Lessons From the Sunshine State

Oh what beautiful weather Florida has this time of year! While warm air and blue skies are quite the treat, the main object of my affection here is my Grammie! This morning I went out with her and her “gentleman friend,” George, for an early breakfast before church at Peach's Restaurant.

They love this chain restaurant, which first started in New Hampshire, George’s home state. The founder named the restaurant after herself (or himself?), using the nickname she gained as a fuzzy-cheeked toddler: Peach.

The inside is pretty much your normal American restaurant, with booths and tables. But the wallpaper border is peaches, and the walls have lots of paintings of peaches as well. The menu is not geared towards vegetarians, but they did have a few choices!

Since this restaurant serves just breakfast and lunch, I thought they might have an egg alternative option, and they did: "Egg Beaters." I wasn’t sure if Egg Beaters are made with any egg or dairy products; I just knew that they aren't actual eggs. When I told the waitress I’m a vegan and don’t eat eggs or dairy products and asked what the Egg Beaters were made of she said: “it's an egg alternative.” I could see that the waitress probably hadn't come across my sort of question before, but I got shy and didn't ask her to find out if EggBeaters were made with any animal products. At this point, Grammie asked for clarification on my behalf, and the waitress replied, "they come from a box."  Grammie tried asking again, but the waitress was still confused.  So... without really know exactly what I was ordering, I went for it and later researched the ingredients online. The Egg Beaters website's headline is: "an egg substitute made from real eggs." Oops! So Egg Beaters are definitely not vegan. They are made with twenty ingredients, the first of which is "egg whites."


So this turned out to be a good lesson for me when it comes to eating out as a vegan: be persistent! It's a continual process for me, learning to take enough initiative to make sure I'm not ordering something that's made with animal products. My grandma is a great woman to learn from, because she is not too shy to find out what she needs to know, but is also polite and respectful. My mother had those same qualities, and I'm hoping those genes will kick in for me soon!

There were a number of side dishes and extras that I could have compiled to make a nice vegan breakfast. (Next time!)

Oatmeal, a bagel with peanut butter, and a bowl of fresh fruit would have done the trick.

But I ordered the Spinach, Mushrooms & Sour Cream Omelet (without the sour cream), Egg Beaters option. Rye bread and a fresh fruit bowl were the sides.

I could tell that the spinach and the mushrooms were fresh, not frozen or fried, so that made for a nice flavor.

I was pleased with my meal and left feeling nice and full. But it is still a learning process for me. The omelette was definitely not vegan, and they had already put butter on my toast (didn't think to specify that). Sigh. I am learning!

Interestingly enough, the flavored coffee creamers all seemed to be vegan. They’re labeled “non-dairy creamer” and “natural and artificial flavors.” Just to check, I looked that up online later and found out that they contain sodium caseinate, a milk derivative. But because the manufacturing process is "significantly different from that of other dairy ingredients... the FDA still classifies it as a non-dairy ingredient," according to the International Delight's website.

Ok, so maybe I sound like a whiner at this point. A tiny bit of caseinate (dairy milk derivative) in my body is not going to make me sick or even necessarily be noticed. But how food affects my health and wellness is not my only concern. I've come to see that if I don't draw a strict line, the line will get pushed farther and farther in the direction that I don't want to go - towards eating animals and animal products, and thereby supporting the industries that cause suffering to these creatures.


Anyhoo, apart from all that, the ambiance and company were fantastic!

That cheerful guy greeted us at the entrance way. And this duo hung out on the wall:

Both reminded me that despite the beautiful warm weather here in Florida, it is Autumn, and I'd be feeling cool weather again soon enough! But for the time being, I enjoyed everything Florida had to offer. This breakfast was just one of the great family moments I had during the week.
Grammie and George both treated themselves to huge waffles topped with strawberries, bananas, whipped cream and syrup.

Now I’m going to have to find a vegan waffle recipe to fulfill my new craving for a decked-out waffle!

On our way to church after breakfast, we passed by a small waterway.

I’ve been seeing lots of beautiful water birds since being down south, and I really wanted to get a nice shot of some. So I slowly crept up on these Sand Hill Cranes and starting snapping pictures.

When they heard me coming, they raised their long necks up out of the water, looked at me, and then dove right back in!

With a repetitive motion similar to woodpeckers drilling holes in a tree to munch on insects, these two-foot tall birds plunged their long beaks down in the water again and again, chomping on fresh water plants.

Practically their whole heads would disappear under the water, allowing them to reach a depth of nearly one foot! 


It was quite interesting to watch. I'll leave you with a video of the feasting in action, and with a salutation made famous and cherished to me this week by George: Happy Day!