Raw Adventure 2.2: A True Oasis in Frazer, PA

Awesome PA trip, Day 2: Sometime after sunrise, our day began with a beautiful walk in the woods beside the B&B we stayed at on Wednesday night (Furnace Hills B&B, a gorgeous place with very graceful hosts. If you're urban dwellers like us and miss the night sky, you can see the most beautiful starry skies at night which you can enjoy from the comfort of an outdoor jacuzzi! Their website does not do their place justice). It was so wonderful to be able to walk in nature again. While I love DC for the amount of green spaces it has, nothing beats being truly out in nature. The air was so clean and fresh, the skies so blue, and the ground was dirt and humus and not the harsh pavement of every day urban life. I even found a friend in the woods!

Though I do want to focus on the food, our first stop of the day was for a tour at the PA Wolf Sanctuary attached to the Speedwell Forge B&B where we spent that night. I don't understand how wolves get such a bad rep; they are the most beautiful and noble creatures you have ever seen. As Aldo Leopold said, "to look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul". And it's true. The best part: we got to hear them howl. When wolves howl as a pack, they all take on different pitches and rhythms which vary as their song goes on. It actually raises all the hairs you have on your body to hear (and watch) them do that; it seems to awake something beautiful and primal within you that recognize strength and safety, and that knows no fear, but that you don't even begin to consciously understand. We got to hear them howl once on the tour, and a second time right after dawn on Friday. It was breathtaking.

(This picture is of Merlin, one of the sanctuary's timber wolves, who was my favourite. Just look at that faaaceeee.)

By the time we were done with the tour, my tummy was growling for some raw goodness. So we hopped back into the car for a very worthwhile one hour drive to Frazer, PA where we found (thanks again Meredith!!!) The Oasis Cafe and Chocolaterie, where all your raw chocolate fantasies come true!!! First off, the owner, Tiffany, is just about the most wonderful woman you'll ever meet. I know I'll say it over and over again, but people on a raw diet, really do just glow from the inside out. I don't know how that happens, but it does. She radiates this incredible peace and happiness that you can actually taste in her food.

We ordered two halves of two different kinds of wraps (one was avocado and one was pumpkin seed pate) and a raw pizza:

Like I said, the food literally tasted like light. By the time we were done, I was so inexplicably giddy I was bouncing off the walls of the store just so giddy with life and happiness. We then proceeded to buy one of pretty much every kind of chocolate and raw goodie Tiffany had in the store. Our plan? To sit down every night and share one and delight in the marvels that are Oasis chocolates (plus, they'll last longer that way).

We started by sharing a raw chocolate covered pretzel (I luurve pretzels).

Then moved on to sharing half of a raw walnut raisin scone (would have been perfect with tea!).

And finally, my personal life-time favourite, half a 'rainforest cookie' made up of Brazil nuts and local honey. I could have gobbled up the whole thing had Andrew not been looking (which is pretty much what I did the next day anyway).

(Thank you to Andrew for being my lovely hand model)

I would definitely recommend going to Oasis more than many other places I've recommended just because of the love and happiness that has gone into their food. Yes, other raw restaurants are super tasty, but this one has an extra edge to it because of the time and care that went into your foods making. Don't you want to be taking in that kind of happiness? I know first hand that you can actually feel it radiating from the inside out!

Up tomorrow: How Dawn, the owner of Speedwell Forge, is the sweetest woman ever!