trip report- six flags new england

[Guest guest]

Hi. I'm totally beat. And WAY behind on messages. But I wanted

to check in and post this mini story in case any one needs the

info, and before I forget.

Family took a long weekend and went to Six Flags New England (Agawam,

MA, formerly " Riverside " ). We had A BLAST.

We left yesterday afternoon and drove out there. Stayed the night

at Hampton Inn in Springfield, only minutes from Six Flags.

First, we swam in the pool. Question - any one ever hear of an

allergic reaction to pool chemicals? I swam briefly and then was

covered HEAD TO TOE in hives. Bad news! It was some kind of

non-chlorine pool chemical suite. I know nothing about pool

chemicals except to say I could smell not a trace of chlorine.

OK, back to SillyYak relevant news.

Dinner on Sunday night:

Couldn't get into Chilis. The line was FAR too long. Pity, too,

as the hotel had coupons for free kids' meals. Wah!

Instead, we found " On the Border " . It's another Brinker restaurant.

I'd read here that they have a GF menu. It's true. They have a

GF menu. But I've learned the hard way more than once that just

because a chain restaurant's corporate office has a clue about

gluten, it doesn't mean that the individual restaurant does.

The long and short: they tried to gluten me, but I won. I ended

up OK. But the process was frustratingly difficult.

(I also learned an interesting thing: some sour cream has gluten

in it. That may give some insight into my recent glutening

experience at a local restaurant.)

This was my first time at an On The Border. We enjoyed it, but I

had to really be on my toes at this particular one.

Then we slept. Zzzzzzz.

This morning we enjoyed the hospitality of Hampton Inn and had

free breakfast until we were full. The pre-fab eggs were GF.

Also, the yogurt. The coffee, the juice, the fresh fruit. And I

had happened to bring a pack or two of the Alti Plano Gold

Quinoa cereal. I was ALL set. Breakfast is supposed to be the

most important meal of the day, so I made the best of it. :-)

Then off to Six Flags. I had a small lunchbox with my PB & Fluff

sandwiches on rice cakes. It also had a pack of Thai Kitchen

instant soup in case I might find some hot water. I had my Rx

from my doctor about GF food only. Upon arrival at the gate, I

went immediately to Guest Relations. Told the lady I'm one in

a party of 6 and I'm the only one with a special diet and a

lunch box. She said " Just tell the security guard 'special diet',

and if they give you a hard time, tell them I approved. " So,

at bag check, I just told the security guard " special diet "

and he said OK. That was it. That was all it took. I asked

the guard if there was any one else I needed to see, or anything

else I needed to do. He said " Nope. You're ALL set. If any one

questions you, just say Security says OK and Guest Relations

says OK. " No one gave me even a second glance as I ate my GF

food while the family had Papa 's pizza.

So, in short, Six Flags New England does not give a hard time

about people bringing in special diet food.

Esther in Rhode Island

a little singed around the edges, very tired, but thoroughly

enjoyed our mini adventure. The kids HAD A BLAST.

(It was our third theme park this summer. A new family record.)

[Guest guest]

Sounds like a great time Esther! Good to hear that some places are not going to give you a hard time about bringing your own food.

Speaking of bringing food... Has anyone who has flown in the past week (since terrorist alert) had difficulty bringing food aboard? I have a supposed "GF meal" from Heathrow to DTW, but not from Helsinki to Heathrow. Its one of the "sandwich" type flights. (3½ hours worth!) Really dont want to have to do the starvation thing or the "red wine" diet.. LOL!

Best!

Cassi

Gluten free in downtown Imatra!