Earlier in the summer, my husband and I took an impromptu trip to Charlotte, NC for the day. Originally, it was a Saturday work trip for the hubby, with the plan to work in the morning and then head back home. I decided to tag along(after much coaxing once I heard we would have to wake up early) to keep him company, and then we could grab some lunch and see the city. The drive from Charleston, SC to Charlotte, NC is about 3 hours total. As it turned out, when we got there at 10am, the parts for work were still in Indiana (ugh), but now we had a free day ahead of us. We googled a vegan restaurant for lunch and found a place to eat in an area called Southend. Southend has tons of restaurants and shops. As it turned out, our restaurant choice was ideal! It was next to a yoga-inspired gym, featured Raw Vegan food, and was also next to a mini-farmers’ market. Beautiful.
The hubby, Barry, at Southend
The restaurant was called Luna’s Living Kitchen and it was amazing. Their philosophy is to serve raw food, plant-based of course, to ensure the live enzymes in the food. When we consume raw food, we are able to consume more of the enzymes in it, which helps us to absorb more nutrients and digest the food easier. They also support local, organic farmers for the produce on the menu, which makes extra sure the food is fresh and flavorful.
The menu had so many mouth-watering choices. I was starving, so I decided on the Classic Veggie burger
and the Hubs decided on the raw Lunasagna.
Each came with a side salad of mixed greens from a local organic farm.
I also ordered a house-brewed Kombucha. I had the ginger flavor to up the digestive properties. It was spicy and delicious.
The yoga place didn’t have any classes scheduled when we were there, so after lunch we hit up the Atherton Mill and Market farmers’ market. At the farmers’ market, we found some organic, homemade dog treats, lose leaf organic green teas, freshly roasted nuts to make trail mix with, and freshly juiced muscadine grapes, from none other than Ryan Philippe’s aunt and uncle. No joke. And for all of you Charlestonians out there – they informed us that Reese Witherspoon is NOT from Charleston, SC (they were very adamant about this) – she is from Kentucky and just loves our city.
The dog treats were made from real ingredients, and are actually edible for humans too. We just didn’t try them because they contained eggs, but the dogs sure did love them. 
Our trai mix came from a company called Chosen Roaster. The company freshly roasts nuts, but uses the essential oil of the nuts instead of adding additional oils. Then at the market, you can add a variety of nuts, dried fruits, and seed to make your own trail mix. OUr was delicious and we polished it off before we even got home. 
We also grabbed some loose leaf teas from Urbana teas and tonics. The price was exceptionally good, and the teas came in a variety of flavors – all organic. We chose lemon ginger, Moroccan mint, and pearled jasmine. They were quite tasty and I wish we still had some left! 
It was a great little getaway, even for just a few hours. After the farmers’ market, we headed back to the car and drove around the city for a few minutes. The city itself was very pretty, and very clean. I hope to go back for a longer visit soon. After our driving tour, we jumped back on the highway, ate our trail mix, and headed home.
Where do you go to eat good, healthy food when you travel? Leave some comments below or on Facebook and feel free to share with your friends!
Peace, love, and safe travels,
Jessi
