not so celiac friendly places…

It’s never fun to be glutened, but it’s *really* not fun on vacation. And twice in one day? That doesn’t even happen at home.

We went to Sea World yesterday and upon entering the park, I went to customer relations and asked about eating gluten-free in the park. After 5 minutes of looking in every book and folder in the office, the gentleman finally found their allergy sheet and I was on my way.

It was laid out a bit funny but after I figured it out, I saw that most (if not all) of the restaurants in the park would be able to accommodate me. Since it was noon and we hadn’t eaten since 6:30, our first stop was food.

We went to Calypso Cafe and I ordered corn on the cob (safe), smoked chicken (safe), and chocolate pudding (safe). They serve you behind the counter there and when I said chicken, no roll, the gal put the chicken on and then immediately dumped a bunch of fries on top. Whoops – fries aren’t on the approved list so I told her that I was really sorry, I couldn’t eat the fries. She gave me a look like I was from Mars and the guy next to her told her to just make me a new plate.

So on went the new chicken and the corn. Then hubby (who was splitting w/me) said that he would eat the fries so I asked if they could do fries on the side, no on the chicken. That resulted in a glare and some hastily shoved-into-a-bucket fries. Guess they’re not used to helping the allergic to often..

Anyway, sat down to eat and before the meal was over, I felt my wheat response kicking in. I’m not only gluten-intolerant, but I’m also allergic to wheat and when I get into it, I know w/in a matter of minutes. I get a funny taste in my mouth and a sick sort of feeling in my stomach and then it’s off to the races.. if you know what I mean. Thankfully I had brought my emergency supply of imodium so I was able to avoid spending the remainder of the day in the bathroom. Not my favorite place to be at Sea World.

But regardless, we were there until 5 and I wasn’t able to do much walking around. My poor tummy was just rolling.

When we left the park, we headed for Sammy’s Wood Fired Pizza. They offer a gluten-free crust there and I was in the mood for something that wouldn’t cause me ill-effects.

But before the meal was over, there came the wheat responses again. I’m not sure if this was due to cross contamination somewhere along the line or what – but it sure made for a miserable night.

Today we’re back to Disneyland. Yay! Here I can eat and *not* get sick. This time I’ll try to remember to take photos *before* I eat the food.