JS Awareness - The Food!

 

Juicy Lucy

Good topic for a fun Friday post, and also appropriate for JS Awareness Month: All the good food I've gotten to eat while attending conferences and board retreats.

 The States have a lot of food brands, restaurants, and regional delicacies that we don't here in Canada. Part of the fun of planning for the conferences over the years has been thinking about what new things I can eat, and where.

It all began in 2013 before going to Minneapolis. My family are fans of Food Network, so for about a month or so before leaving, my Dad and I kept an eye on Man vs. Food and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives for anything good. We found out about Juicy Lucy's, burgers stuffed with melted cheese. The evening of the presentation I gave, we went out and had our fill! 

Two years later, the conference was in Chicago. That meant deep-dish pizza. This time, with the whole family! We also went to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play while we were there. I don't like baseball and couldn't tell you a thing about the game that day, but I do remember the Chicago-style hotdog.

The Phoenix conference in 2017 was amazing for many reasons, including the food. The first night, we had take-out from In-N-Out Burger, recommended by my sister after a trip to California. On our way to the hotel, our Uber driver told us about Mexican Coke, made with brown sugar, and I knew I had to try it. A cold bottle was my first purchase during a trip to Old-town Scottsdale.

After the conference, my family and I stayed in Phoenix a few extra days to play tourist. We drove through the desert to Montezuma's Castle, where my mother bought prickly pear jam, a great addition to peanut butter sandwiches. The next day, our last in Arizona, we celebrated my Mom's birthday by having brunch at a place called Butters. Best breakfast ever! I went southwestern and got huevos rancheros, along with sweet tea and biscuits and gravy, two of my go-to's when going to the US. The last day of our vacation ended with eating burritos in a park, surrounded by cacti, at sunset!

Last summer in Baltimore, it was crab everything: crab pretzels, crab tater tots, crab burgers, and more! We drove there, and on our way we drove by Hershey, Pennsylvania. On the way home, we went there and stopped at Hershey's Chocolate World.

After a fun tour, we loaded up on goodies. I walked out with a basket-load of Payday bars (another US must-have) and Reese products!

Hoping to eventually be south of our border again, enjoying good friends and good grub.

Cheers!