Well I have been traveling quite a bit over the last two weeks and I can tell you that it is hard to remain true to the spirit of living locally while being on the road. Right up front I am going to admit that I have stayed in chain hotels. Had I thought about it more and had more of a chance to do some research I may have stayed at a local establishment, but that’s something I’ll have to figure out in the future. For now it’s Sheraton all the way.
As far as food goes though I have been trying to eat as local as I can. This can be difficult especially when you are in the actual act of traveling. Think about all the rest areas and what types of venues are available. On our way to Columbia SC last Monday Dennis and I stopped at a rest area and actually drove around for about 10 minutes pulling a U-Haul trailer around behind us trying to scope out a local place amongst all the chains. Finally we did – it was a Mexican Restaurant called Pueblo Vijelo. I have to admit I was a little leery. Think about it – Mexican food and a long road trip – doesn’t seem like the best choice. I can happily report that after ordering very conservatively, chicken fajitas, we were able to finish the rest of the trip undisturbed by frequent stops!
While in Columbia we found some really good local places, out favorite was the Liberty Tap Room and Grill, http://www.libertytaproom.com/ mostly because the waitress was so great. Unfortunately Liberty didn’t turn out to be as local as we thought. They have a few other locations around South Carolina as well. We were only there for a whirlwind tour of moving our daughter into her new apartment and then we were on our way home again.
Currently I am in Syracuse taking a week-long class. Not wanting to drive around much has limited my choices for food. I have to admit I go to Dunkin Donuts every morning, it is the only place where I am certain that I can get decaf tea – and I don’t mean herbal, blah! Dunkin Donuts brought up a thought for me in the whole local scope. Is a franchise that is locally owned considered local or not? For lunch I have been to the Varsity and the Pita place (not Pita Pocket) I’m not sure if that one is local or not. Last night I did meet up with a friend and we went to the empire brewing company. They had some nice light ale on tap and the special was a burrito that was filled with vegetables right from their own garden. If you check out their website, http://www.empirebrew.com/index.php, right on the home page it says drink beer, eat food, buy local. My kind of place!
