Driving Trip To Move

[Googles]

I am going to be moving from Boston to Michigan next month. I will be driving with my dad (who is not gluten free.) Does anyone have suggestions on hotels or restaurants to eat at? All I know about the route is that it takes us through Buffalo NY. Any suggestions? This will be my first trip anywhere after diagnosis and stressful enough with the moving part without having to worry too much about food also. Thanks. Is there somewhere I can get a list of restaurants that have gluten free menus?

[psawyer]

The route will take you along I-90 west from Boston to Buffalo. There isn't much at the tollway service areas that is gluten-free, so bringing food is a good idea. You will pass some large cities, including Albany and Syracuse, but I don't know what you will find there. Rochester is a significant diversion.

Once you reach Buffalo, two options exist. The shortest route from Buffalo to Detroit is through Canada, but you will need passports to go this way. Before reaching Buffalo, go west on I-290 to I-190, then north to the border at Queenston/Lewiston. Follow Hwy 405 to the Queen Elizabeth Way (signed QEW on blue and yellow markers) to Hamilton, work your way through that to Hwy 403 west (I can provide more detail if you want), then Hwy 401 west to Windsor and cross back to the US at Detroit. There are no tolls on this route through Canada, and many communities along the way. Major cities on this route include Hamilton, London and Windsor. Again, I don't know specifics about restaurants. Boston to Detroit should take about 11 hours, excluding border delays.

If you don't have a passport, or are heading to southwestern Michigan, you would continue on I-90 right into Michigan. I'm not familiar with this part of I-90, so I can't be much help.

[psawyer]

Another thought. If you are going to northern Michigan, an even shorter route would be to take Hwy 402 from London to Sarnia and cross the border there. For some locations in southern Michigan, this may also be shorter. You don't have to go far from Detroit for this to be to your advantage; it is the shortest distance from Toronto to Dearborn, for example.

[The Fluffy Assassin]

I am going to be moving from Boston to Michigan next month. I will be driving with my dad (who is not gluten free.) Does anyone have suggestions on hotels or restaurants to eat at? All I know about the route is that it takes us through Buffalo NY. Any suggestions? This will be my first trip anywhere after diagnosis and stressful enough with the moving part without having to worry too much about food also. Thanks. Is there somewhere I can get a list of restaurants that have gluten free menus?

Not to be cynical, but the simplest thing is to stop at every Outback Steakhouse you see. Nearly every large chain (practically all except for Red Lobster) has a gluten free menu, but these are frequently unreliable. Outback is the only one that seems to be consistently reliable. (I didn't check elsewhere on your route, but there are two in Buffalo.)

The Gluten Free Registry Open Original Shared Link is searchable by state and city and is better than nothing. Shortcoming is that gluten-freeness is in the eyes of the registrants (companies register themselves) so you have zeebs like O'Charley's on there. However, the user reviews give you a pretty good idea which are the good companies and which are the pretenders. And there are links to the companies' websites.

At a restaurant's corporate website, you find the link to menus, then look around for Nutrition. Follow that link and one of your options should be a gluten-free menu. Once at the restaurant, ask for the gluten-free menu, or for the manager, or preferably both.

Have a good trip!

[Googles]

Thank you both for your responses. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with just the basic moving stuff so your advice is much appreciated.

[Takala]

Get yourself a big ice chest cooler and pack it full of yummy things for yourself, and also have a carry bag of non perishable foods you know you can eat. I always pack food and then treat restaurant dining as a supplementary activity- that way, I don't worry about the possibility of getting sick. My spouse might go thru a drive thru and I get a sandwich out of the cooler- or a sandwich for each of us, and some fruit... it's faster this way if we're trying to get to someplace.

I finally started doing this after a few trips where we'd go to what was formerly a place where I could get something and the menu had changed.... on a long drive this is not what you want to discover at the last minute.