One of the worst things about the road warrior life (I hate that term) is eating crap on the road. Trying to stay on the straight and healthy while living out of a suitcase in a Suite Hotel is pretty tough when you’re a workaholic and think working from 6 am to 9 pm is cool just because you don’t have a family to go home to.
I fell into some terrible habits the past year in North Carolina, habits brought on by the fact that there is more fast food in the Raleigh-Durham area, particularly around the Research Triangle Park, than anywhere else I have ever seen. We’re talking fast food you have never heard of before — or at least a northerner has never heard of. Bojangles? Fried chicken and iced tea. I am not proud to say I have tried them all, and not because I like a 2000 calorie cholesterol bomb, but because I am too tired to seek out a better alternative. Some colleagues who live the “suite life” have the smarts to go to a local grocery store and at the very least buy something half-way edible to run through the microwave in their hotel room’s kitchenette. I’ve tried that, too lazy.
So, as part of my pledge to myself to clean up my act in 2007, and in large part because I carry the auspicious title of executive sponsor to the corporate “wellness” initiative, I am on a crusade to identify healthy ways to eat around the office.
To the rescue comes my colleague, Kelly. She’s running a blog — Durham Foodie — which answers the question: Is there edible food around the Triangle.
The answer is yes, you just need to get smart and figure it out. Like the greek place on Miami and 54. Or the salad bar at the Harris-Teeter on Davis (home of the only Starbucks in the general vicinity). This week the company opens up a new cafeteria and cafe in the new headquarters buildings in Morrisville, hopefully ending my habit of chowing down two bags of Cheez-its for lunch.
Oh, my.
We need to mark up a map for you.
Yes. If I eat another Wendy’s Chicken Caesar I am going to run screaming into the night.
Mmmmmm, Bojangles.
My observation is that high-end food is better in the north, and low-end food is better in the south. For the most part the yanks don’t seem to have figured out how to fry stuff.
Find a decent Golden Corral for the man, somebody.
Waffle House looks like an institution I must visit, at least once. Their ubiquity frightens me, and I recall they played a significant setting in Tin Cup, where people ordered chicken and waffles. I’ve gotten over my shock at the Southern breakfast of “Biscuits and Gravy” after watching a bonefish guide turn a plate of the stuff pink with a couple ounces of Tabasco in the 7-Mile Grill on Marathon Key. I actually like the stuff. Grits I do not understand, but have a northern friend who swears by the stuff.
I need to get more serious about my Carolina BBQ explorations, but again, after 12 hours in the office I just want fuel, not a culinary adventure.
Man up & eat like a man! Have you quit smoking? You should know, to put heaps of Tobasco on any food, between New England & the Gulf…BBQ & fresh roadkill is the only way to go , down there. Remember what Tony Horowitz said…The Civil war’s not over; it’s only halftime.” Sorry to hear about Mr. Rowe. Very good man. Cheers HD
I love the pics of Bojangles! So, for late nite good eats, you have to head to Alivia’s in Durham. I think they are open and serving food until 2AM! Unbelievable for this part of the world!
Just remember that grits were meant to be salty and not instant. Keep the sugar and cream away from them.
I get the salty part, but I don’t get the taste part. Like: is there any? Grits strike me as the perfect inert material.