Today is the BIG DAY! It’s time for Meal 116, the one that passes the prior record held since 2014, from #PastaPreacher Alan Martin. I took a road trip from Inverness, FL to Burlington, NC, 600+ miles away (1,200 round trip) to have a nice meal together while passing his record at the same time. On Friday, it was time to throw on my 8 Weeks of Pasta shirt…
… and hit the road:
I stopped at locations along the way in Georgia, South Carolina and finally ending up in North Carolina, where I met up with an old Army buddy, which was good timing being the observed holiday for Veterans Day and all. I crashed at his place for the night, and Saturday morning I went over to my hotel. Check out this gem:
I’m not sure if there is a better placed hotel on the planet. This Olive Garden is where the record breaking meal took place, so it was a no-brainer to stay at the Drury Inn & Suites. Lisa at the front desk was amazing, and upgraded me to a suite:
I spent yesterday at Olive Garden enjoying my Veterans Day meals, and then today I met up with Alan Martin for 2pm to get Meal 116 rolling:
Is Alan ready to pass the torch and give up his title? Let’s see:
You know how the saying goes, There Can Be Only One:
I ended up selecting Fettuccine, Alfredo & Grilled Chicken + Fettuccine, Creamy Mushroom & Crispy Shrimp Fritta:
Alan went with Rigatoni, Five Cheese Marinara & Meatballs + Angel Hair, Traditional Marinara & Italian Sausage:
The remaining meals were donated to Alan’s church:
The cost savings for this meal was $16 ($9.99 + $4.99 + 6.75% tax). The GM Jeremy, who was AWESOME, made sure to swipe my Pasta Pass to count Meal 116 from one of the meal options:
Here is the nutritional information for this meal: