Travelsmartplanet

Virginia grows the largest variety of peanuts in the world. The Good Earth Peanut Company ships Virginia peanuts fresh in a variety of forms: raw and cooked, in and out of the shell. Sitting right on a 1650’s Tuscarora Indian trail which is now a railroad junction, in an old time (circa 1854) general store, this family business roasts and sells peanuts.

Lindsey and Scott Vincent go beyond the ordinary nut to sell cashew brittle, wasabi flavored peas, nut berry thrill, diet trail mix, cracked pepper and sea salt peanuts, chocolate covered peanut brittle (Sandra’s favorite) and maple covered nuts, as well as pecans like key lime ones (we’re addicted to the butter toasted pecans in our salads).

There are FREE tastes of the 36 or so salty and sweet treats. We’ll take the dark chocolate
covered cherries. Some groceries still line the walls, like McCutcheon’s preserves and Virginia hams.

You’ve gotta stop here, you won’t be disappointed, the quality and the assortment are amazing. You can even order them on-line and have them shipped to you. They will  include information about the history of peanuts, also known as goobers and groundnuts, and how peanuts are grown.  WARNING: These products are addictive!

Location: The Good Earth Peanut Company,  5334 Skippers Road, Skippers, Va 23879
Hours: Mon – Fri 8-6pm, Sat 9-4pm
Tel: 1-800-643-1695
goodearthpeanuts.com

Why not get away with your family to Almonte, ON, just west of Ottawa . The very first reason is that Ed Atwell of Healthy Food Technologies (hft) has figured out how to make low-fat donuts that are scrumptious. He “tricks” the donuts by frying them (in zero trans fat oil) for 1/2 the time and then baking them at the same temperature. Watch the video to see him explain the process he invented.

Now take a walk around the corner and pick up your to-go-with coffee at fair trade high quality Equator Coffee Roasters. They roast the beans right there, having bought them from small-scale farming communities and paid the farmers well. Do not  miss the Oh-so-Canadian maple-flavored latte. It’s worth driving there just for that! Kids can enjoy the hot chocolate.

Next you can pick up snacks for the car or yummies to take home at Dandelion Foods co-op before a 45 min. drive to Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp. D
andelion Foods co-op sells whole, local and organic foods and some for specialty diets. Here you can buy the famous Hummingbird chocolate bars favored by Prime Minister Trudeau. Note the PB & Joy (with peanut butter) and the spicy Mayan.  Please bring back the Empire Cheese caramelized onion cheddar cheese for me.

For lunch and fun, at Wheelers Pancake House you can visit the Maple Museum and the Chainsaw & Logging museum and the kids can have fun in the playground. Handy men and women will be mesmerized by Mark Wheeler’s dad Vernon’s collection of hundreds of chainsaws. Everyone will enjoy his “largest collection of pure maple syrup artifacts” which help explain the history of the maple sugar industry. From First Nations wooden spigots to the plastic lines of today, syrup pour-ers, molds, pails, and everything else related to this sweet topic, it’s all here at this 38-year family business. Don’t forget to leave room for the freshly made pancakes and delicious syrup right from their trees.

For the grand finale, we visited Keith and Elizabeth Adam’s alpacas and llamas at their  Serendipity Farm. For retirement they decided to raise alpacas for the fun of it. The couple exudes their enjoyment of spending their golden years with these elegant, fluffy friends. They’ll chatter about the little quirks of each of the animals as well as the work associated with raising them.

Alpacas produce fiber that is as fine as cashmere, soft, silky and much warmer than sheep’s wool, while also wicking moisture away from the body.
In their little shop you can buy scarves, gloves, purses, as well as fiber felted sheets, alpaca and fiber rovings and handspun yarn.

Leave some time too for the local shops which wind their way along the downtown streets. Yes there’s plenty to do in Lanark County for a low-key interesting getaway weekend. We are not sure how this area attracted so many hippie/free trade/entrepreneurial types who seem to care for the planet. You can feel virtuous spending time and money in this town.

Equator Coffee Roasters, 451-A Ottawa St, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0, Tel: 613-256-5960
www.equator.ca

Dandelion Foods, 541 Ottawa St, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0,  Tel: 1-613-256-4545
www.dandelionfoods.ca

Healthy Food Technologies, 25 Industrial Rd., Almonte ON  Tel: 613-256-9900
(HFT) https://www.facebook.com/HFTinc

Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp, 1001 Highland Line, McDonalds Corners(Lanark Highlands), ON K0G 1M0 Tel: 613-278-2090
www.wheelersmaple.com

Serendipity Farm Alpacas & Llamas,  929 South Lavant Rd, Lanark, ON K0G1K0  Tel: 613-259-3304 or 613-222-6303
www.serendipityalpacas.ca

www.lanarkcounty.ca

Discover Richmond’s food scene by taking the Carytown Food & History Tour. Get acquainted with the neighborhood of Carytown, otherwise known as The Mile of Style, an eclectic mix of restaurants and boutiques while exploring Carytown?s food, history and culture on this 2.5-hour walking tour.

Along the way, you will be popping in and out of various restaurants, cafes, and shops. Get an insider’s perspective as you sample delicious food and snacks from 5-6 local eateries including food tastings of fresh seafood, world-renowned tacos, popular Virginia peanuts. Hear from owners and chefs about how these establishments got their start. This culinary and cultural walking food tour is authentic and quirky and the perfect mix of food, history, and fun.

Location: Carytown, Richmond, VA 23221
Date/Time: Every Sat at 2:00pm
Tel: 804-479-8929
rivercityfoodtours.com/tours/carytown-food-tour
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitrichmondva.com

The California Lemonade chain has fabulously delicious, healthy, inexpensive, seasonal Southern California comfort food. You can choose a 3 or 2-plate meal for only $10. We love that pricing goes by portion size – you can get 1, 2, or 3 portions of each.

Start with the wildly creative salad bar (beets, tangerines, walnuts & onions or watermelon radish, ahi tuna & snap peas or Thai quinoa, cuke, red pepper, mango, peanuts & carrots). Sandwiches are called “right-sized” as they aren’t the gi-normous ones often found in US restaurants.

The hot section features some land and sea food (buttermilk chicken, red curry salmon, pot roast, BBQ brisket). Yes there are desserts and of course, as it’s name implies, 7 kinds of lemonade (ginger peach, blackberry thyme, cucumber mint) to wash it all down. Don’t skip the mac ‘n cheese (only $3.75) or the (yikes!) brussel sprouts.

This photo’s at LAX airport in the Delta departure lounge but there’s about a dozen of them all over LA.  California. They also have a yummy cookbook.

www.lemonadela.com

If you just couldn’t decide what to do tonight, should I go out to a restaurant, grab a pizza, go bowling, watch a movie, take the kids to an arcade, catch a sporting event, or enjoy a comedy show, you don’t have to choose – head for Latitude 30.

You can dine deliciously in the restaurant, for food comes first here, or in any of the above while you enjoy your entertainment. Noise level is high so babies can cry and the kids don’t have to be quiet or sit still while you finish eating – this is the future of family dining.

The sports theater sports19 screens, the pizza chef is stretching and tossing dough by the brick oven, the cocktail area is buzzing, the arcade is dinging (prizes right up to an iPad), bowling balls are crashing in the 20 lanes (comfy couches) while their 9 screens are showing sporting events so you don’t miss anything (football AND bowling) or you can escape into one of the two movie theaters.

If that wasn’t enough action, there’s live music Thurs-Sat nights. You can just sit and watch it all while you have a tiramisu martini (or 40 brands of beer) and then chow into: a prime rib kabob with creamy horse radish sauce, quesadilla, lettuce wrapped Asian chicken in peanut ginger sauce, sesame crusted teriyaki calamari with citrus wasabi aioli, steak and blue cheese in flat bread, shrimp po’ boy, chicken salad with cherries and pecans, blackened mahi mahi or build your own burger.

Dinner entree salads can be made with flat iron steak or blackened ahi, there’s a chopped cobb salad, lobster mac n cheese, veal pot roast, Guinness fish and chips, bacon wrapped scallops and we loved the homemade potato chips. Southern red velvet cake and bread pudding can finish it off for you. You will need to take advantage of the free valet parking, the lot is packed.

Location: 10370 Phillips Highway
Tel: 904-365-5555
www.latitude-30.com