Gluten Free Atlanta – Day Four – Hotel Eats and Repeats

Wednesday was our last full day in Atlanta and it was great from start to finish.  There were threats of severe thunderstorms all day but we never saw a drop of rain. The light cloud cover kept the temperature just about perfect for walking and site seeing. Joe and I had a quiet morning catching up in the hotel room and Aunt Carrie picked up Joe and dropped off Kate just after lunch.    

Joe had a great time with Carrie and Kim and really enjoyed the Fernbank Museum exhibits and especially liked the IMAX Storm Chaser Movie. I love the pics Carrie took.  How they folded Joe up in the photo on the right just cracks me up.

I had the best time with Kate just wandering through the High and getting to know my fantastic niece. The museum is huge and has beautiful collections of varied art - we really had a great time looking at sculptures, paintings, etchings, furniture - even a blue glass iron from the early 1900's was interesting and surprisingly beautiful.

Kate is a super talented painter so it made perfect sense to take her picture with this sculpture of a painter. I loved hearing her talk about art and painting - she has learned so much and has such a gift.  It was really a nice way to spend the last of our cousin time together and made it all the harder to say good bye. 

Back at the hotel Joe was ready for a snack.  We made him a giant plate of nachos with groceries we’d brought from home.  In fact, many of our meals and snacks in Atlanta had been brought from home.  When we travel, which isn’t terribly often, we usually stay at a Residence Inn which a small kitchen.  We bring a cooler filled with groceries and plan most meals there. 

The kitchen in Atlanta, like most of them, had a two burner range, microwave, fridge and dishwasher.  There is usually a very basic set of pots, dishes and utensils.  You may want to pack up your own knives for slicing or specialty items like a peeler to make any meal prep a bit easier.  Since I don’t use a microwave at home and don’t worry about using for such short periods of time very occasionally it’s always fun to do microwave popcorn and other quick to heat items. If you choose not to use one, you’ll need to plan meals around the burners.

Staying in a hotel with a kitchen makes travelling so easy. You can know what you’re eating is gluten free and you can eat at times most convenient for you.  Our hotel had a breakfast buffet each morning. There were a few options that appeared to or certainly were gluten free and it would have been easy to ask the kitchen staff but I preferred to have the banana bread or bagels I packed instead.  

For this trip I made a large casserole sized lasagna style pasta, cheese bread and rolls, banana bread, Kombucha, cookies and trail mix.  We packed cans of black beans, chips, cheese and some other odds and ends.  I find that kombucha helps keep our stomachs “happier” on the road. =D  There were grocery stores nearby to pick up some salad makings and sandwich fillings.

When it comes to dining out I usually do a search such as “gluten free Asheville” or “gluten free Atlanta” and generally find a lot of local restaurants and chains that will work.  Often there are reviews you can check out as well.  A couple of weeks ago I happened to ask a fellow Feingold member who lives in Atlanta if she had any recommendations.  Yeah Burger was one of Sarah’s tips and it turned out to be one of our favorites.  She also mentioned some things that were already on my list which confirmed them as good choices, too.

Planning ahead is always a good idea when you’re gluten free and really isn’t any harder for road trips.  Searches, friends, even hotel staff can give you great leads and make gluten free eating safe and fun.  I'd love to hear more ideas on gluten free traveling - so please comment if you have them!

I almost forgot to mention dinner!  I received a text from Chris while at the museum cafe with Kate asking if I wanted onion rings for dinner, so back to Yeah Burger we went!  This time I tried a chicken sandwich on gf bun and, of course, onion rings.   The chicken sandwich had a mild rosemary flavor - not my favorite herb - but it was still great.  The bun was completely out of this world. It's probably a good thing there is not a Yeah Burger within 400 miles of me!  The onion rings were as good as I hoped and so addictive.  

Our last night in Atlanta was a great one and I'll remember it with this picture Joe took of us at Yeah Burger.