Mamma Mia and Vegan Weekend in MD

Well I just got back home from visiting my BFF Allison in Columbia Maryland, a trip prompted partly by the fact that I hadn't been to MD in a year, but also importantly because Mamma Mia was playing in a park.

Mamma Mia for anyone who just might not know is like my FAVORITE movie...my favorite fun movie. My all time favorite movie is actually In America, but I digress, this is a Mamma Mia post.

So after a fun night of dinner and mead (yes, mead) with the Scotland crew, I headed out to MD. One of Allison's favorite things it to try and convince me I should move there, and she acts like MD's personal saleswoman, or realtor, and so I was treated to all that Columbia and it's surrounding areas has to offer in terms of veganess. And surprisingly, it was a lot!

First of all, we had dinner at the House of Hunan, a really cute Chinese place that had an entire page devoted to vegetarian/vegan dining which included all sorts of fake dishes. So I had my first ever plate of General Tso's "Chicken." It was really really yummy and filling, but OMG it was sweet!!! Al thinks they toned down the spice factor, but I seriously felt like my stomach was quilted in sweetness afterward and I wanted to just lay down and sleep. Seriously, people, how do you eat that dish all the time. Would I have it again? Yeah...but I needed to counteract with saltiness!

Anyway, after dinner we found the park where they were showing the movie in Anapolis MD, and we laid out on a blanket and got popcorn to enjoy the festivities. We sat next to this group of middle aged Spanish women who came decked out in hot pink boas and glow in the dark bracelets. They also had all of the lyrics printed out to sing along and they were almost as entertaining as the movie, though much quieter than we expected them to be. But seriously, nothing beats seeing Mamma Mia and seeing it outside on a warm summer night with my bff =awesome!

So this morning we went to David's Natural Foods Market, which really impressed me because they had vegan marshmallows! Squeee!!! Also a whole case of vegan desserts. So I picked up a vegan mocha creme cake and a vegan cookies and creme cake. (I devoured the mocha on my drive home)! We also picked up egg replacers, soy milk and vegan chocolate chips so we could have chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast which we combined with carmelized bananas for a little bit of amazingness.

Al and I then took a little tour of Ellicot City which was so cute with its cobblestones, hills and large stone structures that it reminded me a little bit of Scotland. Then we visited another health food store, Roots where they had an entire case of vegan food (OMG) and I found for the first time ever, vegan feta!! I seriously wanted it, but I didn't have a cooler and doubted the "cheese" would survive the car ride back to Philly. Next was Great Sage, a vegan/vegetarian restaurant with all vegan desserts, a bar and weekly music nights.

I have to say...MD was really starting to look good to me by the end of the trip, though I think I really would like to adventure out and live on the West coast, at least for a little bit.

I get to come back and visit again in September so I can go to Richelle Mead's Blood Promise book tour and signing which will go through Ellicott City. I'm so excited, and now I know all of the vegan options:-) I definitely give MD an A for vegan friendliness! Thanks Al!

And now I return to writing chapter 16!