Traveling with Allergies

Gluten Free Las Vegas

2012-01-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

Shawn and I took two trips to Las Vegas in 2011, one in September for a convention and one in late October for the PBR finals.

We stayed at Treasure Island for trip one, and at Mandalay Bay for trip two. Here's our successes and failures for both trips!

We started at the Coffee Shop in TI. They have a pretty decent knowledge of what gluten is, but we found they weren't particularly aware of cross-contamination. The hash browns were gluten free originally, but our resident celiac got sick from the, so I'm sure they cross contaminated on the grill. The eggs were cooked in their own pan, and the fruit was fine.

On the winning side for TI is the Isla Mexican Kitchen. They were extremely knowledgeable about their menu, and they had a GF dessert option, which was lovely. Their guacamole was excellent and the chicken tacos were so yummy. Their menu is varied and fresh, but also traditional Mexican.

We also skipped over to the Mirage to the Brazilian steakhouse called Samba. They're ready for you if you call ahead, but we found that even if you forget to mention your allergy at that time, they can accommodate. The only thing we couldn't eat was the bread basket, the creamed spinach and the teriyaki meats.
Also at the Mirage, we had burgers and shakes at BLT burger. I'm not sure how safe they are for someone who's very sensitive, but Shawn has never gotten ill there, and she can bleed internally from someone passing the bread basket over her plate.

Wow. I thought this would be short. I think I'll break it into more posts! Next up, the Paris!

not defunct

2012-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

going to be trying to hit all my blogs at least twice a month

Look for random reviews here from the past year

XXOO

summer round up

2010-09-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

hey y'all!

Just got back fr0m an end of summer trip to Western Colorado, and wanted to clue y'all in on some great places.

Dream Cafe (3rd and Main, Grand Juncti0n CO) has gluten free pancakes. They have amazing GF pancakes, in fact, and all of their pancake options can be made GF. ( I couldn't find a website to show y'all a menu, but it's pretty nice brunch type food.)

No Coast Sushi in Grand Junction CO http://www.nocoastsushi.com/
We've never been to a sushi place that was as knowledgeable or as accommodating of Gluten Free. They carry wheat free tamari, and almost all of their sushi can be made GF save for the eel and a few other bit with pre-made sauces. Not only that, but the fish was psychotically fresh and good. Thumbs up.

The Bluebird in Glenwood Springs CO http://www.facebook.com/pages/Glenwood-Springs-CO/The-Bluebird-Cafe/186133149004

This place has coffee and pastry. Get there early for the GF muffin of the day. We had chocolate coconut and an almond milk latte. Since we've gotten so sensitive to soy and S can't do dairy, a place that does almond milk is a dream. They also have fab GF chocolate chip cookies. All of their sandwiches can come on GF bread. Very nice, not beany. They were very aware of cross-contamination

Juicy Lucy Steakhouse, Glenwood Springs CO
http://www.juicylucyssteakhouse.com/

Steamed Artichoke and an elk burger, no bun... uhn

All in all, we found Glenwood very easy to eat in. Even the non-GF places knew what celiac and wheat allergy meant, and worked hard to help us out! Grand Junction was easier than expected, although there are more chains and fewer allergy aware spots. Still, the City Market grocery chain carries Udi's bread and other GF treats, so we even did well on our snacks!

whoa gone a while

2010-01-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

I keep meaning to keep up, but this is why I will never be a famous blogger or blog for dollars. I am, at heart, forgetful.

wanted to let everyone know about a few places we hit while we were on Christmas break

We went to Fredericksburg TX a few weeks before Christmas to do their German Christmas Fair. We ate at a good many places and had little trouble, though a lot of our choices were limited to hamburgers and eggs. Kelly's Cafe, though, at 505 W Main, had amazing dinner food. I've seen some reviews about poor food and bad service, but I have to say, we arrived without reservations on a Saturday night, and they were gracious, got us a seat, and the service was perfectly acceptable. I have to wonder what folks think is good, but then I was a waitress, and I tend to sympathize with food service folks... We have luscious pork loin with sauteed apples, and amazing mashed potatoes. The best thing is that they were utterly willing to accommodate any food allergy, as it's a small, local, chef owned place.

We went to Maine for Christmas proper (Cold! Oh, the cold) and we had some bad moments (stuck in Newark at the airport overnight anyone?) but we ate at this amazing bakery in Portsmouth New Hampshire. It's called Popover's on the Square http://www.popoversonthesquare.com/index.html and Gluten Free bread is available for all of their sandwiches. The bread was lovely, not beany at all, and they made paninis on a dedicated GF press. Joy!

For some local joy, we went to the Wildwood Art Cafe in Austin for New Years Dinner. http://www.wildwoodartcafe.com/cafe.php All of their baked goods are GF now, and they have a ton of vegan and vegetarian options. They had a prix fix menu for New Year's, which you had to call ahead and sign up for. We had tomato soup, ossu bucco, and cheesecake, along with one L trying the scallops and S trying the pear and apple tart. It was a lovely, candlelit dinner, and the food was amazing. The veal for the osso bucco was obviously free range, which is the only kind I'll go with, and the sauce was unreal. The creamy polenta was to die for, and the cheesecake had a crust that tasted like graham cracker, which I miss.

Finally, Viva Chocolato in the Domain http://www.vivachocolato.com/ has amazing fine chocolates, and all but two varieties are gluten free. Nut allergies should probably avoid it, and dairy allergic folks would have to be careful, but oh, yum!

Orlando - the good and the bad

2009-04-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

We rented a house to go to Romantic Times, the biggest romance convention in the country. It was in Orlando this year, and we decided to have a kitchen and a pool, all to ourselves.

I *highly* recommend this. The grocery store, Publix, was fairly GF friendly, and there's a Whole Foods 20 minutes from Disney World. Without this, we would have been sick, sick puppies.

There wasn't a lot of places that did gluten free. Heck, chips and salsa at the one Mexican place wasn't even safe. To their credit, their gluten free listing did not guarantee anything, as cross contamination was a problem. That was at a place called Chevy's. Not a chain we'll go to again. They get points for honesty, though. They really do.

We also discovered that while Disney is super aware of GF issues, and are very willing to help, there is no real gluten free breakfast out and about in the park. We ended up at the bakery watching everyone eat pastry while we had a banana. They can't even do a latte with soy milk. So...

The Ener-G hamburger buns they use are great, though, and the fries are all GF, so we had a tasty lunch in the Magic Kingdom.

The Wyndham resort on International, just off I4, was where our convention was, and their restaurant is mostly Italian food, which made us glad we didn't stay there. However, the day we had lunch there, the waiter, Ron, made sure we got a very safe chicken caesar salad. He rocked our socks.

The big winner was an unexpeted trip to Fridays off International Drive. 6424 Carrier Dr, Orlando, for you GPS types. Our hostess (I think her name was Michelle. Sorry if I'm wrong, honey) waiter Daniel, and their manager Brad, went way out of their way for us. Brad came with the allergy list, sat with us and helped us figure out what to eat, and then cooked part of it himself. Daniel was super nice about keeping the gluten eater's food separate from ours, and on checking in with us to make sure everything was good. It was only the second restauarant meal in Orlando that had been totally safe, and we really, really appreciated how a busy chain would really go to great lengths to make us safe and comfortable. It was a wonderful experience.

Thanks to Ron and Daniel and Brad for our good times in Orlando!

Santa Fe and Albuquerque

2009-04-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

We headed up to New Mexico this past weekend to do our very favorite thing, which is follow bullriders around. Yep, it was PBR time in Albuquerque, and we went a few days early to hit Santa Fe.

Texas Mexican food is particularly easy to eat on a gluten free peanut free shellfish free diet, so we didn't think that it would be hard in New Mexico...

Wow. Were we wrong.

Green and red chile sauces in New Mexico? All thickened with flour. Green chile is one of my great loves. I grew up on it. I adore it. Sigh. And no sopapillas? Ahhhh

So, that made the few places we found that could accommodate us that much more precious.

We asked the concierge at the La Fonda hotel about gluten free, and she suggested a place called Body. I am usually way suspicious of vegan and raw stuff, even though I know they usually lend themselves to gluten free as well, but this place had amazing food. S and I split the raw pizza and had a bowl of lentil soup (it was snowing!) and L had the chicken sandwich, which had local, organic chicken, and house made sourdough. They literally had something for everyone, and their cheese-less cheesecake was just the ticket for dessert. Highly recommended!

Also in Santa Fe, we went to La Plazuela, at La Fonda. While we didn't find their breakfast menu all that inspiring, we did decide to go to dinner for the tableside guacamole. I had stayed at the hotel years ago, and never got the guacamole, and I wanted it bad. *grins* Turned out, the waiter was very knowledgable about gluten free options, and ran down the whole menu with us. We ended up with the guacamole, and some amazing pork carnitas tacos on homemade corn tortillas. There was a cheyote and apple slaw, too. Yum. The waiter even remembered not to offer us sopapillas or dessert, save the sorbet.

For breakfast the next morning, we slogged through the seven inches of snow and slush about three blocks down the street from La Fonda, to a place called Le Zodiac. You might look at the menu and go, huh? But! They have stuff not listed on their online menu. On the board outside they advertised gluten-free buckwheat crepes, filled with egg, ham and cheese, or many combinations thereof. Yum, y'all! They also had soy lattes. They were inexpensive, and open at 7:30 for breakfast every day but Tuesday. If your food allergy is not wheat, then try their amazing looking pastries and sandwiches, which are all artisan, French-style feasts.

Finally in Santa Fe, we dropped into a little chocolate shop tucked away behind the mission and the capitol building. Kakawa Chocolate House has not only the most amazing chocolate elixer drinks, they have dairy free truffles and chocolates, and dairy and gluten free brownies and cookies. They use honey and agave as sweeteners, which is also a huge yay for us diabetics. The lady behind the counter was sweet and knowledgable and we had kind of an amazing experience there.

In Albuquerque, we stayed at the Sandia Resort and Casino, which limited our options a bit if we didn't want to drive into town. Still, they were very accomodating. We ended up with a lot of bun free hamburgers and egg dishes, but that was okay. I did have a very nice filet mignon there. The best thing about the Sandia is that the staff is exceptional. They're eager to please, and one little gal named Kimberly had a terrible shellfish allergy, so she was hyper-vigilant for us. One word to the wise, though. If you get a salad, ask them to mix it in a separate bowl from the usual, or you'll get crouton crumbs.

All in all, we found Northern New Mexico a challenge for everyday eating, but there are some serious gems. If you know of somewhere we missed, holler! We'll happily try it next time.

the start of the cruise blog posts

2008-12-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

We had very limited internet on the vacation, but we're back now, and I can start posting in fits and starts what was good, great and not so good...

We'll start with the airline

We flew Continental from Austin to Newark, then from Newark to Rome. They had told S when she called ahead about the gluten free meals that they wouldn't be able to accommodate her on the domestic flight, as they only served a pizza-style snack, but that was okay. We packed protein bars and water and nuts that I could eat and GF pretzels.

On the overseas flight, however, they served dinner and breakfast, and they served gluten free meals much like they do kosher or vegetarian. S got her food first, in fact, and let me tell you, her chicken was way nicer than our regular meals. She got veggies and rice, as well as GF potato chips and a Jennie's macaroon. Her salad came with lemon juice and salt and pepper, since their creamy Italian was not GF, and what a wonderful thing that was. We decided to get some packs of lemon juice for S to carry with her from now on, as that was so much better than bare lettuce, and easier to pack than the big packs of single serving GF dressing.

Breakfast wasn't as great, as we non-GF people only got a roll and some fruit. S got a macaroon and fruit, which was a little less protein than a diabetic needs, but we had almonds in our purses, so it was okay.

Honestly, though, dinner was such a pleasant surprise that it didn't matter. Continental gets 2 thumbs up for their GF meals. Go them!

Gearing Up for the Cruise

2008-10-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

We're fixing to take a transatlantic cruise at the end of the month. It starts in Rome, where we'll spend an extra four days. Then to Spain, the Canary Islands, St Marten and Ft Lauderdale.

We made the plans for this trip before the gluten allergy diagnosis, before my peanut/cashew allergy onset so hard. Bef0re S knew it was the dairy that made her almost deaf because her ears were so stopped up.

For me, the hardest part will be small meals every two hours, rather than gorging at the buffet, but for S, going to Italy and facing no pasta, no pizza, and very little cheese is depressing.

So what do we do? We get the Google Fu on. There's a gluten free restaurant in Rome. The cruise folks and the airline folks are now laying in GF foods for Shawn. We're finding little cards to present to restaurants in Italian and Spanish, and we've been upgraded (on the cheap) to a suite on the boat, where we'll have a fridge and a microwave, so we can lay in supplies like soy milk and instant grits.

We'll keep y'all posted!

San Matteo for a conference

2008-09-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

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...

Travel dread

2008-09-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Traveling has been a great joy for me and for Shawn over the last two or three years. We've been from Pittsburgh to Cheyenne, from New Orleans to Anaheim. We've been to London and Cancun, to Nassau and Toronto. We've gone on two cruises, and on countless rodeo getaways, from little towns in Texas, to giant stock shows in Colorado. We've had conventions in New York City and downtown LA, and in all points in between.

We've both known for years that we're diabetic (20 years for Shawn as type 1, 8 years for me as type 2, diagnosed when I was 30), but on or off our insulin, that never made much difference to us in how we ate. High blood sugars made us feel sluggish, but the benefit of cutting out the sweets never seemed to outweigh the joy of a good chocolate cake, or of a big old pizza.

Shellfish is an allergy I've known about for years, as well, and while I used to love shrimp and scallops, cutting them out of my diet wasn't hard. The same could be said for Shawn's problem with some citrus fruits. She never has had a problem with them besides tongue blisters, so why deny herself that lemonade?

These new allergy diagnoses, though, are things we can't ignore. Since cutting out the gluten and caesin, Shawn's trigeminal neuralgia is almost completely dormant, and many of her MS symptoms are completely gone. My new diet requires me to eat protein at every mini meal, and I eat every two hours. So, an as to now undiagnosed nut allergy has suddenly become full blown, with hives and throat closures and all manner of ugliness.

I bet anyone can understand why S and I suddenly have a little travel dread.

How do you eat every two hours in a world that basically believes in three squares a day, and enormous portions? How do you deal with waiters, store owners and hoteliers who are well meaning, but essentially can't fathom something like a wheat allergy? (For instance, a sweet young man who checked to see if their restaurant's falafel was wheat free then asked if S wanted white or wheat bread or croutons for her salad.)

We're trying hard not to be bummed. We're both pull your socks up kind of girls, who see most everything as an adventure, but both of us are starting to just wonder if we ought to stay at home, where we manage okay.

What I'm proposing now is a few day trips. We live just outside Austin, so I think we need to go to Fredericksburg, or Salado (one south, one north) for the day, pack some snacks, do some research, and try to eat out a little.

Start small, my mom always said. Practice makes perfect.

Feel free to comment on what sorts of things you'd do to practice efficient travel!

Staying in Downtown Nashville, TN

2008-08-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

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!