health Archives - Art & Words

I just got back from vacation a few days ago, having enjoyed a full week away on a road trip with my husband. During this trip we celebrated Mother’s Day with our daughter and her partner, and we also celebrated our thirty-sixth wedding anniversary. During this trip we also learned it is Celiac Awareness Month! I hadn’t even realized that was a thing, until just happening to drive by a very thoughtful restaurant in Strasburg, PA, that had put a big sign out on the road celebrating it! This very outward gesture demonstrated that there is growing awareness, care, and respect for the celiac community. I couldn’t be more grateful for these efforts and for such welcoming, accepting service.

A celiac diagnosis

I was diagnosed with celiac a few years ago, quite unexpectedly. It comes as quite a surprise when you’ve grown up Italian and Polish – and pasta, pierogi, and pizza are mainstays in your diet, to suddenly be told you have celiac. These gluten-filled foods were not just staples or favorites, they were my comfort foods. It is a baffling diagnosis to receive in your 50s (I know now that this is not so rare). But you adjust… There is a lot of information available now. There are many, many food choices and ways to make changes to your diet and to your kitchen at home.

What is a bit more difficult is finding safe options for dining out, especially while traveling. My husband and I often try to stay in hotels in rooms with kitchenettes. That way I can prepare my own meals and not rely on eating out. Of course, eating out together is one of our biggest joys when traveling, especially when meeting up with friends and family. It’s always a pleasure when we do find places where I can eat safely.

A road trip to Pennsylvania

We took a road trip down to central Pennsylvania, not really knowing what to expect in the way of gluten-free restaurants. We’ve both been through the area countless times, but not many times since my diagnosis. And usually, we are simply driving through. But we both use the Find Me Gluten Free app (of course!) – it’s indispensable, so we felt we would do okay. It looked like there would be a good number of options. I didn’t know just how good the options would be.

A series on living gluten-free

I have been kicking around the idea of doing a series of celiac, or gluten-free living, posts. This seems like the perfect moment to get started. So for my own recognition and celebration of Celiac Awareness Month, my first post is giving a big shout out to a few places that really stood out on this trip. These places deserve big thanks for going above and beyond, and for making those of us who cannot safely consume gluten feel welcome. Huge thanks to them for understanding what celiac is, taking it so seriously, and for offering delicious options that are just as exciting as any other menu choices.

An outward gesture

I need to start with Fireside Tavern in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. It was their sign that I saw when just enjoying a drive through the Lancaster County countryside (see main pic). Unfortunately, we never got to eat there, so we didn’t get to enjoy what looks like a fantastic menu! Hopefully we’ll be back, and will be there at a time when the restaurant is open. In addition to putting Celiac Awareness literally right out front, they are even running a raffle in honor of Celiac Awareness Month (how cool is that?). Check out their site and bookmark it if you’re local to the area or think you might travel through.

The number one app

I have to mention the Find Me Gluten Free app. Probably everyone with celiac is already aware of this app, but I’ve used other apps that simply do not compare. I feel FMGF deserves this to be noted. No app is going to be flawless, but in my experience, Find Me Gluten Free continues to provide the most useful information, the most reliable restaurant reviews, and the most comprehensive listings. I haven’t gone wrong with it, whereas I have actually found recommendations in other apps that could badly mislead users. During this trip, I relied on it heavily.

Doing celiac in luxury

*Room service for breakfast, at the Hotel Hershey*

A big highlight of our stay was getting room service (it had been a long time!). We decided somewhat on a whim to stay at The Hotel Hershey. We love staying in these lovely, finer, historic hotels. I never expected the Hotel Hershey would be able to accommodate celiac in their dining choices. I found myself feeling completely unworried about anything I ordered, as several people there happily assured me that they prepare gluten-free foods in separate areas of their kitchen, and stick to safe practices. Although I can’t vouch for all of the restaurants on site, and none of them are dedicated gluten-free, I can say that anything I enjoyed, including the gluten-free baked goods from Chef’s Market All Day Cafe, were safe for me, and delicious. This is a fantastic hotel, now one of my very favorites, and it was a true joy to stay there.

Pizza!

My husband knows how to make a great pizza. He managed a pizzeria – many years before I was gluten-free, and he has made many awesome gluten-free pizzas from scratch at home. However, I hadn’t enjoyed a pizza out since being diagnosed. Then on this trip I found Piazza Sorrento. This wonderful Italian restaurant got such great reviews on Find Me Gluten Free that I felt comfortable taking a chance.

The pizza was excellent. Having grown up in New Haven, CT, I’d be lying if I said I love gluten-free pizza crusts as much as a nice, thin, Neapolitan style crust, but Sorrento’s gluten-free pizza was awesome – the sauce, the cheese, the seasonings, and even the crust, were all fantastic. We returned another night, and I had a delicious Chicken Piccata over risotto. Piazza Sorrento is not a dedicated gluten-free facility, but they are endorsed by the Gluten Intolerance Group of Harrisburg (GIG) and the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America. Piazza Sorrento takes gluten-free very seriously, and they are rightly proud of their gluten-free menu.

Across the river

Two great standouts from Mechanicsburg that I must mention, were Black N Bleu and Metro Diner. Black N Bleu is a restaurant with a great energy and atmosphere. They were kind enough to give us a print menu before we even decided to eat there, just so we could see the large number of options they offered for gluten-free. Two of us who ate there have celiac, and we both did fine and enjoyed our (different) meals greatly. Metro Diner was another great choice. It was a blast, with delicious food, and super friendly service. Again, two of us who ate there have celiac, and we both loved our meals and had no issues.

My favorite grocery store

This mention might seem a little goofy, but ever since discovering Wegmans, I get excited any time I get to shop at one. I keep the app on my phone for traveling, and I receive the email newsletter as well. How pleasantly surprised I was when I received notification that they were celebrating Celiac Awareness Month at Wegmans, with descriptions of new gluten-free items they had created. There are a lot of ways Wegmans can be a model to other supermarket chains, and this is yet another. And it should go without saying, but for those meals we prepared in the room at some great Marriotts on this trip, we did our shopping at Wegmans!

Gratitude

These are just places or people I want to offer sincere thanks to. They understand that gluten-free is not a fad for those of us with celiac or other gluten sensitivities, they respect us enough to accommodate these issues, and they offer items that are just as exciting as anything else on their menus. I have been a professional baker, and my husband has been a professional baker and a chef and has managed a restaurant (all many years before “gluten-free” was really a thing). We are both aware of some of the difficulties and challenges that must come with accommodating celiac in restaurant kitchens. We know there are some additional costs, and extra training. The places we visited on this vacation were very much a part of why this was such an awesome trip.

YMMV

I want to include an important note; my celiac is symptomatic. I tend to know when I have been “glutened,” with my own, unmistakable, telltale signs. So I’ve judged my experience of each of these places, and made my recommendations, based on that background. Obviously, everyone is different, with their own sensitivity and their own symptoms. None of these places were dedicated gluten-free, so, as they say, your mileage may vary.

Pennsylvania

I live in Vermont, which is a stunning and very special place. We also have excellent restaurants. Farm to table is big here, locally and organically grown are big here. Even veganism is well accommodated here. What isn’t represented very broadly here, is gluten-free. The eateries that really, reliably and consistently accommodate celiac here are few and far between; I rarely eat out when I am home in Vermont. I have enjoyed many trips to and through PA before, but living with celiac, I was amazed by how many choices there were for eating out. The above were only a few out of many that I enjoyed while there. Even farmers’ markets offered great gluten-free options.

Get in touch

If you are able to visit any of the fantastic eateries I visited on my road trip, please let me know how you like them! I’d also love to hear about other establishments that are going above and beyond, so please drop me an email or leave a comment. Also, keep an eye out for more posts about my experience with celiac or with living gluten-free.

As always, thanks for reading.

~ Nellie

Image: main image is just a quick snapshot I hurriedly took while parked off the road, of the sign for Fireside Tavern and its recognition of Celiac Awareness Month. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking of taking amazing photos of the amazing food I was enjoying, so I don’t have the pictures I’d really like for this post… I’ll just have to go back!

Well it has certainly been a while since I last posted. 2023 was a year full of challenges, one after another it seemed, and all of them came while going through the first year of grieving my dad.

Early in the year I got food poisoning while visiting the shore. That lasted longer than I’ve ever had food poisoning for, was quite awful, and has had continued, residual effects. It was followed soon after by a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Disease. I had heard of Hashimoto’s but had never considered I might develop it myself. After that I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Those weren’t enough apparently, and I developed frozen shoulder (fun!). And then after all of that I was sent for a bone density test, and learned I have osteopenia. I began hearing such reassuring admonitions as, “don’t have any falls, your bones might fracture more easily now!” It all quite impacted my day-to-day life, my mood, and my outlook. It also impacted my expectations for the future.

At best and at worst

My doctors recommended learning as much as I could about living with autoimmune disease. However, as wonderful as they have been, it seems doctors fail to provide that education themselves. The simple reason for that appears to be that few doctors (relatively speaking) understand autoimmune terribly well. The guidance regarding Celiac is rather straightforward. It’s something I’m already familiar with since I have a family member with it. But the guidance for Hashimoto’s sometimes seems to contradict itself, often seems to not be based on very strong evidence, and also seems to be quite individual. So that has been hard to figure out. It has all created a whirlwind at best, and an uncomfortable, sometimes unpleasant, scary, and painful roller coaster at worst.

Learning and rethinking things

I guess that’s the gist of it though, isn’t it? The worst, so far, seems to be this roller coaster of symptoms and uncertainty. I’ve had to revisit previous beliefs I had about food (like, whether veganism is good for me – apparently it isn’t, not for me), spend way more time thinking about what and when I eat or how I will afford eating a super healthy diet, address episodes of frustration and anxiety related to these new health issues, and crucially, make sure I do actually take better care of myself.

One thing I have learned is that some of these conditions can have “flares.” The term is rather new to me, hence the quotation marks. These flares can be really difficult to deal with, and sometimes cause very real stress. I’m currently mostly over the frozen shoulder, am on – I think – a steady course of healing, but am experiencing a “flare” right now. Still, I am mostly optimistic. I’ve been able to follow most of the guidance (as far as I understand it). And I’ve also been able to do things that for months last year I was unable to do.

But I used to be so healthy!

When I was eight or so I had Mono. For weeks I missed school and was basically confined to staying in bed and taking ice cold baths. I also spent a lot of that time reading and playing with my dad (not having any idea of how serious Mono could apparently be at that age), so I actually have fond memories of that time! Other than the Mono I was a healthy, very active kid, and I continued to be in a state of good health most of my life. This is all really new to me, having actual chronic conditions; it’s a lot to get my head around.

New hopes and visions

In January of last year I did not foresee the challenges that were to come, beyond grieving. I have had to rebuild somewhat tenuous new hopes and visions for this year. They are different hopes and visions than what I had last year; they center my own health and well-being, they are more open and flexible, and in a way they may be more authentic.

A year full of joys

Highway 83 South into Baltimore — *The highway into Baltimore, MD – first time visiting this great city!*

At the same time, I know that last year was also a year full of joys: I was able to see my daughter and her partner numerous times through the year; my husband and I traveled to places we love and to places we’d never been; I had many opportunities to enjoy the beauty of nature; I attended cultural and arts events; and my holidays were celebrated with love and family.

The health issues, the many challenges I was suddenly faced with, didn’t ultimately define the year. Even the grieving process I knew I would journey through, didn’t define the year. I can reflect on last year and look ahead knowing that this year might also be a year full of challenges, but also a year full of joys.

So that’s some of where I’ve been! 🙂 Still here, just going through some new stuff. If any of this is true for your own story, please feel free to reach out and say hey. I’m always happy to hear from others!