Monday, February 27, 2012

(Not So Great) Vegan Eating in Palm Springs, CA

Last week I was in Palm Springs, CA for a work conference. Palm Springs is in the desert with palm trees, cacti, cloudless blue skies, golf courses galore, and intense sun and heat that were way too much for me. I'm not a hot weather fan, and I withered in the 88 degrees and blinding sun. Because it's still winter, though, I slathered on four different SPF products for a total of 105 SPF protection every time I left my hotel and tried not to complain.

Unfortunately, the conference organizers either didn't care about my request for vegan food when they asked about dietary restrictions or for some reason weren't able to accommodate me. There wasn't a thing I could eat at the conference except fruit when they had it. Nor was Palm Springs a mecca for vegan eating. It was a struggle, but here's how I made it through the week.

Breakfast at Starbucks
I've gotten bagels and peanut butter before from Starbucks, but the Palm Springs Starbucks had neither peanut butter nor fruit spread. The only options were cream cheese or butter (same at the conference). But I found something better than bagels: Perfect Oatmeal. It's mixed with hot water and comes with little packets of brown sugar, nuts, and dried fruit. It was yummy and kept me full until lunch.

And because I was desperate for soymilk, I didn't feel as guilty spending a ridiculous $4 for a soy latte (expensive, but soooo good).

Lunch at Cafe Jasmin
I survived on their hummus and pita, salads, and lentil soup. They also have a bunch of different wraps and sandwiches that can easily be made vegan.

Dinner at Maracas
The veggie fajitas at Maracas featured broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. How unexpected! The refried beans were veg, and the salsa was amazing.

Lunch and Dinner at Thai House
I think Thai food can rarely be bad, so when I was underwhelmed by the mixed veggies entree I got for a lunch special, I went back for dinner. I ordered the spicy basil noodles, and it was just short of awful. The noodles were swimming in oil (but no fish sauce; I made sure to specify) and there were barely any veggies, tofu, or basil. There were other Thai restaurants, but this was the closest to my hotel. I wouldn't recommend it.

Snacks at the Circle K
At a tiny, run-down Circle K I got a little bag of nuts and dried cranberries and raisins I had throughout the week. They also had other little snack mixes, all of which seemed to be locally made.

That's the food recap. Here are some more pictures, the first of the sunset from the balcony of my hotel.
Last week was also Modernism Week, and a new modern prefab house from Home Depot was set up to tour. I went on the tour...and felt like I was walking through Dwell Magazine. I loved it!
The prefab house was set up in Palm Spring's Design District, which had cute shops and very cool art galleries. I spent forever at the Desert Art Center, where I fawned over some amazing pottery. The art was much better than the vegan eating options!

1 comment:

  1. I second your opinion of Maracas, but, what?: Circle K gets a shout out but no love for granola bars from Rite Aid? (I like your page background! It makes me want to go into the kitchen and be happy.)

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