Mamacado

Hi Friends! It's been awhile. Life is REALLY busy now with baby number three and working full time. But I just HAVE to share with you about our great food allergy finds on our recent trip to Ocean City, Maryland...with two stops in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Little Guy has multiple food allergies to dairy, egg, nuts, salmon and sesame, and he was able to eat out safely for 3 meals, plus 4 food allergy friendly desserts on and off the boardwalk.

Now, that's what I call an allergy friendly trip.

Vacations always stress me out a bit because most of my worry, planning and packing revolves around food. But it's a wonderful stress because that means we're going on VACATION - a much needed and loved activity! We've vacationed in OC Maryland almost every year, so it's easier when you've been there before. However, we haven't ventured to many restaurants.

At restaurants at home and on vacation, Little Guy has not eaten much more than a plain hamburger (no bun) plus steamed veggies, and maybe potatoes on the side. So, this vacation, I was determined to find a few different food allergy friendly options that our whole family could enjoy - including Little Guy!

A few weeks before vacation I emailed a number of restaurants that I found on both AllergyEats and in a food allergy forum on Facebook. A number of restaurants emailed and called me back immediately - which was just amazing!

So where did we end up eating? Well, we ate many meals at the beach house we rented, but otherwise we found a few good restaurants.

BETHANY BEACH, DELAWARE
On the way down south from the Philly area, we decided to make a quick stop in Bethany Beach for lunch, before check-in time. I have to say - we really hit the jackpot with Bethany Blues. I spoke with the manager a week before the trip, and he told me that ALL their barbecue is free from Little Guy's allergens. WOW!

At the restaurant, we gave our allergy card to the waiter, and asked to speak with the manager. He confirmed that the barbecue, rolls, corn and green beans would all be safe. He said they would change gloves, watch cross contact, and they even mentioned that they were just named one of the 10 most allergy friendly restaurants in the US!

I believe it.

They even made the corn on the cob specially for Little Guy for lunch since it's usually a dinner option. Little Guy had a GREAT meal and we truly appreciate Bethany Blues' allergy friendly options and care for those with food allergies.

We ALL loved the food at Bethany Blues so much that we decided to stop here again, on the way back home, for lunch! Little guy decided he like the pork barbecue and slider rolls, so he had THREE sliders, corn and green beans.

Big guy now = big appetite ;)

We ALSO found two options for safe water ice on the Bethany Beach boardwalk. The first was at Shore Break.

We checked the ingredients of Georgeo's Italian Ice, and confirmed with the staff that they use separate scoops for the italian ice, separate from the ice cream.

Little Guy got a large (and it WAS large!), and Little Gal actually got a Spiderman popsicle, which was also a safe treat (even though she doesn't have food allergies).

Happy kids all around!

I also spoke with the manager at Tropical Treats, and the shaved ice would have been safe for Little Guy. We didn't get a chance to try it, but hopefully next time.

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND
While in OC Maryland, we ate at one restaurant, Harrison's Harbor Watch. This has constantly been a perfect restaurant for our family. Great food for everyone, and beautiful views of the boats coming in and out of the inlet, and of Assateague Island.

Again, we used our chef card, and the wait staff was very knowledgeable about food allergy protocols in the kitchen. They also always bring out the food with an allergy stick in it. A comforting practice for everyone.

Little guy safely ate a burger with no bun (the "best burger I've ever tasted"), green beans, applesauce and potatoes.

Now, what about food allergy friendly TREATS and DESSERTS!? Everyone likes to get a treat on the boardwalk, right? Thankfully, we found safe cotton candy (sadly I didn't get a photo of the place where we got it!).

And water ice (maybe 2 or 3 times!?) at Polish Water Ice.

And we also specifically chased down DOLE WHIP. Yes, I said DOLE WHIP! It's a beloved treat for those who are dairy free and have food allergies. It's the creamiest dairy free "ice cream" I've ever tasted. It tastes like traditional soft serve ice cream made of cow's milk, but again, it's dairy free (and also egg free, nut free and free of all Little Guy's allergens).

See that awesome "Dole Whip" sign at the bottom?

Two happy kiddos with Dole Whip.

We tracked down the dole whip on the way back from my relatives' house (always fun to visit them on our trips to OC!) since it was on our route back home.

Dumser's Dairyland has many locations, and one with Dole Whip (the West Ocean City location)! Sooo, who wants to support a social media petition with me for Dumser's to add Dole Whip to ALL their locations!?

We unfortunately didn't get a chance to try ALL the restaurants I contacted who responded that they could safely cook for Little Guy. I really wanted to try Mother's Cantina since they said they could make safe tacos, fajitas or nachos (they even have vegan cheese).

I also wanted to try The Bayside Skillet for breakfast for lunch as they also gave us a positive response.

I really hope this is helpful for others looking for food allergy friendly restaurant options in OC, Maryland and Bethany Beach, Delaware!

Please remember to do your own research at each restaurant to serve the needs of your specific food allergies. Management, chefs and policies change, so ask every time.

And yes, I'm logging all these great finds on AllergyEats!

I hope you'll join me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for conversations and posts that may not necessarily be included on the blog.

Happy eating!

'Tis the season to see a holiday show in the city! We were so excited to see The Christmas Carol musical at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philly this weekend. The show is just perfect for kids since it's only 1 hour, offers late morning show times, moves pretty quickly and has a few fun songs and surprises in it. Thanks to the Walnut Street Theatre for providing our family of 4 with tickets to the show.

Grandma was kind enough to watch baby sister since a quiet theater is no place for a squirmy 8 month old. Plus, it was fun to be able to enjoy a musical with the two older kiddos.

So the 4 of us piled in our minivan (yes, I said minivan, we succumbed to the stereotypical parenting vehicle for our new family of 5!), and drove to Philly for the 11am show!

We each got a playbill and talked about The Christmas Carol story (Little Gal wasn't too familiar with it. Little Guy remembered seeing it on TV I think).

The stage was decorated for their other, longer running show, Matilda, with part of it decorated for The Christmas Carol. The Christmas Carol is obviously has a shorter season since it specifically runs around Christmas!

The lobby of the theater was decorated so festively. Little Gal gave it a thumbs up.

I have to say, Little Gal was a little scared by the ghost of Marley and the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but the play was so lighthearted, quick moving, and had a happy ending, so she said she just loved it at the end.

We had to get home to baby sister, but if we could have stayed in the city longer, we definitely would have gone to see the Christmas "show" at the Comcast building and at Macy's. We've done that in previous years, and it's really helped us get in the Christmas spirit!

Hoping you have some holiday fun in the next few weeks and wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

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