In addition to the Love Muffin Cafe, there are a few other places in town anyone seeking healthy eats should know about.
One of them is The Good Place, a delicious juice bar & yoga studio that also offers massage & meditation. They custom made me my favorite green juices every morning, and also had a whole list of their own juice creations, smoothies, and several other raw items, as well as some healthy cooked eats. The owners and their baby are 3 of the happiest, glowing people I have ever seen. They were also extremely friendly and welcoming, and let us use their wifi for ages.
My favorite place in town was Moonflower Market, and it wasn't because of the food. Yes, they had a nice small selection of fresh, beautiful organic produce and other goods, and an amazing wall full of herbs to be purchased in as small or as large quantities as one's heart desires. Yes, they held educational events on food, nutrition, & healing, they petitioned to get the natural spring opened back up to the public, and they had an amazing selection of books (I kept eyeing Plant Spirit Medicine each time I walked in and finally caved and bought it on the last day!) but that wasn't why I loved it so much. The real treasure of Moonflower was hidden around a back corner of the store where it seems most people never even bother to venture. Lucky for me, I have always been overly curious (it's the gypsy explorer in me) and discovered the Moonflower Lending Library...rows and rows of books on health, nutrition, healing, food, fitness, gardening, permaculture, alternative building, environmental issues...some of them so old and rare, I bet they were out of print. Our time in Moab was chock full of activities so I didn't get to spend much time here, but it definitely added more fuel to my daydreams of coming back to live in the area for a few seasons and play in nature.
Another wonderful thing about Moab is the Youth Garden Project. I highly recommend volunteering some time there if you ever have the chance. They offer volunteer opportunities in teaching, garden maintenance, construction, and special events, and for each hour you volunteer, they give you $5 of fresh produce. The Youth Garden Project started in Sarah Heffron's backyard as a program offered to the Juvenile Court for youth to work off court-ordered community service hours. After an AmeriCorps Grant, the garden began to expand and offer more programs and apprenticeships, eventually moving to two acres of land next to Grand County High School so they could better serve the community. They offer sustainable agriculture workshops and even have a community kitchen where they teach kids how to cook nutritious & delicious meals. The YGP also organizes the Moab Farmers Market, which wasn't in season when we were there, but would be a great place to pick up organic goodies if you find yourself there in the summer.
I could seriously spend a few seasons in Moab and still never get to explore everywhere I want. We only had a few days and lots to see, so in addition to Negro Bill Canyon, we went on a gorgeous hike out to Corona Arch and then spent an entire day hiking around Arches National Park. This was by far one of my favorite playgrounds so far! We went on a few amazing hikes, and then went to watch the sunset over the rainbow-colored mineral-rich earth. It was divine. These pictures don't do it justice because they were taken with my old spy pocketcam, but when this journey is over, I'll develop all my film and post those photographs up on my Flickr page.
