Some of our (LA) favorite things!

Zuma Beach.

Since I created The Gay Vegans blog I have written a post at the end of the year to promote people, places and things that have really turned me on during the past year. It's always been a blast, and this year feels even more fun as it is our first December in southern California.

Remember that as a blogger I promote items that we love and do not accept items to try or to blog about.

Here we go!

VeganEgg

This product surprised both of us. We typically try new vegan products but seldom think that we have tried something that we absolutely love. VeganEgg by Follow Your Heart blew our socks off.

Sun Cafe

Our new adventure living in Los Angeles has introduced us to many incredible places that serve tasty vegan food. Sun Cafe was an old favorite from when we would visit LA. Now we have been to their new spot in Studio City and experienced true hospitality with a serving of delish vegan food. We love Sun Cafe.

Zuma Beach

Our favorite beach, hands down. Worth the further drive to Malibu and a staple for our weekends and days off.

Veggie Grill

Vegan fast food. All over southern California including Pasadena, the one we frequent. Will do a restaurant review soon.

Avocado toast

Thanks to the Vegan Mos, this has become a staple in our home. I use vegan butter, avocado, nooch, pepper and paprika. Delish.

Griffith Park

Incredible park just north of downtown LA. Tons of hiking with incredible views, and you can even hike to the Hollywood sign!

Los Angeles

What a city. And an area. Seven months here and we love it. If you are ever going to come for a visit and need recommendations, let us know!

More to come! Thanks for reading!

Loving Los Angeles

A CicLAvia bike ride in downtown LA.

It has been six months since we left Denver and moved to Los Angeles and we are loving it.

A big move like that isn't easy. If you have ever packed up from one part of the country and moved to another, you get it. We took risks in leaving a wonderful home, a great family of friends and awesome jobs. Yet the southern California life called us. We wanted to be in a warmer climate and wanted to be able to get the beach more than once a year.

And so we have.

I wouldn't say we are fully settled in, but we are close. We still need a maps app to get around sometimes. Home is wonderful and we spend our free time either beaching it or exploring the vastness of LA. The longer we are here the smaller Denver seems as a city. LA is just so, big!

Some of our favorites so far:

Hiking at Griffith Park
Brunch at Sun Cafe
Bike Ride on the San Gabriel bike trail
Surfing at Zuma Beach
Veggie Grill
Beach time at Zuma Beach
Walking around the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena
Listening to a conversation in Chinese on one side and in Spanish on the other while in the sauna at our gym
A CicLAvia ride downtown when streets are closed for thousands to ride around town

We can also confirm that LA is the vegan capital of the world. Yesterday we had lunch at Ramen Hood in downtown, a 100% ramen restaurant in the middle of LA's famous Grand Central Market and then we went to Hollywood and spent an hour tasting vegan cheeses at Vromage.

Yes, all of this costs money. It can get expensive. We have found that we spend about the same amount of money on food as we did in Denver. There is an unending variety of farmer's markets where we can shop. Our favorite so far is the South Pasadena market. With the huge amount of diversity here, staples like beans, rice, fruits and veggies are actually cheaper here.

Yes, there are the naysayers. Many do not like LA. I'm sure you've heard of LA traffic. We've experienced it. Not too bad. It requires planning and yes, patience. One cannot be driving at a fast speed and expect to go that fast for their entire journey. My trip to work is about 30 minutes in the morning and can be just over an hour on my way home.

Our exploring will continue. A new hiking trail, a beach we haven't been to yet. Another gorgeous view. A coffee house filled with folks not speaking English. A fruit we have never heard of before.

I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, if you're going to be in LA keep an eye out for our new "When in LA" page that I am working on for the blog.

Thanks for reading!

Go for it!

Right now.

Don't wait.

Life is way too short.

Write that editorial. Call a friend you haven't checked in with for months. Make an amends. Say you're sorry. Forgive. Go on that blind date or make a date night with your love.

Plan a vegan potluck. Plan a protest.

Take a trip. Vietnam? Ireland? Colombia? The mountains. A beach. A back country trip.

We all work so hard. We all are so busy. We can't forget to live.

And live well.

Thanks for reading.

Vegan (and gay friendly) Salt Lake City!

Our summer road trip took us in a different direction as we wanted to visit family on the way to California. So we ended up with a night in Salt Lake City and I am so glad we did!

When you think of Salt Like City, what do you think of?

Mormons?

Anti-gay people?

Well, we love Salt Lake City. If you ever have an opportunity to visit, I highly encourage you to take advantage of that and do it.

We stayed at the lovely Hotel Monaco. One of our favorite hotels in Denver, we wanted to give this one a try. It is right downtown, and convenient to several vegan dining options. They are dog friendly and Suga loves how she is pampered at a Hotel Monaco. We were not disappointed in the least. Great room, great service and the location rocks.

The Hotel Monaco also has bikes! Perfect. We rode them to our first meal, at Sage's Cafe.

In our short time in the city we had food from Sage's and their sister restaurant, Vertical Diner. At Sage's we both ordered the special, explained to us as carrot cake pancakes. It ended up being a carrot cake muffin lightly grilled.Quite tasty but not what we were thinking when we ordered. The menu is filled with items that looked tempting, but one can only order so much!

Back at the hotel we were able to order food from Vertical Diner and have it delivered to the hotel! Score! So we ordered the Chicken Biscuit, similar to a pot pie. We both loved this dish and have talked about it a lot since eating it. If you ever get to Vertical Diner I highly recommend it.

Any review of vegan food in Salt Lake City would not be complete without mentioning City Cakes bakery. Oh my. We went twice. Mike had three different scones and loved them all. I loved the cinnamon roll. We both really enjoyed the sausage potato burrito. The entire staff was so kind and friendly, and we especially enjoyed our conversations with Olivia. Definitely check out City Cakes!

Two places we did not make it to but heard very good things about are House of Tibet and Zest Kitchen and Bar. We will definitely check these two out next time.

Great food, great hospitality, a very friendly downtown and an overall progressive feel. Try Salt Lake City if you ever get the chance.

Thanks for reading!

Trying Air BnB

Last year at Vida Vegan Con in Portland, OR I met some people who had booked a place to stay through Air Bnb. I don't know what world I had been living in, but I had never heard about this.

For those who are not in the know as I was, Air Bnb is a website where you can find a room, a studio, an apartment or a house to stay in all over the world. The main page offers a place to stay in over 34,000 cities in 190 countries. That covers a lot of choices for travel.

We are new to this, After hearing from another friend who had just booked places to stay during a cross country trip, I got onto the website and started looking at some choices for our upcoming trip to San Diego. We are taking quite the route to get to San Diego, which is typical for our road trips as we plan them around people we can visit and delicious vegan food options we have heard of.

I have to say it's pretty exciting. The profiles of places to stay are well written with plenty of photographs. They include information on whether or not dogs (or cats) are welcome, a map of the location, a way to contact the person offering the space, and reviews from others who have stayed at the property.

I found a couple of places that I thought Mike and I would like and emailed the folks listed as a contact with a couple of questions. For example, at first I didn't know if the dog and cat information meant that the person had dogs and/or cats or that we could bring Suga. The profile states the time frame in which the contact will get back to you and in all three cases I was contacted back well within that time.

So we are booked for our first Air BnB experience! I am pretty excited. A new adventure for us.

If you are interested in checking out a spot for your next trip, here is their website: https://www.airbnb.com/

I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for reading!

VeganMofo Day 2: Root Down at Denver Intl Airport

Welcome to Day 2 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

Like Root Down in Denver. Sister of Linger (our favorite restaurant), Root Down started first and has always been a treat for us. Like most of our favorite places to eat, Root Down is not exclusively vegan, or vegetarian, yet has some amazing vegan food. Plus awesome service (huge for us).

Now, if you are ever flying through Denver, you can experience the amazing food of Root Down! Root Down has just opened a location in DIA, Concourse C! Yes, this means those of us who live here can't go unless traveling, but it also means that all of you who are always traveling can find a delicious, vegan meal at the airport brought to you by folks who know how to create delicious, vegan food.

I haven't seen the space yet, only photos. And I don't fly (this could be another series of blog posts) so I won' be there any time soon. And I just had to write about it and make sure everyone knows so that when you travel to or through Denver you can eat well!

When you do visit Root Down at DIA, please let me know what you think.

Here is their website so you can check out the menu, at least at the original location: http://www.rootdowndenver.com/ 

If you are traveling to Denver and want to get out of the airport as soon as possible, check out Root Down and Linger, both just west of downtown Denver in LoHi.

Thanks for reading!

Vegan summer adventures

Every year Mike and I take a vegan summer adventure. Most of the time we go to Florida, Illinois or Michigan to visit family.

This year we are taking a long-planned dream vacation to Encinitas, California starting with a couple of days in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles we plan to spend time with friends and eat a lot of delish vegan food. Once in Encinitas, we check into a beautiful little place on the beach where we will eat, cook, relax, swim, kayak and I'm sure many other things while there.

As a blogger near Denver (we live in Lakewood, just west) I often receive questions from folks coming here regarding where to eat. Vegan road trips or trips in general can be tough sometimes. I love to eat. And when I am on vacation I love to eat more. Fortunately for us we get to travel to places where there are awesome places to grab an amazing vegan meal. But that's not the case everywhere.

What to do?

First, check out http://www.happycow.net/ ! All you have to do is plug in the city where you are traveling, and instantly you have all of the known places to grab a bite to eat. This includes restaurant (both vegan and vegan friendly) as well as nutrition stores and grocery stores that might serve or sell vegan dishes.

We have found Happy Cow to be really helpful. On a trip to Florida, we found this amazing grocery store/restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi where we ate like kings. We enjoyed it so much that we made sure to stop in on the way home.

The key here, at least for us, is to try to find places to eat before you leave for your trip. That way you not only have something to look forward to, you also know that at this particular point in the trip you'll be able to find some good vegan options.

While on the internet, Google "vegan" and then the city or country you are traveling to. You might be surprised of your choices. If nothing pops up (never happened to us but just in case) try searching for "vegetarian" then the city or country.

One last place to check out on the internet that can be very helpful are vegan bloggers local to where you are traveling. We follow bloggers all over the place, including Omaha, Memphis, Los Angeles, Portland, Miami, Chicago and San Diego. When it comes to us traveling to one of these places we simply email the blogger and find out where to go.

While traveling between places (like Denver to Los Angeles) we rely not only on Happy Cow but also local, ethnic restaurants. They seem to be even in the smallest of towns and practically every Indian, Nepalese, Ethiopian, Chinese and Thai restaurant has vegan options.

What is your summer adventure going to be?

Thanks so much for reading!

Vegan New Mexico

After being laid off last week I jumped into the job search. Having never been unemployed, I wasn't really sure what to expect. After settling in over the first couple of days I decided I could do a job search from anywhere. So Miguel, one of our furries, and I headed down to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit our dear friend Tammy.

I have been traveling to New Mexico ever since I moved to Colorado 14 years ago. I love New Mexico. One thing that makes a place/area able to make it to my "love" list is having plenty of good vegan food. New Mexico does not disappoint. I knew that before this trip but during this trip Tammy turned me on to whole new vegan food experiences that you must check out if ever in The Land of Enchantment.

Our first night we went to the gym before heading to dinner. As much as I like to eat, remaining active and working out during a visit anywhere where I am going to try new places is important. The first night we went to Thai Vegan. There are two in Albuquerque and we went to the one on Central Avenue. Beautiful place, amazingly friendly staff, and a loving greeting by the owner. They have fake meats and a bunch of desserts. And, as you might guess from the name, everything is vegan. We tried several things, Tammy got a crazy-big salad with tofu and I got a chicken/spinach peanut sauce dish. We got a couple of appetizers too, of course. I loved this place.

The next morning I got early and headed to the Flying Star Cafe. Great place to work on a job search as this place is filled with folks working on their laptops and conversing. I loved it. And endless coffee. From a vegan food perspective there isn't a lot, but the tofu scramble is delish. It's not on the menu but you can order it.  Free wireless too so perfect for an unemployed vegan guy who is hungry for food and a job. I know that there are at least two locations, this one is on Central Avenue.

While working on my job search I had no idea that my life was about to change in a huge way. Tammy was taking me to Mint Tulip, an all vegan cafe right across from the University of New Mexico. Vegan shakes. That's all I have to say. Well, I could stop there but there is so much more to tell. The place is super cute. Owner and staff totally friendly. I ordered a peanut butter chocolate milkshake, Tammy got strawberry. We started our eating with chips and queso. We both got the grilled cheese sandwich. Oh my.

The next day we went back and I got the sausage and cheese biscuit. Well, two of them, with a shake of course.

Mint Tulip is a MUST stop if ever in Albuquerque.

The blissful trip continued the next day when Tammy took me to Ten Thousand Waves. Just outside of downtown Santa Fe, about an hour from Albuquerque. Mike and I had been before and I love it. A Japanese spa with hot tubs and hot springs. You can partake in as much or as little as you wish, depending on how much money you want to spend. I am content with the hot pool and sauna, reading in between soaks and sweats.

After a couple of luxurious hours at Ten Thousand Waves Tammy just had to take me to a new vegan place in Santa Fe, Momo and Co. We decided to swing by there, get a couple of vegan cupcakes for the road, and then go quickly back to Albuquerque to grab another meal at Mint Tulip. It didn't quite work out that way as Momo and Co. is not just a bakery. They have a bunch of delish vegan meal options, including waffles! Note: Almost everything is vegan, but double check.  Tammy ordered a cupcake and I inquired about the waffle. Yes, they could prepare it to go. Would I like butter with that? Oh my.

This photo is not of the waffle I fell in love with but a great example of the vegan creations Momo makes!

Note: As I become a better blogger I realize that when including friends/family in a post, you don't want to write a tell all. Suffice to say that one of the many reasons I love Tammy is that she loves to eat like me!

Tammy patiently waited while they worked on my waffle. I had a chance to talk with Momo, the owner, whom I truly love. After a few minutes we were set, and as Tammy drove us back to Albuquerque and to another meal at Mint Tulip I totally enjoyed my vegan waffle with vegan butter and berries. As much as  I loved the waffle, definitely try a cupcake or two as well.

There is much more to Albuquerque and Santa Fe and this blog post only covers what I experienced during this three-day trip. I urge you to explore the vastness that is New Mexico, knowing that in these two cities you can eat well for sure.



http://www.thaivegannm.com/

http://www.flyingstarcafe.com/

http://minttulipvegan.tumblr.com/

http://tenthousandwaves.com/

http://www.momoandcompany.com/

The Chicago Diner

 If you are connected to us on Facebook or Twitter, there is no doubt that you must have seen all of my check-ins to the Chicago Diner over the past week. When in Chicago, it is where I go. I have been going for over ten years now and still LOVE it.

The original Chicago Diner is on Halstead in Boys Town, just a couple blocks north and east of the red line Belmont station. Now there is a new Chicago Diner over in Logan Square, just three blocks from the blue line California station.

The names reflects the food: diner food. Not all vegan but I am pretty sure that every dish can be made vegan.

The highlight of every visit is the vegan chocolate peanut butter milkshake. I always start out with that. Now last night Mike got, per the server's recommendation, the chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter shake and it was crazy good. I will get that next time.

Best dish: Chicken Fried Steak. Their vegan version of this dish is amazing, and filling. Lots of gravy and mashed potatoes and just enough veggies to make it a little healthy. I definitely say you should order this your first time.

They serve breakfast till 3pm every day. The Sammy is a good option. Basically a breakfast sandwich with house fries that actually taste good.

Ask your server. They will help. With all of the times I have dined at the diner I have not encountered the attitude that can be prevalent at veg or veg friendly places. Servers have always been kind, hospitable, and helpful. My faves as of this writing are Kristie at the Halstead location and Brian at the new location (he used to be at the original location). Kristie is a total love, we really adore her. And Brian is a sweetheart, honestly recommending items he loves and making you feel so welcome.

Whether you live in Chicago or are just visiting (or have a long layover at O'Hare) I highly recommend getting to know The Chicago Diner.

Thank for reading and buen provecho!

Mi primer blog escrito en español

 

En mi blog pasado, escribí sobre mi aventura a Santa Marta, Colombia hace 30 años. Ahora quiero tratar a escribir un blog en español para que pueda practicar el español y tal vez introducir mi blog a personas que todavía no lo conocen.

Para introducirles a nuestro blog si no lo conoce todavía, se llama The Gay Vegans, o Los Veganos Gay en español. El blog es una forma de escribir para mi, escribir sobre mi vida, mi vida con mi esposo, como es ser gay y vegano en un suburbio, la política, los derechos humanos y de los animales, y comida.    

 

Si Ud. habla español tal vez ya sabe que mi español está lejos de perfecto. Trato a practicar cada día pero siempre hay mas que aprender. Discúlpame y sepa que cada vez el español sería un poco mejor que la vez antes.

Ya tengo un año escribiendo este blog y me encanta el mundo de blogs. Cada dia tengo la oportunidad de escribir sobre tantas cosas que me importan, o solamente sobre una experiencia que he tenido. Mientras los cuentos de blog, los comentarios y también los correos de email que recibo, puedo aprender no solamente de una noticia o situación de que no sabia pero puedo aprender sobre una persona y su experiencia.

Les presento como una persona que cada dia quiero mejorar el mundo. Y quiero conocer a personas que quieren hacer lo mismo.

No se cuantas veces al mes podría escribir mis cuentos de blog en español pero por favor sepa que mi meta es hacerlo muchas veces al mes. 

Bienvenido a mi blog. Espero que lo disfrute.

A 30 year anniversary

When I was 15 my mom, younger brother and I left the suburbs of Detroit to head up north in Michigan a bit to Midland. My folks had gotten divorced and my mom wanted to be closer to her family in Essexville, MI.

So I started high school there and was miserable. High school for me sucked. It was definitely the most difficult part of my life. Yet at that point I wasn't aware of that, or of the huge opportunity that awaited me.

One day I was walking down the halls of school in between classes and listened to the announcements, one being about going to live abroad for a year through the Rotary Exchange Student Program. I of course made my way to the office and got information. About a year later, on August 30, 1982, after interviews and classes and meeting exchange students from all over the world, I landed in Santa Marta, Colombia to begin my year abroad.

I was 16 and had never flown nor ever been abroad. My flight from Miami had been delayed many hours and I was fascinated by the people watching in Miami International Airport. Before I knew it we were over Cuba, made a brief stop in Cartagena, and very late in the evening landed in Santa Marta.

I was greeted by my host parent, Pedro and Fanny Guido, and their 16 year old son Adolfo. He was especially excited as he was catching this plane in a few hours to head to the States to begin his one year abroad. I was tired but ecstatic as I saw my family patiently waiting as I went through customs.

I am 46 now and always look back to that year with fondness. Of course in 30 years so much has changed and regretfully missed my opportunity to go back to see Pedro and Fanny before they passed away. Between life's ups and downs and my fear of flying, I have never returned to beautiful Santa Marta. Last year I had the awesome chance to visit with one of my best friend's sisters from Colombia while Mike and I were in Florida and after spending a day with her it was definitely in me that I wanted to return.

My new passport came in the mail a couple of weeks ago and have been looking at flights ever since

I sidetracked. My time in Colombia totally changed the person I was. Engaging in another culture, learning another language, seeing a part of the world that I had no clue about and having tons of conversations about things I had never really discussed  taught me so much. Seeing crazy poverty, human rights issues, the most beautiful beaches in the world, a genuine friendliness not really known to me from the US at that point in my life and making friends some of whom I am still in touch with to this day. All of this was huge for a 16 year old white guy who came from privilege, even though I didn't understand it that way at the time.

I met the coolest people. People who took the time to teach me Spanish. I remember many a day when Pedro would drive me around pointing to things and saying them in Spanish. A busy eye surgeon with a family taking his precious free time to teach me. Semaforo rojo (red light) I heard so many times that it is something in Spanish that I will never forget!

I was 16. I typical, cocky teenager. I liked to do things my way. When my host sister Rossana suggested I turn off the US music and set down the book I was reading in English so that I could learn Spanish I was stunned, yet it was a great lesson. One of many I learned from her and many others, lessons that totally changed my life. I will be forever grateful for all of those who were so kind in so many ways.

Thiking of the kindness I have to smile about all of my host cousins. So loving in so many ways. They were a huge part of a wonderful time in Colombia.

It's been 30 years since I first arrived in Santa Marta and since I started to become the man I am today. My heart is filled with loving memories of all of the people I met, especially those part of my host family and those friends of mine who I smile about all of the time.

Thank you for reading!

NOTE: The photo is of El Rodadero, the beach/tourist area of Santa Marta just west and over a small mountain from the city.


  

Chicago is like vegan heaven

Mike and I love Chicago.

On our way from Denver to Michigan we decided to plan a couple of days in Chicago to eat and enjoy the city.

Boy did we enjoy it.

For our vegan readers, this post might disappoint as we only ate at one restaurant, the Chicago Diner. With only a couple of days in town we decided to go with what we know and stayed at the diner.

Vegan chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Need I say more.

Their brand is "Meatless since '83". I have been going to the diner since 1996 and although they aren't always perfect, I have always loved going there. Service can be hit or miss and we experienced totally great service all three times. I always get a shake. This time we both tried the grilled Caesar Salad with blackened tofu and it was DELISH! Christine and Brian were our serves and both are super-friendly and fun to be with.

We happened to be in Chicago during gay pride weekend and were stoked to see Mercy For Animals, one of our all-time favorite animal rights groups and one that we financially support, having a booth at pride. They were also in the parade. This might not surprise many of you, but it is great that an animal rights group brought the voice of the voiceless to gay pride.

There are a ton of vegan options in Chicago.  Happy Cow has a great list, including new ones: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/illinois/chicago/

This trip we stayed at the historic Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue. I can't write enough wonderful things about this hotel. Incredible rooms, great, friendly staff, perfect location, great views. The hotel is two blocks from the red line which takes you right to the Chicago Diner's neighborhood.

If you haven't been to Chicago we definitely recommend a trip there. Let me know if you have any questions that you think I might be able to help with regarding a trip there. My email is vegandude@msn.com

Vegan road trip continues

Our 2012 summer road trip has been a blast and we wanted to share a few moments of it with you.

We were thrilled to see that the speed limit in Kansas is now 75! The trip to Kansas City was uneventful, mainly listening to OUTQ radio and enjoying the time.

Kansas City has a new gem in the vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude. We were staying walking distance from there and were couldn't believe there was such a place in Kansas City. Cafe Gratitude is connected to the same places in California and the food was crazy good. They have a lot of raw options and I think they have something for everyone. Definitely check them out if you're ever in KC. For us, it was a great place for our first night on the road!

From Kansas City, MO we drove to St. Louis, swinging by Main Squeeze in Columbia, MO for lunch. We have been to this veg haven many times now, never disappointed. It's about 10 minutes from I-70. Mike thinks their vegan Reuben is the best Reuben out there!

St. Louis was great. We stayed in the Loop area and had Thai food at one of several ethnic restaurants in the area. It was OK. Our hotel, the Moonrise, was gorgeous. Friendly staff, comfy room. The problem was that they charged an additional $50 for Suga! I don't get the extra charge but we left our comments about that and would not stay there again unless the fee (fine) was gone.

While in St. Louis we caught a performance of Opera Theater St. Louis's Cosi Fan Tutte and loved it. As a fundraiser for an opera company it was great to be on the other end and to totally just sit back and enjoy an opera. Plus, we were right in the front row which is a totally different experience!

From St. Louis we went to Chicago, and that is a whole other post!

We love road trips, and encourage anyone to go for it and plan one!

Thank you for reading! My email address is vegandude@msn.com

The gay, vegan road trip

This past summer was when I decided to create The Gay Vegans blog. I had been writing a fundraising blog for over a year and after deciding I wanted to keep that just about fundraising and not my personal life, I created The Gay Vegans.

Mike and I have amazing families. Families that are scattered all over the country. SO last June we decided to go visit Mike's mom near Daytona Beach, FL, and we drove. Yep, round trip it was 5,050 miles!

We love road trips and this one was no exception. We went from Denver to Memphis, TN and visited the National Civil Rights Museum which I had wanted to do for a long time. If you ever have a chance to visit that museum we highly recommend it! And lucky us, as we exited the museum (the annex part across the street from the main museum) we saw a chicken and waffle place. They wouldn't have anything vegan would they? They sure did! They had Boca crumbles on any salad as well as Boca burgers, and they had fries and fried okra. Oh, and SWEET TEA! Oh my, it was perfect. A nice vegan lunch with amazingly friendly people on a 101 degrees day with my husband and sweet tea!

We stopped in Jackson,MS both on the way there and back. The reason was Rainbow Natural Grocery. On our way south we stopped and had incredible vegan food for lunch. Their in-house restaurant was closed but they make a bunch of items before they close and sell them as grab-n-go for the rest of the day. We grabbed a lot and stayed. And feasted! All of the food was so good we just had to swing by on our way home. And, like every place we ate at throughout the south, everyone was so friendly. We might have doubled the population of gay vegans in Mississippi while there, but we loved it!

More on this road trip another post. The reason I wanted to write this particular post was to encourage our readers to take a road trip and, for our vegan or vegetarian readers, to not worry about food as there are a ton of choices out there.

By the way, our next trip is in June to Michigan, via St. Louis and Chicago!

Thanks for reading!