It's time for another Monthly Recap!
April was packed full of back to back traveling, plus some delicious restaurant visits too! I discovered 2 new gluten-free bakeries, and even visited some regular favorite places in the Boston area.
We visited New York, South Carolina, and Vermont, and there was a LOT going on! Let's recap what April was like for food and travel!
All of the monthly food & travel recaps on the blog can be found here.
TNF Travels In April 2023
Number of States Visited: 6 (Vermont, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut).
As I mentioned this month was packed full of lots of travel. 3 back to back weekends, in fact!
The first weekend of April we were in New York with my family celebrating the life of my cousin who passed away in January. I miss her terribly and the celebration was bittersweet, as we hadn't all been together in so long due to the pandemic. But we found great joy in being together, sharing memories, and laughing and telling jokes the way families do.
The second weekend of April we were in Vermont with Dylan's family! I ran a 5k with Dylan's cousin LeeAnn and we all celebrated the birthday of Dylan's grandmother and great-aunt. It was still pretty chilly (not much spring happening) but it was still a fun weekend nonetheless. And I WON FOR MY AGE GROUP. AND I AM NOT A RUNNER!
The third weekend of April we visited Dylan's parents in South Carolina. We saw Lucius in concert (FRONT ROW!) as a birthday gift from my in-laws (thanks, Tim and Lisa!), played some disc golf, and even checked out an awesome arcade. I also discovered I like iced coffee! (What has been wrong with me? It's incredible)
Unfortunately, Dylan caught a bad cold, and then I caught it shortly after, so the rest of April was spent resting and doing things around here. Walks to see the gardens blooming in Salem, grabbing coffee, and a day trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
TNF Eats in April 2023
There was LOTS of gluten-free eats and adventures in April! Here's what I ate:
New York:
Popojito: 100% Gluten-Free
We discovered Popojito back in 2021 when road tripping south. Another amazing spot thanks to Find Me Gluten Free! It's in Scarsdale, NY, just north of the city. It's a Nex-Mex place where the food is fantastic and the tacos are next level. And they have gluten-free CHURROS for dessert!
Find Me Gluten-Free is one of my favorite tools for traveling with celiac - especially their Premium subscription. Take $5 off with this link to try it out!
By The Way Bakery: 100% Gluten-Free
I've heard SO many good things about By The Way Bakery, and finally got to try them at their Hastings-on-Hudson location! Adorable little bakery with tons of baked goods - all gluten AND dairy-free. I really liked their raspberry bars and cookies! They have multiple locations in New York and Connecticut!
Looking for more eats in New York City? Check out my Manhattan dining guide here.
Vermont:
Belladore Gluten-Free Bakery
A totally new discovery! I found these at a coffee shop in Northfield, Vermont, and upon looking them up on Instagram, saw they already followed me. How fun! The cookies were scrumptious! And I noticed Belladore bakery is also doing pop-ups with my friends at Red Leaf, the 100% gluten-free brewery in Jeffersonville, VT. Awesome!
Looking for more gluten-free eats in Vermont? Check out my dining guide here.
South Carolina
Universal Joint
Greenville, South Carolina (and the south in general) I've found can be more challenging for celiacs because awareness in restaurants can be...not as great. I'm not saying that's the case in every southern city, but having lived in Florida for 10 years, I can say it's definitely not as easy to eat gluten-free as it is in the northeast. This burger at Universal Joint on a GF bun required a lot of questions and mental energy, but was so worth it in the end and wound up being a delicious safe meal!
I'm working on sharing all of the places I usually eat when visiting Greenville, South Carolina the last 4 years in a future blog post. Stay tuned!
New Hampshire:
Popovers on the Square
There's nothing quite like having a cup of warm soup and a GF popover on a rainy day while watching it from inside. Right? That's what Dylan thought of last Sunday and I was totally in on that plan. We've visited here many times to Popovers on the Square and love their GF options. Portsmouth is such a cool city and reminds me a lot of Salem. Maybe that's why we visit it so often!
North Shore Boston
Burtons Grill
Last week Dylan and I had a hosted dinner at Burtons Grill! And once again, it did not disappoint. We had drinks (I had a Glutenberg beer, Dylan had a Mai-Tai), we ordered gluten-free focaccia for an appetizer with 3 dipping sauces, and then had steak dinners! I had steak frites with chimichurri and fries and a side of brussel sprouts. Dylan did a surf and turf.
Everything I had was celiac safe and gluten-free because Burtons is THE BEST for celiac safety. The founder has celiac disease and they have won awards in the allergy community. You can read more about them through this interview I did with their VP of Marketing here.
For more gluten-free eats on Boston's North Shore, check out my dining guide here.
TNF Reflections on April 2023
After 6 weeks of thyroid medicine, I can honestly say I feel SO much better. I'm not fatigued every morning, I'm sleeping better, my nails aren't brittle and breaking anymore. So I think this is a big improvement for my health! I'm getting follow up bloodwork to see what my levels are and will go from there.
This month I've had some crazy breakthroughs in my business when it comes to the content I create, the courses I sell, and what I'm doing this summer & the rest of 2023. Get ready for some massive shifts and changes, because I'm ready to make things HAPPEN!
I'm also so happy it's almost spring, my birthday, and my favorite time of year!
TNF Travels for May....
WHEW. May is going to be a WILD ONE, and I'm already a little anxious about how much I've put on my plate. It's going to be crazy, but in a good way!
Between Celiac Awareness Month events, the Confident Celiac Community retreat to NYC, and my 2-week trip to Europe...there's going to be a HUGE recap for May next month!
You can read the previous month's recaps on the blog right here.
Be sure to follow me on Instagram @thenomadicfitz for updates on what I'm doing, where I'm traveling, and what I'm eating.
Looking for more celiac travel posts?
Avoid these five mistakes when dining out with celiac disease!
Flying somewhere and worried you'll be starving in an airport? Not to worry, this post on flying with celiac disease has you covered!
Do you have celiac AND IBS? I do too. Here's how I manage both when traveling.
Get my gluten-free travel guides to Boston, New York, Madrid, Buenos Aires (plus many more) here!
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