This past weekend we took a short vacation to Ft. De Soto. The kids love to go camping there and always request to go back. I am not a huge fan of camping, but am a huge fan of family time, and Ft. De Soto is a wonderful place to go with your family. We stayed on the water and brought our kayaks and also went to the beach. After getting quite wet last summer in our tent during a night rain storm, we decided to rent a camper....we also enjoyed having a bed, an a/c and a refrigerator.
Fort De Soto has inland water areas to explore as well as a beautiful beach. The fort is on the beach and there are also 2 piers to fish off.
This was the first time that I have traveled gluten free. I packed a bag with just gluten free snacks. I stocked up on some of my favorite bars...the first of which is one of the first I found when I started eating gfree... thinkThin bars ...I love the chunky nut and chocolate bars with the white chocolate being my favorite. They have 70% less sugar than most fruit and nut bars and are delicious! The second bar that I recently discovered at my local Winn Dixie is the 3Bar. I have only tried the Cocoa Crunch bar and find it delicious as well as filling. The 3Bar is also dairy free, GMO free and contains quite a few nutrients.
For other snacks I pre-boiled eggs to take with us and made some gfree Rice Crispy treats as well as some Rice Chex Muddy Buddies. The kids loved both. At this time neither of our kids have been tested and don't seem to have any issues with gluten, but I love trying to find things we can all eat and enjoy together. Our daughter loves to bake and this has been fun to try out gluten free items to make together. I found taking my usual bread to be a little difficult as I keep it frozen and I did not have a freezer on this trip. I ended up not eating any sandwiches and just munched on fruit, veggies, nuts, eggs and my bars. I also brought my Rice Chex cereal and almond milk for breakfasts.
The first night we went out to eat we tried a local restaurant, Billy's Stone Crab on Tierra Verde. I called a head of time and asked them about anything that might be gluten free. They did not have a menu, but said that they had a lot of seafood and I could request no seasoning if I was worried about it. They would not tell me if any of their seasonings had gluten in them and honestly did not impress me with the choices I was given. I did have peel and eat shrimp and a baked potato. The house salad and dressing was made on site. The waiter was nice enough to come back and tell me exactly what was in the dressing, and it all sounded very safe. The salad was enjoyed by our 15 year old and my husband and I. While the salad was good the rest of the food was not impressive...nor was the wait staff. My bottom line....I get a little irritated when I am not given any other choices but to eat a salad and boiled shrimp. It seems that there are a handful of local restaurants that have a gluten free menu....and when they do I am super excited!
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| Winter - one amazing dolphin |
The next day we headed towards Clearwater to check out Winter, the dolphin that was rescued by Clearwater Marine Aquarium. She lost her tailfin shortly after they had rescued her from the Indian River/Mosquito Lagoon area off of the Atlantic Ocean. Winter now has a prosthetic tailfin she uses. Being a therapist I love the rehab that Clearwater Marine Aquarium does for their animals. Winter has her own movie coming out in the fall of 2011 with Morgan Freeman and Harry Connick Jr. We stayed until lunch time and headed out back south towards St. Pete's Beach.
I got out my iPhone, which I have to say is my "new best gluten free friend"... and went to my Gluten Free Registry app to search for restaurants. I get a bit stressed trying to figure out what to eat on the go, but the iPhone and my apps and google have helped me become so much less stressed!
With the registry...I came across 2 possibilities. The first was "Guppy's on the Beach" in Indian Rocks Beach, FL. Unfortunately, we had already driven by it and my husband did not want to turn around. It was though given a great review on the registry and even has a list of gluten free appetizers, which is a rarity. Next time we are over on the west coast I am definitely going to check this restaurant out. They did offer the "bun free" sandwich....which we can all be a bit disappointed in....hoping for some gfree bread!
The next restaurant that came up on the Registry was "Skidder's Restaurant" on St. Pete's Beach. They offer a gluten free pizza and pasta! The one review on the Registry stated that it was a positive experience (and here is a positive review of the chef coming out to discuss their gluten free options on Trip Advisor ) . Unfortunately, we did not make it to Skidder's. So Skidder's is also on my go to list next time! We ended up stopping in Madeira Beach as the kids were hungry.
There were several choices at the waterfront area in Madeira Beach.....Bubba Gump's and Hooters were there along with a few others. I vaguely remembered seeing that Bubba Gump had a separate gfree menu at Universal Studios, so I quickly googled and up it came. I had several choices and settled on the "Accidental Fish and Shrimp", which consisted of broiled Mahi Mahi with shrimp and tomatoes in a lemon butter sauce over jasmine rice. It was very delicious and I appreciated having a sauce as most meals I have had gfree consist of just spices no sauces. The price of almost $17 was a little much for lunch. As for the rest of the menu...there is one appetizer....the always doable....cocktail shrimp...do I even need someone to tell me that it is gfree? There were 2 salad choices and 4-5 fish and shrimp meals, as well as a kid gluten free menu on the same page. When I went to the Bubba Gump's home page...this was the first thing that popped up for me... "MAMA ALWAYS SAID LIFE WAS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES.
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GONNA GET." -Forrest Gump
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| Kayaking from our campsite |
Finding out that I was gluten intolerant this past winter was initially a positive thing and now I have my ups and downs...but this saying makes me smile....You definitely don't know what you are going to get....but educating yourself along with having a sense of humor is definitely the way to go and especially when you are traveling!
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| Gluten Free Rice Krispy Treats for camping |
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| Gluten Free ~ Chocolate Chex snack ~ Muddy Buddies |
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Fort De Soto Beach
Other Gluten Free Finds that I will try next time I am in the area:
Veg-friendly eateries in St. Pete Beach
Cafe Luna 6700 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach; 727-360-7500. cafelunabistro.com. An eclectic bistro specializing in Euro-Asian cuisine and gourmet pizzas. Offering vegetarian and gluten-free menus.
Healthy Hut Market and Cafe 595 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach, 727-367-HHUT, hhutmarket.com. A brand-new, long-in-the-making health food restaurant, deli and bakery, serving “natural, organic, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, Kosher” — in other words, all things health-foodie.
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