My Saturday with Food Trucks

I had a mission today.  When I told people of my route, they thought I was crazy.  But when you have wanderlust in your heart, you make do with what you got.  I love my wife, but she would definitely say no to my little plan.  Luckily she was scheduled to work and I had the earlier half of the day to myself.

And while I thought I had a great day ahead of me, the weather tried to stop me.  Secretly, I believe the local meteroligists planned to ruin my plans, too.  Friday night I took a peek at tomorrow’s forecast.  And my phone showed rain and I muttered, “you gotta be kidding me.”  That night, I didn’t fall quickly asleep.   I kept listening to my bedroom window and I was irked of tomorrow’s rain forecast.  I find a late night movie to calm my nerves, which further delayed my Saturday start when I overslept.

I started my day off at Northgate Mall.  This originally wasn’t in my plans. But when I mentioned to Caffe Bellezza my plans to go to Durham Central Park for Art and Food Truck Market on Hunt Street, they reminded me of their scheduled stop for the Human Race, a 5K in Durham.  They mentioned other trucks would be there and I thought whats a little further from my original plans.

The weather wasn’t ideal for food trucks.  In fact, the third thing a food truck operator wants to hear is rain.  One is there a problem with the flux capacitor, or other truck issues, and the other is snow or ice.  My late start was just in time to see the event organizers breakdown tarps, since participants and volunteers fled after the race concluded due to rain.  Those visiting the trucks were crazy fans like me and those who happen to be there.  Iced Cupcakes, Pie Pushers, CJ’S Street Food, Liv’s, and Caffe Bellezza were all lined up in a setup that was awesome for a rodeo.  I stopped over at Caffe Bellezza and enjoy that much desired pour over.  Both CJ’s and Pie Pushers are trucks I see occasionally in Raleigh, but I was amazed at their rare breakfast menu.  Liv’s is one truck I hardly see, except for large rodeos.  I grab a Breakfast Croissant, which was fantastic.  It had Fried Egg, Turkey Sausage, Tomatoes, and Onions on a toasted croissant.  I have never tried Iced Cupcakes, so I decide to grab a few for the road.  She commented to me she couldn’t believe the response for cupcakes over the muffins given the event time.

 

I head over to the car to devour my croissant in my dry car and head for Durham Central Park.  It is here where you typically see a long line of trucks.  But today, given the weather conditions Chai’s Global Street Food and Bang Bang Banh Mi are here.  People are still buying stuff at the Farmers Market, but many are heading back to their cars.  The distance between Northgate Mall and Hunt Street is not that far, so my appetite has been fulfilled.  But, I have wanted to try these trucks.

Not wanting to go all in on a Banh Mi sandwich, I grab a Korean Beef taco from Chai’s.  I am fan of the seasoning of Korean Beef and this one was no different.  I wish I had the stomach to have the Korean Cheesesteak, a sandwich I desired at the last Durham Central Park Rodeo.

I head back to my car as what seems to be harder rain coming down.  I program my GPS for another late add to my Food Truck Trail, Cary Creative Center.  Before Friday, I had no idea what the Cary Creative Center was.  But, a late afternoon tweet from Cary Creative Center mentioned a rodeo was happening in Cary.  A rodeo in Cary?  This I had to see.

Cary Creative Center organized this rodeo to help raise money and awareness of their mission.  Their mission to reuse and recycle materials for other uses.  Most of it is artistic, but they want to put less in the landfill and more into use.  The rodeo also had vendors and a Yard Sale, which felt successful even under wet conditions.  The rodeo here had three favorites, Sarge’s Chef (always great to see him out there), La Farm Bakery’s mobile truck, and Barone Meatball.  But one unmarked green truck had everyones attention, Sol_Tacos.  Who are they?  This truck is new to the scene and provides cuisine around Tacos and Burritos.  I just had Sarge’s not too long ago, so I had tried one taco from Sol and a Meatball Grilled Cheese from Barone Meatball.  I also grabbed a fresh loaf of bread and pretzel (that was made of baguette bread) from La Farm (a wife’s request).

The BBQ Pork taco from Sol was deliciously moist with lots of flavor.  And the Meatball Grilled Cheese makes you want to kiss Mama who made those meatballs and call Protective Services on your Mom for neglecting to make you that sandwich.

My final stop was toward the Fairview Garden Center in Raleigh, but just outside Cary.  It was here four trucks, American Meltdown, Baguettaboutit, Chick-N-Que, and Sweet Traditions were organized.  While the weather probably downsized the amount of traffic and popularity, this is not a bad spot to get your gardening needs and food truck fix.  They had tables outside the building and the trucks were well positioned outside.  Except for a few big box hardware stores, I really haven’t been to a nursery or greenhouse.  So I used this time to walk around and look at stuff.

While my brown thumb needs a lot of help, I decided I’d wait for my mother-in-law to return before shopping.  Exhausted from the amount of traveling and a bit of food coma setting in, I talk to Sweet Traditions about my excitement of their new kiosk coming to Triangle Town Center next Friday (April 4th).  Soon, his trailer is swamped with people.  I kick myself for not ordering during our chats. But he’s constantly busy, before I decide to head back home.  Well not before I take a stop over to Chick-N-Que.

 

Keep Wandering,

@RUWandering

If you like Food Truck Gathering, be sure to keep an eye on the blog’s Triangle Rodeo page.

 My Route