Time flies!
It feels like just yesterday that we packed up the car and headed for our annual weeklong vacation in Michigan.
We made sure to do some of our favorite things, like grill (we cooked foil packets of bread and portobello ‘shroom caps while the chickens were finishing up)…
Stop at Oink’s for ice cream…
… and grab bagels- and an awesome fried fried green tomato sandwich- at David’s.
Our new road rule is to use urbanspoon to find cool little restaurants, rather than stop on the side of the road and hope to find something vegetarian. And more often than not, we’ve found real gems! On the first leg of our drive, we stopped at a fun little cafe/ health food store called Squeakers tucked away in Bowling Green, Ohio. Everything is 100% vegan and mostly organic. (I just looked at their website and it seems they’re looking for a buyer or they’ll have to close in August! Anyone interested?)
We started with the spinach artichoke dip, which was da bomb diggity. Hot and cheezy, perfectly salty… I’m still craving it.
For my entrée, I had a “steak” and walnut salad with romaine, tomatoes, carrots, sprouts, and mozzarella “cheese.” It was delicious! (And may be recreated now that I’m making my own seitan.)
We stopped for the night just over the Pennsylvania line in Slippery Rock, about 7 hours from New York. A little research brought us to North Country Brewing, a funky restaurant and brewery in town.
Beers to whet our palates! Blueberry for me, and something extra hoppy for B.
The individually baked bread- in a flower pot!- was delicious. Nice and yeasty! I’m itching to bake a new loaf of sourdough.
NCB was friendly to all sorts of diets, and even had a menu highlighting all of the gluten free items. Under the “herbivore” section, I found a chili-spiced black bean burger that was just what I was craving. The burger itself was a bit dry, but I was really in the mood for greasy fries and finger food!
After dinner, we drove around looking for beautiful scenery… and we found it!
Last chance to dip our toes into the water for a while…
After a good night’s sleep at the Comfort Inn (the pillows and bed are so comfy!), we packed up again and headed out in search of a Starbucks. The only one within 50 miles turned out to be in the middle of a college campus- and closed- so we found ourselves in a McDonald’s drive-thru.
Neither of us expected to find ourselves here, but we saw signs for blueberry banana oatmeal. We asked them to leave the sugar out- although it was still plenty sweet- and doctored our cups with cinnamon, pumpkin seeds and peanut butter.
Not bad for an improvised meal! And nice to know that a place like McDonald’s has at least one healthy option for the on-the-go traveler.
1700 miles later, we’re home again, home again…
Time for a home-cooked meal!