Where to go? What to do? What to eat?
‘Tis the season for back-to-school posts. But Tess doesn’t start until Sept. 6, so we’re road-tripping for the next week, to points south but otherwise unknown. No reservations, no set plans. Just the three of us in a car with an itch to meander, and an iPhone loaded with lodging apps.
And food, of course. We always bring food when we travel. But we can’t bring everything, so we navigate the food landscape, too. And that brings me to what I’m calling “Real Food Road Test: The Spoonfed Guide to Vacation Food.”
Each day over the next week, I’ll post a picture and comment on the Spoonfed Facebook page that represents some kid-and-food travel tip, observation, epiphany, whatever — proof that you can eat well on the road. While still having fun. Without sacrificing vacation treats. Without setting foot in a fast-food restaurant.
I have no idea what I’ll be posting. Which seems fitting given that we have no idea where we’re going. But I can promise that it’ll be fun. Hope you’ll follow along.
In the meantime, check out this Spoonfed giveaway for “Birke on the Farm: The Story of a Boy’s Search for Real Food.” Entries close at midnight EST Wednesday, August 29.
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I will be reading all of these “on the road” comments. Thanks for including us!
I have done this for the last 2 years. It can be done. We have made it a rule not to eat fast food or the like. you get to find some very interesting local haunt resturants that are not on the beaten path. It has been so much fun.
This is great. We always bring our own food wherever we go…could use some fresh ideas!
We take what we call a kitchen in a box. Silver ware, plates, bowls, cutting knives, cutting board, a cheap blender, a small crock pot, a dishcloth and a towel. is the bar minimum that we take in it for trips over 3 days. for over night to under 3 days trips it is just plates, bowls, silverware, one knife and a cutting board. I try to book hotels for the long trips with at least a refridge and a microwave. Most of them are at rooms kitchens in it. We do all the breakfast/ evening meals in the room and lunch is out.
Coolers (one for cold and one for dry food) are a must too. Dry food is mostly snack type stuff and the cold one is meat, cheese, milk(almond) and OJ. This is the minimum. We do meals like spaghetti and meat sauce, stew, beans and weenies, etc. in the crock pot. Although on this last trip we did more fresh meals as we were in one place for 5 days. Steak and potatoes, pizza, etc. as we had a full kitchen. We also stayed in a town with a Whole Foods and an Earth Fare (rare treat as we do not have one in Iowa yet).
Like most real-food-eaters, we do a combination of bringing our own food, buying groceries when we get to our vacation destination, and eating out. Eating out is the least fun if we aren’t familiar with the place, because we have to ask so many questions about the food additives we have to avoid.
We’ve tried bending the food rules while on vacation in order to “relax and have fun” but it isn’t worth it. Everyone is miserable within a few days. I’ll take the frustration of figuring out the meals over frustration at my out-of-control child any day.