new menu  to be called American Feast will follow.
One evening we opened with Escargot Bordelaise, another dinner with stuffed mushrooms and a third with Asparagus Vichyssoise.  Some of our entrees included lobster tail with large grilled shrimp, one evening a flat iron steak, unbelievable in flavor and tenderness.
The menu is large and varies each day but some favorite entrees are always available. 
There is a different "did you ever try' item each evening and we usually ordered them.  A cured salmon we enjoyed one evening was memorable.  The French styled escargot excellent.
With its outstanding cuisine and superior service we had to give both dining rooms, Pride and Spirit, five stars.

Aboard Carnival Imagination to Mexico proved to be a delightful experience.  Imagination had just completed a 16 day cruise from Miami through the Panama Canal to reach Long Beach.  Now it will be making Carnival's very popular three and four day Mexico cruises throughout the summer.
Our Ensenada shore excursion was to  Valle de Guadalupe, Baja's premiere wine country.  We visited L A Cetto once again and our tasting reminded us just how good their wines are. 
New to us was La Casa de Dona Lupe which proved to be an experience that went far beyond a routine wine tasting.  We met with Dona Lupe and told her how much we loved her Mexican gardens and patio.
This winery also has a restaurant renown for its pizza and variety of fresh baked breads.  Her Son, Daniel is winemaker and dedicated to making organic wines.
More about all this in a future issue of Vittles Newsletter.

The Pierpont Inn has been an attraction in Ventura since its founding in 1910.  With its classic bungalow style it is now one of the historic hotels of America.
We were there, once again, this time for lunch in the dining room named Austin's Restaurant.  Situated high on a bluff the Inn and restaurant offer wondrous views of the adjacent Pacific Coast.  This day there were a few high clouds but the clear air placed the Channel Islands in view on the horizon.
My dining partner selected the grilled chicken Panini with provoline cheese and a roasted red pepper sauce.
My entree was  wild mushroom ravioli with a brandy cream sauce.
Our table offered a perfect view of the ocean and both the fare and the service outstanding.
As part of the Inn Austin's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.
The Pierpont Inn is located at 550 Sanjon Road in Ventura just a few minutes from Highway 101.For more information call 805 643-6144.

It has been awhile since we visited Taix in Los Angeles but its classic country French cuisine beckoned once again.  And we found  that here at least the stars were still in their courses.
Recently the restaurant, now in its 86th year, has become very popular with the 25 to 40 year old hipster set that has made Echo Park and Silver Lake one of the trendiest part of the City.
The action in the bar and lounge does not get started until about 11 p.m. and then becomes busy indeed.  And from Wednesday thru the weekend the kitchen now stays open till 1 a.m.  We had to take the word of G.M Michael Taix for this since our bar hopping days are long gone.
We enjoyed a long, leisure luncheon and besides meeting Michael also congratulated two employes who have been with the restaurant for fifty years.
With its traditional French cuisine, caring wait service and most reasonable prices there is no mystery to its long time success.

Winter was still AWOL in Southern California.  We were greeted with another  cloudless morning and the promise of seventy degree temperatures so it was back to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, this time to the Paramount Ranch.  For three quarters of a century this  has been the site for the creation of countless movies and TV shows starting in 1927.
Through the years the ranch changed ownership several times but in 1980 the National Park Service acquired the property.
On the property is a western town complete with Saloon, Barber Ship, Sheriff's office, Hotel, Bank,  Railroad Station and much more.   We took countless photos and regretted that we had not worn our cowboy hat.
The landscape of the Ranch is so varied that it was used in the making of many films that had nothing to do with a western theme.  Now there are  trails for short hikes and picnic tables.
My son, Jeff, joined me this day and we had our ice chest, filled with goodies, so could enjoy all of the above.

With the temperature hovering around 80 degrees daily it was hard not to think about spending a day outdoors.  To this end we decided to look in at the Anthony C.Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center located at the King Gillette Ranch.  This new Center was opened in July 2012 and is a partnership of the National Park Service, Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and California State Parks.
The Visitor Center was formerly the horse stable for the Gillette Mansion and while retaining its original design has been completely renovated.  All this renovation was done with the latest technology to make the building as environmentally friendly as possible.
We thought the exhibits outstanding in the way information about the Santa Monica Mountains, its flora and wildlife as well as its wealth of outdoor recreation opportunities was presented.
The Santa Monica Mountains extend some 40 miles and unlike almost all mountain ranges in the U.S. are on a east-west line.  In the range there are 150.000 acres of land preserved for its natural resources as well as recreation.
We met with John Millrany, who as been a volunteer for ten years, as well as Park Ranger Sheila Braden.
We had brought a rather spartan lunch with us and ate it sitting on one of the picnic benches under some beautiful California oak trees that were even older than us. 
The Visitor Center is located at King Gillette Ranch, 26800 Mulholland Highway just off Las Virgenes Road.  For more information call 805 370-2301, on the web at www.LAMountains.com.

Our day in Buena Park proved most rewarding as we visited the Titanic and Bodies Exhibitions.  These are located at what formerly was the Hollywood Wax Museum.  We toured the Titanic exhibition in the morning, then broke for lunch and returned to receive a new education on the human body shown with all its parts and functions in full detail at the Bodies Exhibition.
Both have been produced by Premier Exhibitions with the Titanic museum taking you back one hundred years to that ship's ill fated voyage which has in turn made it the most famous ship in history.  We were much taken with the docents who are dressed in the ship's uniforms and were most helpful in providing additional information or answering one's questions.  And we loved their English accents.
The Bodies Exhibition takes one through a series of rooms each describing the human body from skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, digestive system and reproduction.
Allow plenty of time for the viewing of either of these exhibitions.  Few people will leave the Bodies exhibit without knowing more about the human body than ever before.
The location is 7722 Beach Blvd., Buena Park.  For more information check the web at www.buenaparkexhibitions.com.