I have had a interesting time in visiting cafes this week to try and match the photo prompt.
One thing I can say for sure is that, unlike Australia, the cold weather in the North East would not encourage you to lounge about outside. However I did manage to find a:
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| Grab a cup to help us on our way. |
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First stop in Egypt where it was warm enough for there to be some men outside.
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| Men standing in front of an Arab shop |
If you travelled in style by rail in America you could take your coffee in the lounge.
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| Ranch Car of the Empire Builder - 1951 |
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(By Hedrich-Blessing, Chicago - Great Northern Railway photographer)
The combined coffee shop and lounge was part of the 1951 facelift for the train.
Back in the town of Yarm this is the only coffee shop I use; all the other 'branded' establishments take what seems like hours with modern machines to produce a tasteless range of expensive coffees.
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| Elliotts at Yarm |
No-one braved the cold to sit outside; sorry about the reflections in the windows.
But when I walk the 3 miles back home to get warm I pass that 'Open Cafe' sign at the entrance to the Spring Bank layby between Yarm and Kirlevington. A little detour takes me here:
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| Spring Bank Snack Bar |
An ideal place to stop when taking your dog for a walk; of course you have to stand outside.
Meanwhile outside Elliotts someone makes this plea:-
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| Won't you let me into the coffee shop? I think I see a crumb over there. | |
(By Christoper from San Fransisco - CC BY-SA 2.0)
| To pick up others crumbs of comfort go and have a coffee at Sepia-Saturday-170 | Don't stand outside. |
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26 comments:
Nice narrative to go with the photos...and you can play on my heart strings all you want, I still prefer the dogs outside the coffee shop. But it is a cute pooch!
A very nice selection of coffee shops. I love the last one even tho you can't sit and drink. But it's so nice to be able to take your pup along.
Nancy
I love your comment about branded establishments. I only drink decaf anyway, so all those high falutin' coffees would be no good for me. Poor doggie, maybe he would enjoy a coffee, used to have an Alsatian that loved it. Your local coffee shop looks good.
JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE
I would have thought the proprietor of the Spring Bank snack bar would have gone to a little more effort with his signpost.
Hi Bob .. your coffee shop looks a great one to have in Yarm .. and I love the laybye coffee stand - while the bicycle sign is fun ..
Happy walking .. cheers Hilary
The Yarm coffee shop looks very inviting, but my favourite is the very cute pup. Mine looks at me just like that when I have to leave him outside.
Nice post ... I have woken up and can smell the coffee from here. Like Jo, I'm with you all the way on the b(l)anded coffee houses. One in particular seems to have translated coffee into luke warm, brown liquid. However, their convenience when pushed for time is sometimes unavoidable, but given the choice (and the time) I always prefer the no-brand coffee house.
An enjoyable coffee trail. I'm not surprised no- one is sitting outside the café in Yarm.
It is still too cold to sit outside here.
When it comes to drinking coffee, I prefer both the taste and price of McDonald's. I was glad to see that Starbuck's started selling a blonde roast that is more drinkable than the usual modern coffee house coffee.
Very enjoyable and easy to read. Thank you.
I hadn't thought about it until I read your post, but coffee bars / snack bars are a perfect barometer of times and places. They seem to soak up a certain style - either high or low.
A fine tour. I'd go again.
There's nothing like a good cafe with great coffee and ambience. Lovely pictures. Thanks for the visual tour!
That Ranch Car had quite the makeover, but I prefer the looks of Elliott's. In the US, table turnover is crucial for a restaurant to be successful, so it is such a relief to see the growing popularity of coffee shops. That's the one place you can actually "loiter" without being given the evil eye. I always think favorably of a shop where customers are RELAXED, reading the paper or a book, taking advantage of WiFi, or even conducting business.
I'd love to have a drink in that railroad car lounge.
And of course, doggie could come with me!
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@Wendy - You must have been inside Elliotts.
I never learned to like coffee. Tried it once in college when I needed to stay up late and decided it wasn't worth the effort to develop a taste for the stuff and never tried it again. I stick to tea - although Starbucks did get me hooked on chai tea lattes. Enjoyed the tour!
The roadside tea & coffee shopette are a very British enterprise that we no longer have in America. Today it's all homogenized with corporate slogans. No more regional character.
If you've ever travelled through the Northwestern states you'd have your head spinning taking photos of coffee "establishments." Some places in this country have churches on every corner. Other places have gas stations. The Northwest has coffee.
Very nice photos. And I love the handpainted sign indicating there's a cafe in the back tire.
would like to have a cup in the coffee shop :)
I like the rawhide on the barstools in the train picture. Very authentic decorating touch.
What a fine selection, and how nice of you to brave the cold weather for us, Bob. I love window reflections; they add another layer to the surroundings.
Happy Easter,
Kathy M.
Love the humourous touches of your photos and narrative. Was that first photo with the sign on the cycle a set up? If so, it was very apt!
@ScotSue - No set up; it's for real. Ikere are not permitted to have a permanent sign and as they are only in the layby from 0700-1400 five days a week they take it with them each day.
I like the look of Elliotts. We are lucky in our small town to have several independent cafés so I can snub the big brands (2) quite easily and with great pleasure.
I liked your tour of coffee over the years Bob and I'd like your favourite coffee shop too by the look of it. There's a coffee van near one of our satellite towns that does a roaring trade with commuters every morning for a couple of hours.
That snack bar is too cool!!
But I prefer my coffee indoor,
so it doesn't get cold too quickly.
Wine on a terrace,
now, that's another matter!!
:D~
HUGZ
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