Letter from Key West, May 24 2020

9.34pm on Sunday evening and my thoughts go to coffee shops and what the future looks like for them.  I sure don't want to sound selfish or self-absorbed, and definitely don't want to sound like I am not aware of, or don't care about all who have been really badly affected by Covid19.  But god damnit I sure do miss my Starbucks.

Not for the coffee!  I can get coffee anywhere.  I miss Starbucks, and independent coffee shops too, for what they provide more than just the coffee. Back when I lived in Dublin there was a wonderful big 24 hour Starbucks on Stephen's Green, just around the corner for me, where you would find me most Sunday evenings savouring the last bit of the Dublin weekend atmosphere while avoiding the temptation of the pub.
And when I spent the month in Chicago at the end of 2018 I spent many a happy time, whiling away an hour or three, in awesome coffee places with my laptop and big mug of caffeine.  My favourite  being The Wormhole.

This photo is of me actually in The Wormhole when I wrote this little retrospective blog post of 2018. Happy days.

Happy days indeed. So what now, in these days of love and covid, and social distancing?  Will hanging around our neighborhood coffee shops be frowned upon and discouraged?  Will people who use them as hotspots for their job have to find an alternative?  Will independent coffee shops make it through at all??

All I know it, it would be a tragically sad day to find myself in Wicker Park, on a cold snowy Chicago day and not be able to enjoy a Koopa-Troopa (iirc!), served up by a friendly barista, with a healthy dose of 80's nostalgia on the side....if you've been to The Wormhole you will know what I mean ;) Hell, come on like, they've got an actual scale size DeLorean DMC 12 in the store!!!!

Stay safe, stay well friends.

The red cups are here!

Sign that Christmas is Coming #1

Today I met my mam for a quick coffee at lunch.  We had a lovely chat about lots of great stuff.  Plus we were both excited to see that the Starbucks Christmas cup (aka the red cups) are here.  We did however discuss how we are disappointed that Starbucks do not use a recyclable  cup, and in fact how much waste in general Starbucks generate in just one transaction. 

Em I will say however.

Is it just me?  Or does this sleeve remind you of Give Blood ad or slogan??!:-)

 

Like this!

Starbucks rocks :-)

Today at lunch I met Mam and Enid in my local Starbucks.  When I arrived in the two of them were laughing and laughing.  Below is a status update from Enid's facebook which tells you what had happened to make them laugh.

 

How hilarious is this!

 

Oh and I got a free coffee too!

 

 



The Red Cups are here!!

Hooray!

The red cups are here!  Christmas season has started :-)

Myself, Enid and Lydia enjoyed a Toffee Nut latte, Eggnog latte, and a regular coffee.

Hot chocolate for two

Enid and I sometimes meet on a Wednesday evening after work.  We tend to just potter around the towncentre and chat.

 

Last night we treated ourselves to Signature Hot Chocolates (made skinny) from Starbucks.

 

I very much enjoyed my hot choc. 

But when I had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom I was cursing myself!!!!!

 

:-)

Afternoon Cycle

Rather than squander my day in bed (which is a normal Saturday for me) I decided to get my bike and cycle to Starbucks - not for exercise, just purely to do something and to get some fresh air.

 

It was very enjoyable cycling along! 

Although I must say it felt very odd getting on my bike, had to really adjust to it. The only bike I have been on recently is  Dublin Bikes, and I obviously have got used to the feel of them.

 

Here is a picture of my lovely (Huffy) bike outside the Starbucks. 

I won this bike in a cake baking competition two years ago!

I don't use it enough :-(

I had a drip(filter) coffee with slim line milk.  It was nice.

 

The surroundings however were not so nice. 

The old Starbucks I used to go to - in New Look in Blanchardstown Retail Park - has closed.

So I went to Starbucks beside the Omniplex.  It is quite small and it was very noisy.

 

One great thing about all Starbucks though is the Free Wifi.  So once I got used to the noise I had a nice afternoon surfing the web.  And then I had a nice cycle home.

 

All in all a good afternoon.