Over the weekend, I traveled with the Memphis Hash House Harriers (our little running and drinking club) to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for the annual Little Rock Hash Fest. Hot Springs is about 30 minutes outside Little Rock, but it's much prettier since it's closer to the Ozarks. We stayed at the historic Arlington Hotel and had a couple fun pub crawls through the town. Here we are on Saturday for the Red Dress Run. Everyone — men and women — had to wear a red dress to participate.
I won't bore you with the hash weekend details. Just know there was plenty of beer, pub crawling, and hot tubbing and very little running. I'm really here to tell you about the food! When I arrived on Friday, I quickly realized that I did not want to move my car all weekend since I found a free street parking spot (the hotel's parking would have been $42 for the weekend, so I lucked out!).
Luckily, there was vegan food in walking distance. Right across the street from the Arlington, I found Rolando's, a Mexican restaurant with some Cuban and Argentinian dishes. I ordered the Guac Tostada with no cheese (the server told me they had a dairy-free button in their ordering system, so that made it easy). This had crunchy tostadas with lots of guac, pickled veggies, and Cuban black beans and rice. Really good. Very guac-y!
The next morning, my friend Kenzie, who had stayed in Hot Springs recently, took some of our group on a little walk to Kollective Coffee + Tea. This place was very vegan-friendly and definitely the highlight of my food experience there! I got the Everything Bagel with Vegan Cream Cheese, Tempeh Bacon, Tomato, and Roasted Red Pepper. You got to build your own bagel sandwich, and they had lots of vegan stuff to choose from.
For lunch that day, I just had some ramen noodles I brought in the hotel room. I didn't really want to cut into hot tub time by venturing out on foot for food.
I found dinner during the Red Dress Run. Our first beer stop was at Cafe Kahlo, and it was about 5-ish, so I figured I'd better order food while I could. They had a Veggie Burrito that was easy to make vegan without cheese. It was simple and not too exciting, but it was vegan, so that worked.
Here's some of the Memphis folks at Cafe Kahlo!
On Sunday, most of our Memphis group was hitting the road back home before the "hangover trail," so I walked back over to Kollective for brunch. This time, I got the Vegan Gyro, which had a really tasty vegan meat. I couldn't tell what it was, but it may be Beyond Steak. That was topped with a creamy vegan tzatziki and served with sweet potato chips. Just what I needed to fuel the drive!
What a rowdy and fun looking group! I LOVE the red dresses! Glad you were able to get away and enjoy yourselves. - Sri
ReplyDeleteThat bagel looks SO GOOD. I've been thinking about you because we got an order of Srimu cheese for the Thanksgiving week. She's in Memphis now!!! I'm wondering if you're had a chance to check it out. It's kind of pricey, but a lot of that is that we're having it shipped in a cold pack. I would imagine it's much more reasonable if you can just walk in and buy some.
ReplyDeleteHello Bianca! I have been lurking on your site for around 10 years now. Say... I know you have tried a lot of protein powders. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to recommend the best tasting one? I have a very picky 4 year old. I am trying to ensure she has the proper nutrition, but it is hard. I have make pancakes, smoothies and popsicles with protein powders, but she doesn't see to like them. I think it may be the protein powder that I use. So, if you could help me avoid a lot of trial and error, and recommend the best tasting one, it would be highly appreciated! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun weekend! It looks like a blast.
ReplyDeleteHi Chantal! So sorry I'm just seeing your comment! But my favorite is Complement Protein. Their plain is unflavored, and it works great in baked goods. But the chocolate is my fave. I think it tastes really good mixed into a smoothie with bananas! And the ingredients are super-clean.
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