Virginia, the Beautiful

Anyone following me on Twitter has surely been reminded several times how much I’ve fallen in love with Virginia. A short drive down any of the winding roads here has me gasping at how beautiful it is. I don’t want to leave!! Here’s a peek at our condo. We’re staying at the Historic Powhatan Resort in Williamsburg. It’s fantastic! There’s even a full-sized Jacuzzi attached to the master bedroom!

As if it was possible to love the area any more, I randomly came across a Trader Joe’s on my run the first day here. I literally yelped “Trader Joe’s!!!!!!!” and stopped to call my mom.

We’re saving our big stock-up for our last day here (Wednesday), but that didn’t stop us from picking up a few essentials that evening! My loot included whole grain drink, PB-filled pretzels, almond butter with roasted flaxseeds, chocolate dipped bananas, a pink lady apple and strawberry fruit floes.

I’ve had some of everything. Omg, I need a Trader Joe’s by my house. Most things in the store have impressive ingredient lists at low prices. Yummmmmmmm.

Mom was craving steak our first night here so we followed a local’s suggestion and visited Aberdeen Barn. Traveling with my family is interesting because we eat so differently. This is another restaurant where it is just difficult to eat vegan. I find the more modern restaurants and chain places are the best for catering to special diets. Aberdeen Barn is not one of these places ;) The restaurant is very traditional. I felt like I should be more dressed up when our waiter came out in a tux!

I had a few breadsticks and a roll before dinner. Eh. I’m all about pre-meal carbs but neither of these impressed me.

For my meal I ordered wild rice and broccoli. Quite different from my Infusion Tea meals at home, right?! Aberdeen Barn was a great restaurant if you love a juicy steak and fresh salad with homemade blue cheese dressing. The foods I ate for my vegan meal were very good, but the overall options and willingness of the staff weren’t the best. Some places are just not meant to be :) Luckily I had plenty of snacks back at the condo to console me!

What should I buy at Trader Joe’s when I stock up Wednesday?