This is a synopsis of our recent trip to Maryland where we spent 8 days visiting our son in September. This is how we did on our trip eating out gluten free! My husband eats like I do and orders from the gluten free menu too, for ten years now.
I took a Bento Box for the first time traveling. We used to carry our larger lunch cooler below on the plane and for day trips. Our Bento Box fit right into our carry-on backpack and was so much more convenient to carry on and use as you can see. It has an ice pack insert as well. We took Diestel Turkey deli meat which is gluten free, cubes of cheddar cheese, some wrapped gluten free Babybel cheese. We had grapes, black olives, and Paleo snack mix (from Thrive Market) all in our Bento Box.
I replenished it each day and we carried our Bento with our snacks on all our day trips to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens which was all outside, the Bible Museum in DC, Chesapeake City, Kent Island and anywhere we were driving during the day our Bento went with us for a quick snack!
I don’t eat at any fast food places and never walk blindly into any type of food establishment that I have not googled and done homework on. Whenever I’ve done so in the past it was usually a disaster! Learned my lesson on this one in the last ten years traveling! I research before our trip too so we know where we are going to eat out and I really give the menu a once over online, so that way I’m not stressed out when we get to each place to eat. I know exactly what I’m getting and I rarely deviate. I still ask some questions about dedicated fryers, etc. The only thing I will ever get fried is fries and they must be in a dedicated fryer. We pretty much stay away from fried food places all together. Unless it’s a 100% dedicated gluten free restaurant.
We arrived on Wednesday night and had some left-over Wholly Wholesome pizza I had made the night before in our pack plus other snacks and fruit we had.
The next day we went to Wegmans for groceries to stock up our kitchen and frig. For the last six years visiting there we’ve stayed at the Towneplace Suites with a 2 BR, living area and a full kitchen. It’s been great all these years we’ve stayed there. The last two years we’ve taken our younger son. This time he didn’t go but the two BR is roomier for us for the week. They have a breakfast in the AM which my husband eats and brings me a banana. I eat stuff we buy at Wegmans, cereal, cantaloupe, toast, fruit, etc. I had four loaves of the Happy Camper Organic Cinnamon Raisin bread sent to our son’s address so it would be there when we arrived. He confiscated two of my loaves!
For lunch I made us a PB&J sandwich cut up in fourths and fill up our Bento Box with turkey deli, cheeses, etc. for our day outings. Everything fits into the Bento and any other chips, water, etc. we bring in our backpack. If we have leftovers from the night before eating out we eat that before leaving for the day.
We were really disappointed that one of our very favorite places to stop in and eat, One Dish Cuisine in Ellicott City had closed this past year. We’ve been going there and taking our son the last six years. I heard that the owner had become ill and they had to close the restaurant. We really missed going there especially on our last day before our flight home.
On Thursday evening it was our 38th wedding anniversary. Someone on my Celiac Travel group on Facebook recommended a restaurant in Baltimore on the harbor called Points South Latin Kitchen. Everything on the menu is gluten free! The owner has Celiac so they are extremely careful. This really made up for us missing our favorite gluten free place!
They do have some corn, but I stayed with the Yucca since I’m off corn ingredients again. The food was absolutely incredible! It’s a bit pricey but was so worth it knowing I could eat anything on the menu (except corn chips). You could eat there for less depending on what you have but we kind of went all out since it was our anniversary and we were celebrating it with our son!
I started with the shrimp skewers appetizer with a garlic Aioli which was totally out of this world amazing! I’m going to figure out how to make it! 
Then had the roast chicken with these very yummy yucca croquettes and the potatoes they make are scrumptious. It was all delicious! It was a little spicy but not too much. I finished with Crème Brulee for dessert. Have to say too that their margaritas are the best I’ve had!
My husband had crab cakes which he hasn’t had in years since he eats gluten free too and it’s hard to find them gfree. He was in crab heaven! He ate both. He usually takes stuff home but not this time! Plus he had some sort of dumpling filled with beef and beans made from Cassava flour. Oh my! I must find out how to recreate those! SO yummy! Our son had a beef appetizer with these little toast, all gluten free, and a steak with crispy gluten free onion rings. He had the Tres Leeches cake! Yes it was gluten free too! It was quite the dining experience! We are going back next time we visit! I highly recommend Points South Latin Kitchen for those who live in or are visiting the DC/Baltimore area!
On Friday afternoon we took a day trip over to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Fairfax, Virginia. This was our first time to visit there. It’s really a beautiful place! We were outside so we took our Bento Box to snack on in the Gazebo. The bees were awesome too!
On Friday evening we went to our favorite usual, PF Changs in Columbia, Md. I had the Mongolian Beef, my husband gets the Beef and Broccoli and we share. We also get the shrimp refried rice. We always take some back for mid-morning the next day. PF’s has always been good no matter what city we are in. I’ve been eating there for the last ten years that I’ve been eating gluten free.
On Saturday we went over to Chesapeake City for the late afternoon and ate on the water at a restaurant called Schaefers Canal House. I found it first by googling and checking out their menu. I always do this if it’s some place we haven’t been to so I’m not stressing out over the menu when we get there. I always know exactly what I’m getting. I still ask questions about fryers, etc. I had the shrimp cocktail and the Spinach salad with roasted red peppers, portabellini mushrooms, feta cheese, tomatoes, candied pecans with a warm bacon vinaigrette. My husband had a seafood salad with shrimp and crab. It was all really yummy, we sat outside with a nice view of the canal with all the boats going by and the service was terrific! In fact, it was so much food we took some back to our place. Our son treated us! On Saturday night we ate in. We had plenty of leftovers!
On Sunday morning we visited Mosiac Christian Church in Elkridge Md. Awesome music! Really nice folks! After church we ate in our hotel before we left to visit the Bible Museum in DC. We took our Bento Box with snacks to eat while there in the cafeteria. We were planning to go to a burger place in DC called Bareburger but our son had other plans and needed to get back. I had researched this restaurant online and they have gluten free buns and a dedicated fryer. Their mindful menu with feel good food looks really good so we’ll put it on the list for next time! Those in the area might check them out!
That night my husband and I went out by ourselves to Glory Days in Ellicott City which we eat at every time we’ve visited there. They are only on the east coast. We’ve eaten at the one in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. We always order off their extensive gluten free menu. I’ve always gotten a burger in the past but I googled and their buns are Udi’s and have corn ingredients so not this time. This time I had their chicken wings, naked with no sauce, just ranch dip. Oh my they were so good! Plus I ordered a side salad with ranch dressing and some fries. They have a dedicated fryer for the wings and the fries. My husband always orders off the gluten free menu, roasted chicken with a crab topping. Their margaritas are really good too.
The next day on Monday I woke up with one of those yucky gluten headaches and couldn’t figure out why? I know it wasn’t Glory Days because they are so careful about Celiac and gluten sensitivities and we’ve eaten there every year for six years. Then I looked at the label on the deli turkey we had bought at Wegmans on Thursday that I had been eating for four days and sure enough there was maltodextrin (which is usually from corn) and turkey broth which can be wheat. I believe that was the culprit. My total bad for not paying attention to the label on that one! So I stopped eating that deli turkey the rest of the trip and ate the packaged Applegate turkey we bought there at Wegmans. I was able to kick out the headache though by that evening which is really good. I believe it’s because I had been taking the GutPro probiotics four months prior to our trip and I took the GlutenEase each time we ate out. I was just thankful it didn’t happen the day we were to fly back home. There’s nothing worse than having a migraine at the airport and on the flight home! I’ve had a few in the past years traveling! No fun!
We stayed in and I made us a pizza that night with the Wholly Wholesome frozen gluten free pizza dough we bought at Wegmans. They just happened to have a brand-new sheet pan in the office we used for the pizza! By Tuesday I was fine, no more headache!
On Tuesday we took a day trip over to Kent Island to visit one of the parks on the water. We had our Bento Box with snacks and ate that evening at one of our other favorite places, Bridges Restaurant on the water. We’ve gone there for the last four years. We ordered off their gluten free menu. I had a salad and the New York strip steak with a red wine. My husband gets the rockfish with you guessed it, CRAB on top! Our son had the salmon. All really good! Just be sure not to order their wings off the gluten free menu because they are NOT cooked in a dedicated fryer! The first year we ate there I had them the day before we were flying home and I had a migraine on the flight home! I told them the next year about their fryer. The wings are STILL on the gluten free menu so for anyone who has Celiac or really sensitive I do not recommend ordering the wings!☹ Go get them at Glory Days!
Wednesday, I prepared our little Bento for the flight home as you can see on my hubby’s lap below! It sure came in handy on this trip. My new best travel buddy! I highly recommend getting one, or two! I’m ordering another one. Here is the one I ordered on Amazon! We also dropped by Modern Market for a sandwich again this year before we left. There’s one In Austin too! They have the BEST gluten free multi-grain bread. I googled to be sure there are no corn ingredients in their bread. I get the BLT with Avocado and eat half and save the other half for the airport. My husband does the same thing. He gets the chicken on the gluten free bread. We ate our other two halves before boarding our flight.
It was a wonderful visit with our son, great trip, almost no gluteny mishaps, at least not with eating out, and now I know the deli turkey at Wegmans is a no go! I felt great on the flight home too!! Huge plus!
Happy & Safe Gluten Free Traveling!
