On our trip we had a great assortment of foods. With all the visits to so many locations/cities, we did our best to find something we had not tried before, or at least something special in every place we went. We did pretty well, really.

(Perhaps this is Too Much Information, but for the record, we try to find food that is not standard American fare. I don’t feel well if I eat any corn product (corn syrup, oil or starch), dairy, yeast/mold/vinegar, potato, tree nut, peanut, sesame, or egg. Some of these things affect me more than others, but travel time is not when one wishes to take chances. Therefore, we tend to go for ethnic foods, which we prefer anyway.)

In Pittsburgh, we found a Cambodian/Thai restaurant just as they were closing down for the evening. The lady who owned the place was very keen for us to stay, and the young men waiting tables were a bit keen on going home. However, they ended up being good sports, and the food was worth the uncertainty. Brian had a Cambodian dish with vegetables and Chicken and a flavored sauce, and I got Pad Thai (minus peanuts) which I’ve had at several restaurants (so I knew I was probably safe) but it’s always slightly different. This one was very nice, indeed. (See Photo 1)

In DC, we ate Ethiopian. I can not tell you how spoiled we are in Lansing, because Altu is truly the best Ethiopian cook I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve eaten a LOT of Ethiopian food in a lot of places, many of them in Ethiopia.

However, this restaurant had some dishes I had not eaten since I got back from Africa, and that was a treat. There is a sort of whole green bean dish with sauce that I really like, and I was delighted to have that again.

In Philadelphia we just plain parked in the wrong area of the city. We could find things like Applebee’s and sandwich shops, but no ethnic food anywhere we looked. We did not have a great deal of time, we literally were there for lunch, so we found a very nice salad bar near the subway station, where I ate a salad and Brian had a decent sandwich.

In New York City we walked and walked, but we were in the high-rent part of town and the only places we found were Japanese. The first places we tried were closed (it was just before 5pm and they were planning to reopen at 5:30pm for dinner). We then found a place that was Japanese but it offered food we had never heard of before. We gave it a shot.

It was a fun experience. They brought us little ridged bowls of sesame seeds and a fat stick to grind the seeds with. Then we were to put a sauce in the bowl and stir, and use that sauce/seed mixture on the dinner. (See Photo 2)

Dinner was a choice of any number of meats that were deep fried with some sort of breading. I had chicken. I did without the seeds and sauce and opted for plain soy sauce which I can have in small amounts. (See Photo 3)

It was good enough, but I really don’t like meat and I really don’t prefer deep fried foods, no matter how well flavored. This was the only meal that didn’t agree with me 100%, but that is clearly because I did take a risk. I asked a lot of questions but I was not sure what the breading really was and I’m guessing that was my problem. No big deal, live and learn. I didn’t feel bad, my face just broke out the next day. It could have been much worse.

By the way, the meal also came with some excellent sticky white rice and a salad that was basically shredded cabbage. I enjoyed my cabbage and rice very much! Sometimes simple is best.

In Northampton, Massachusetts, we found Indian food. It was on the mild side but it really hit the spot. That town was plum full of choices, though. We could have had Thai just across the street, and that was without even really looking for any length of time at all. Indian is close to tops in my book, anyway (after Ethiopian, of course, and perhaps tied with mideastern). Yum! No picture of that food, but it was what I call Chana Masala, though their menu called it something else. It’s chickpeas in tomato sauce with onions and other flavors. This is another big favorite that I’ve had so many places, I am clear I’ll feel great after truly enjoying the meal.

In East Dorset, we were at an old Inn/retreat center and they grew some of their own food. There were not a lot of choices I could eat the first night, so I just ate food I brought in a cooler. However, the next day they had a pasta luncheon where I could eat everything! Thin pasta, tomato sauce they made from scratch, and what they called “ratatouille” but it didn’t have eggplant, just zucchini and tomato and a few other veggies. Wonderful.

In Albany, I remembered that I’d driven through town on Highway 20 before and that it passed through a college area. I figured a college scene would probably have food I could eat, so we headed through town that way.

Before we even got to the college, though, we found a Vietnamese restaurant (open on a Sunday night, a big bonus). Brian got a dish with many veggies and a wonderful-smelling sauce. We both shared some vegetarian spring rolls, which were fresh and tasty.

For my dinner, I told the waitress my restrictions and asked for a recommendation. I ended up with a chicken dish on angel hair wheat noodles, where the chicken was marinated with a lemongrass mixture. It was pretty good, considering I am not a huge meat lover. It was flavorful and moist, and underneath the bed of pasta was a bed of vegetables (lettuce, bean sprouts and carrots) which I enjoyed. (See Photos 4 & 5)

Our last meal on the road was in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. We found a Pakistani/Indian restaurant. We had never tried Pakistani food before and thought it sounded good. When we got in there, though, they had a buffet and we decided to go for that. It was all freshly prepared food and we knew we could save some time that way. I really did enjoy the meal but I am still a bit wistful about the Pakistani food that got away…

I find it interesting that we did not find any sort of mideastern food on our trip. Michigan has a huge population of Lebanese folks ( more than live in Lebanon, I’m told). We have many very good Lebanese restaurants all over the state, including several in Lansing (my all time favorite being New Aladdin’s).

I love eating Egyptian food at the City Market in Lansing, cooked by our friend Magda. I also frequent a Syrian eatery in Ann Arbor as often as I can, and there is a spot in Grand Rapids we’ve gone several times that is yet a different nationality in that corner of the world. It is not hard to find mideastern cuisines in Michigan, but we did not see as much as a falafel or some hummous the whole time we were gone on our trip! That surprised me.

All in all, it was quite the culinary adventure!!! I’d do it again in a heartbeat.