San Matteo for a conference

Hey y'all!

We just got back from staying at the Marriott San Mateo for a conference. We didn't hardly get the chance to get out of the hotel, save for one walking trip to a nearby Trader Joe's, but nonetheless, this trip went far better than the last one, food wise!

We geared up to fly on friday by packing pretzels (rice based), Bumble Bars, individual packs of almond butter, Lara bars and almonds. We got water at the airport, along with a couple of Odwalla protein drinks, and we were good to go.

We ate a late supper at the restaurant, who did pretty well with all of our special requests, save not leaving off the bread on S's salad. Luckily, there was no cross contamination, as it was one piece of focaccia gently balanced on the edge of the plate, the crumbs easily wiped away. It's still kind of amazing to us how you can explain that you have a wheat allergy, and people nod and go check on the salad dressing for you, but don't think about the bread perching there.

Breakfast was easy, though the breakfast potatoes had sneaky wheat. The bacon didn't. We had eggs and fruit, too. For lunch, we had the stuff we had packed from Friday, as well as some tiny cans of tuna. Dinner was from trader joe's, which didn't yield as much bounty as we hoped, but we did get olives and chips and salsa and hummus, as well as some lovely blackberries for dessert

The hotel room service staff was far better than the restaurant wait staff, and when we ordered hamburgers with no buns and no cheese, they came just as we asked. S couldn't have the mustard, as they only served a stone ground dijon we know to have wheat, so we made a note to bring packets next time.

What else? The only day we had any trouble was Monday, on the flight back. We left at the ass crack of dawn, and the SFO airport had one diner open. They had wheat free breakfast options, but they were all undercooked and underwhelming. The plane snacks? Cheese and wheat or cashews...

So, yeah, we were hungry and tired of Bumble Bars again. But not discouraged

S discovered the joy that is a venti latte with soy milk, as well...

all in all, I think we were better prepared and better at ordering in the one restaurant, but we still have yet to take a trip where we're not isolated by the big convention hotel...