Las Vegas Traditions: The Santa Run

December 7, 2008 | 3 Comments

Joey and Migel pose for the camera.

“The Las Vegas Great Santa Run was part of a contest involving similar Santa gatherings in Liverpool, England; Tasmania, New Zealand, and a county in Ireland to claim the title of ‘World’s Largest Gathering of Santa Clauses’ for the Guinness Book of Records. We’ll know later in the week the official Las Vegas registered entry number and also the counts from the other three global cities to see how we fared.” (source)

Yesterday, Ed, Bella, Floyd, Joey, Joey’s friend Migel, and I participated in the Great Santa Run. It’s a 5k run or 1 mile walk for charity in which all participants are dressed like Santa. It’s hilarious! The Fremont Street Experience (downtown/ old Vegas) is filled with THOUSANDS of people dressed as Santa. Old people, young people, runners, walkers, kids, babies, dogs, drunk people, sober people, locals, tourists, etc. fill the streets and turn them red with Santa suits. All the money goes to Opportunity Village.

This is what Vegas is all about. This is exactly the kind of thing we do that makes me happy to be a Las Vegan.

Ed with Bella and Floyd. What? You didn’t know that Santa switched from reindeer to pirate dogs?

(PS - The Las Vegas Marathon is today.)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Las Vegas, Travel
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Vegan Eats In Southern Utah’s Cedar City

August 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Cedar City, Utah is just a 3 hour drive from Las Vegas, Nevada. Cedar City is a small college town of about 30,000 residents. While the Vegas weather is over 110 degrees, Cedar City is in the 80s and 90s. The town in called “Festival City” because it hosts many festivals throughout the year, including the famous Shakespearean Festival at Southern Utah University.

The Shakespearean Festival lasts practically all Summer long and contains a wide variety of plays, both by William Shakespeare and by other playwrights. There are plays about twice a day every day except Sunday. There are often three plays to choose from at each time slot since there are three theaters. In addition, there is a free “Greenshow” an hour before some evening plays and there are backstage tours, costume tours, and more.

During my visit last year, I had just recently become vegan. Though I’d been vegetarian almost my entire life, I was still getting accustomed to veganism and the lack of a dairy crutch can sometimes make eating out difficult. Moreover, I wasn’t familiar with Cedar City and all its offerings. So I ate many of my meals in my motel room with the aid of a grocery store, a mini-fridge, and a microwave. (A boxed package of Indian curried potatoes or canned vegetarian chili and microwave rice became my travel dinner staples.)

This time, however, I found some good vegan eat’n in Cedar City:

WOW Eatery
http://www.woweatery.com/
5 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah
435-586-7334

Located upstairs in the shopping center with Boomers and Cafe Orleans, WOW features an almost entirely vegetarian menu. All but one item on the menu can be made vegan and most are vegan without modification necessary. The menu is mostly sandwiches and lunch items with some desserts and drinks.

Pluses:

Vegan-Friendly Menu: Wonderful menu for vegetarians and vegans. Only one item is not vegetarian. All items can be made vegan.
Healthy Food: Tasty bread and yummy sandwiches that are homemade and healthy.
Friendly Staff: Many of the people who work there are very nice and helpful.
Clean and Organized: The restauarant definitely isn’t run by a ‘dirty hippy.’ This place is clean and has a bit of style.
Reasonable Prices: The prices might seem a tad high for locals or anyone on a tight budget, but for out-of-towners used to shopping at Whole Foods or big city restaurants, the prices are more than fair. And they offer discounts for various groups, so if you’re low on dough, ask about discounts.

Minuses:

Limited Hours: Right now, WOW is only open for lunch. They aren’t open for breakfast. As of this writing, they aren’t open for dinner, but they plan to open for dinner soon. Also, they aren’t open on Sundays.
Some Items Lack Flavor: Some menu items could use better spicing (For example, lentil tacos needed some chilie powder, salt, lemon juice, and/or something. They were a bit bland.) But many menu items are very tasty as they are (Eden Sandwich and WOW sandwich are great.) Also, if you want salt and pepper, ask for it because it’s not on the tables.
Not Dog-Friendly: There is no outdoor space.
No Beer

Cafe Orleans
http://www.cafeorleans.org/
5 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah
435-867-6437

This New Orleans themed restaurants offers two excellent options for vegans: 1) Okra Gumbo and 2) Red Beans and Rice. Both are prepared with a vegetable stock rather than a ham bone or a meaty stock. They are truly tasty dishes that satisfy both a craving for NOLA food as well as a vegan (which is rare even in the Crescent City).

Other vegetarian and vegan options include items that aren’t quite so Orleanian: veggie kababs, tofu stuffed bell pepper, pasta, garden salad, steamed veggies, and more. (I have a suspicsion the etouffee can be vegan. Basically, I think their kitchen is vegan-friendly and you could order many items as vegan simply by omitting the optional dead animal.)

Pluses:

For Real: Authentic Cajun and New Orleanian cuisine. Even the decor and the menu phrasing clues those in the know that this isn’t an average cajun ’style’ restaurant; this place is run by someone who is actually from New Orleans.
Plentiful Veg*n Options: A vegetarian section on the menu. In addition, there are vegetarian or vegan items listed elsewhere on the menu.
Popular: People really seem to like this place. It’s bound to be a hit for any group of diverse eaters and is probably a good option for groups that contain both herbivores and carnivores.
Knowledgable: Our food servers seemed knowledgeable. They understood the word “vegan” and even recommended against the pre-buttered garlic bread.
Tasty Food: I scarfed down the meals I ate at Cafe Orleans. I highly recommend the okra gumbo and the red beans.

Minuses:

Website: The website menu isn’t complete. It doesn’t list the many vegetarian options. They are on the printed menu in the restaurant, though. And if you ask the servers, they’ll tell you about specific dishes. If in doubt, call ahead. Moreover, the website lists an old address. They’ve moved and are now located on Main Street.
No Beer: They don’t serve alcohol. (You might consider that a plus, though.)
Not Dog-Friendly: There is no outdoor space.
Closed on Sundays: Like many places in Southern Utah, this restaurant is closed on Sundays. Just get an order or red beans on Saturday and store in your motel mini-fridge to eat on Sunday :)
Not Dog-Friendly: There is no outdoor space. (I wonder if they might add a few tables out front next Summer.)
Dead Animal Centric: The menu can be a bit disturbing for vegans because it features quite a bit of dead animal. They even serve veal.

LaCasa Don Miguel
453 South Main Street, Cedar City, Utah
435-586-6855

Pluses:

Open on Sundays: One of the few places in Cedar City that’s open on Sundays.
Alcohol: They serve beer!
Vegetarian Options: While they’re not so familiar with veganism, they’re just fine with vegetarianism. If you’re vegan, be very specific. There’s unmentioned cheese and sour cream in many items and if you don’t specifically order it without, you’ll have to scrape if off or send it back.
Very Friendly: There’s a mother-daughter team who works here or owns the place. They and the rest of the staff are very, very friendly. I’ve eaten here a few times and it’s always been a pleasure.
Low Prices: This place is very reasonable. And since you get free chips and salsa, you don’t need to order (and pay for) much food.

Minuses:

Menu Isn’t Precise: The menu won’t mention the cheese or sour cream. Ask about it.
Cleanliness: They could use a deep cleaning. The place isn’t kept up as well as it should be.
No Outdoor: Though there is plenty of room for tables outside, there aren’t any. Thus, should your company include a dog, you’ll be relegated to take-out.

The Pastry Pub
86 University Street/ West Center, Cedar City, Utah
435-867-1400

The menu says “no substitutions” in many places, but if you ask, you can have a vegetarian or meat sandwich or wrap customized to become vegan.

The Grind Coffee House
19 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah
435-867-5333

They carry soy milk. So you can get a soy mocha, soy latte, or just a regular coffee with soy. Or if you’re not into coffee, they’ve got tea and some juices. Though it’s usually pretty easy to be vegan at coffee houses, the fact that this place carries soy speaks to their accommodating and enlightened nature.

More Cedar City Vegan and Vegetarian Options:
I haven’t tried these out personally yet, but they’re on my list to try during my next visit.

Lucky Buffet
84 North Main Street #101
435-865-8986
Well located on Main Street. Since it’s a buffet, it’s likely got at least a few options for vegetarians and vegans.

Ninja Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi
1180 Sage Dr #A
435-867-5577
The advertisements for this place included a menu that listed many vegetarian options. Moreover, most sushi restaurants can easily make vegan sushi, such as avocado rolls, cucumber rolls, vegetable tempura rolls, and more.

Chains & Fast Food:
These are the old standbys for when there’s nothing else available at that time or day, at that price point, or in that quick time-frame.

Subway
667 South Main Street
2645 North Canyon Ranch Drive (inside Love’s Travel Stop)
1485 West 200 North
1190 South Sage Drive
With four locations in Cedar City, Subway is practically a sure bet. For vegetarians, order the veggie sub. For vegans, get the veggie sub minus cheese on Italian bread.

Carl’s Jr.
2645 North Canyon Ranch Drive
(inside Love’s Travel Stop)
Most Carl’s Jr. locations offer a salad bar, baked potatoes, and a few other vegan meals. If you’re on a budget or in a rush, this might be a good choice.

Del Taco
1733 Royal Hunte Drive
Just like Carl’s Jr., this is a good option if you’re budget is tight or if you’re in a hurry. Get a plain bean burrito without cheese or customize another menu item to omit the meat and dairy.

Taco Bell
775 West 200 North
Same as Del Taco - get it without cheese, meat, sour cream, etc.

Wendy’s
1225 West 200 North
For baked potatoes or salads.

There are also a wide variety of pizza places and I’m sure most or all can do a vegan pizza.
For a complete list of restaurants in Cedar City, check the official Cedar City website >>

(This post crossposted at Vegan Soapbox.)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Las Vegas, Travel, cedar city, restaurants, utah, vegan, vegan restaurants
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I Heart Southern Utah

August 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Above: Kolab Canyon.

I just spent a few days in Utah.

I’m growing more and more fond of Utah every year. Whenever I visit, it’s during Summer, when it’s unbearably hot in Vegas. The cooler temperatures of Utah make me want to stay there all Summer. It is, however, colder during Winter, so I’m not certain I’d want to live in Utah year-round. But it’s a perfect Summer retreat.

During this trip, we went to Cedar City for the Shakespearean Festival (http://bard.org/) and during our trip, we visited Cedar Breaks and Kolab Canyon. Kolab is a part of Zion that is very accessible from Interstate 15, right on the drive from Vegas to Cedar City. From the visitor center, it’s just a quick five miles up to the overlook, where you can have a picnic lunch or take a hike. (Dogs aren’t allowed on the trails, though, so no hiking for our little Floyd.)

Above: Kolab Canyon.

Cedar Breaks is a little further, but still less than an hour’s drive from Cedar City. Again, it’s a great spot for picnic lunches or hikes. There is one short trail that allows dogs, the other trails don’t allow dogs. During the Summer the wildflowers are in bloom and the whole area is filled with color from yellow, red, and purple flowers to yellow, red, and purple rock. It’s absolutely stunning.

Above: Lucy and Floyd on a hike in Cedar Breaks.

By the way, both locations are in the National Parks System, so a parks pass is a good idea. They cost around $55 for a year. Or, you can bring along a senior citizen. They can buy a lifetime parks pass for only $10. Whoever is in the vehicle with them gets in the park, too.

(My mom, Judith Lautner, took these photos above.)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Las Vegas, Travel, cedar breaks, cedar city, kolab canyon, utah, vacation
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SLO Dream Town

July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

My mom likes to remind me why she won’t move to Las Vegas (yet):

“The current issue of Sunset magazine shows San Luis Obispo a lot of love this month, featuring the city as one of its top 10 Dream Towns - or, as the editors say, places to go ‘for the perfect vacation, or the perfect rest of your life.’” (source)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Travel, california, dream town, san-luis-obispo, sunset magazine, vactation
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Veg*ns, Help Me?

July 9, 2008 | 1 Comment

I’ll be on the road soon driving across the country. If you know of any vegan or vegetarian restaurants close to Interstates 70 or 80, please let me know by emailing me at elaine @ elainevigneault.com. Thanks :)

I’ll check HappyCow, too of course :)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Travel, road trip, vegan
1 Comment to "Veg*ns, Help Me?"