Staying in Downtown Nashville, TN

A lot of the big downtown areas don't have a lot of choice when it comes to food. I say this for all travelers, not just folks with allergies. Often times the big high rise hotels are built near government or corporate offices, so all the restaurants in the area are lunch counters, closed on the weekends and at night. We didn't think we'd have this problem in Nashville, thanks to music row, but we found that with no car, and not wanting to take a cab, we were very limited in choices. Even the high rise hotel we stayed in closed down for room service at 11pm, and their choice for a non wheat meal was hummus or plain salad, at least for supper.

So. What did we learn? We found a place that we could order packets of peanut butter and salad dressing, so we're never stuck with just Bumble Bars again. (We love Bumble Bars, but four a day? Gets old) We had packed well for the plane, but had forgotten how hard it was to work up enthusiasm to go out and find food after traveling all day and bouncing from airport to airport to hotel. Now we have travel tuna with pull tabs, GF crackers and all manner of things with protein.

The next day was better. We got up and out and found a place for lunch on Church Street called Tazza. (I read the online reviews after we visited, and they're wildly mixed, so keep in mind this is our experience only). We asked when we walked in if the salad dressing for one of the salads had wheat. The waiter was exceptionally nice, went to ask the chef, and the dressing was safe, so we got a seat and ordered. The salads were lovely, and the chef even left off the rice noodles we would have thought were safe, saying he checked, and they had wheat in them. It was a very pleasant dining experience, and they were also telling the truth, because no symptoms presented afterward.

The other really nice surprise on Church Street in downtown Nashville was the HG Hill Urban Market

Open until 9pm most days, this little grocery store had all sorts of treasures, including gluten free crackers, organic peanut butter, Luzianne teabags (no gluten in the glue) and all sorts of organic produce. They had soy milk and Puffins cereal. We were able to get snacks and light meals to take back to the hotel to save us from eating protein bars endlessly. We also found a pita deli that would make salads with no bread, and that had wheat free falafel, and a Mexican restaurant called El Rey that had great guacamole and wheat free corn chips.

The bottom line is that without a rental car, and with no place that is open 24 hours serving breakfast (eggs and bacon are generally safe for Shawn, we've found) it's really hard to get enough to eat if you're not prepared. We're learning as we got, though, and we've got some good ideas for our next trip!

FYI, Lorna (that would be me) has just discovered that I'm also allergic to cashews. Yay. So, add another off the list, sneaky ingredient to our growing litany of can't have 'ems!

Introduction

Hey there.

I've recently been diagnosed with some severe allergies - I'm wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, shellfish-free and, because of my blood sugars, refined sugar-free. (Good lord, there's a lot of frees in that.)

As a writer and a publisher, my partner and I travel extensively - up to a total of 2-3 months a year and, as easy as I find keeping my allergens out at home, I find it incredibly difficult during travel.

So, on the second day of this first trip, Lorna (shellfish-free and refined sugar-free) and I decided to start a blog - recording the challenges that we find, the successes we have, and the restaurants that we go to. Good and bad.

*grins*

Welcome aboard!