HOUSE BLEND + FIKA

If mismatched tables and chairs, peeling floral wall paper, vintage swede green couches, funky light fixtures, outdoor patios and groovy tunes get your attention, then you are a lot like me.  Thankfully all of the aforementioned items can be found in a the same place in almost every town that we have come across in our travels, this place is a local coffee shop.

Making time to spend in local coffee shops has been a unique experience that has turned out to be one of my favorite family activities. Don't get me wrong, anyone can drive through a Starbucks and know exactly what product they will be recieveing on any given day, there's no question about that. Which is great, and convenient for the majority of people with super busy schedules. But unfortuneatly they are missing out on a real coffee shop experience that can only be had by setting foot in the shop itself. Let me paint a picture of what a my favorite kind of coffee shop looks, smells, tastes, sounds and feels like.

Upon arrival, we scope out the patio situation because we travel with our two mutts. Based on if the patios available, we have to either have them tethered to something on the patio or have them set up in the van that needs to be parked close (within seeing distance) so we can check on them periodically. Once the doggy challenge is taken care of, one of us selects a place to veg out while the other gets a couple cups of coffee. Typically the order is quite simple- two mugs of the house blend and maybe a pastry if we are feeling like participating in a sweetish term called "fika" that day.  After choosing a place to sit, it's time to relax and enjoy all of the wonderful things that make a coffee shop unique. 

The crowd that we sit amongst might look a little something like two cheerful old farts in the corner shooting the breeze, the picture perfect family doing their thang, the guy reading a newspaper (yeah a real newspaper), the stressed out college student that has been cramming for the past 72 hours or just two mutts, a beautiful blonde and a me- or maybe none of the above. But you never quite know what you are going to get and thats the beauty in it. Plus coffee shops are a great place to chum it up with the locals. They usually have the best suggestions for activities to do, places to eat and other miscellaneous facts about the area that you wouldn't find in articles or websites.

The crowd isn't the only part of the experience that makes it worth your while. It appeals to all of your senses. For example, every local shop has it's own feng shui that stimulates your eyes. Contemporary, modern, industrial, western, chic, whatever it is, we aren't biased. After soaking in all of the eye candy, take a deep breath - don't forget about the smell of a coffee shop. It's always inviting and warms your body. Moving on down to the lips, the taste of each house blend deliciously varies. It's nice to mix it up, rather than downing the same old daily cup-o-joe. And what's that you hear? Is it something to snap to? Something to dance/sing to? Maybe just the sounds of the baristas clanking around their utensils and machinery - whatever the noise, it's part of the overall atmosphere.

I'm betting that you are craving a cup of java right about now, aren't you? Well hopefully after reading this you might think twice about the next visit to grab a cup of java. If so, maybe I'll have to pleasure of bumping into you down the road in a coffee shop that neither of us has ever heard of.

Cheers!
- Blake