Road Trip with GERD: First Stop -- Colonial Williamsburg

18th Century remedy for heartburn -- Colonial Tums

I've been away from Cranky Gerd for a few weeks and, literally, away -- on a two-week road trip from NYC to Orlando and back.   What an adventure!  Aside from experiencing this part of the country first-hand, and getting into a state of mind only achieved by going "on the road" for an extended period, I was constantly confronted with my guts and dietary issues.  Being a vegetarian (near vegan) while traveling in the South is not an easy task.  Having only a limited time in each place while traveling with a group (my family) was even more challenging.   Had I been traveling on my own, I could have planned entire afternoons around getting to "that great vegetarian place" across town, but I needed to accommodate the other dietary issues in my party, as well as time restrictions (this was a fast vacation!),  so I made due with what was immediately available.

For the next few blog entries, I'll reconstruct parts of the trip and how I navigated my GERD (and veg diet) -- often successfully, but sometimes not.  The first leg of the trip was a short 2-day stay in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.  I had decided at the onset to eat eggs and dairy products if nothing else was available or I if I felt protein/nutrient deprived.  I vowed to seek "pastured" eggs when possible.  I'm not thrilled by my choice to eat outside my comfort zone when I did out of laziness or hunger or even temptation.

In the end, I did okay overall, returning the same weight as I left, slightly less toned but much less stressed.  I realize now I did not have the chronic "food in throat" feeling during my trip.  The times I had reflux or bloating were directly related to my eating too much food, or too much rich food.    Here is a summary from a GERD point of view.

FIRST STOP:  COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, VA

One of the best breakfasts on the trip -- The Trellis restaurant's grits and eggs.

Our first stop!  Arriving late in the day, we roamed around in desperation looking for dinner.  None of the places I had identified prior to the trip were conveniently located, or looked good "on the ground," except one -- The Pita Pit, a Canadian chain across from William & Mary, making it also a popular college hang-out.  The food is excellent, but the hour we ate was not -- well past 8:00 PM.  The sandwich I had was enormous and delicious, and  I think the late hour and portion size caused my reflux that evening.  I vowed to not eat that late again…

The next morning, J. and I treated ourselves to breakfast at The Trellis, a "farm to table" restaurant in Colonial Williamsburg's "marketplace."  The portion was perfect and the quality amazing.  I ordered grits with two over-hard fried eggs.  I prefer fried eggs when eating out, as I don't care for most of the scrambled style, and there is a danger they will add milk or cream, making the result too "heavy" -- a tip I learned from a dairy-intolerant friend (Thanks, A.!).  Omelets are out of the question due to their size, unless I split one. And, I just like fried eggs!  I enjoyed every bit of this breakfast, and did not feel any GERD symptoms.

Ploughman's lunch in Williamsburg -- bread and herbed cheese.

I ate modestly the rest of the day, having a plum for a snack, and a hunk of bread and cheese for lunch.  Both were purchased at The Cheese Shop, a grocery specializing in "local" goods.    Bread and cheese were again on the menu for dinner -- our group decided to split a medium cheese pizza and salad at a pub across from our hotel.  It was a meal of convenience, as we were all tired, hungry, and eager to get to our rooms.

Note:  The Colonial foods prepared on site were fascinating -- most were lightly seasoned with just a few herbs, salt and pepper, involved seasonal items (of course), and the occasional game.  GERD-friendly?  Probably!  I did not sample this Colonial fare shown below -- boiled vegetables (leeks, squash, potato) with rabbit:

Colonial food in preparation on site.

More Colonial foods…