Barefoots Joe

On a Tuesday night after work Barefoot Joe's, the campus coffee shop, is quiet but still has a steady stream of business. The art of students is displayed tastefully on the walls and She & Him is playing softly in the background. I have seen Barefoot Joe's much busier late at night and even mid-afternoon but at dinner time a few students lounge on the veranda talking and eating dinner. Inside, where I am seated, the female Union student who works here chats quietly with a friend about class and at a nearby table a few students are working on assignments and drinking coffee.

There is a stage at Barefoot in the middle of the floor where some up and coming local or Nashville musical acts have played. Like Brooke Waggoner or the Civil Wars. You can check out their page to see events and get a fell for the culture. The stage also provides a venue for debates, theatre and open mic nights. Since my interview back at the end of March I have felt that Barefoot Joe's was one my favorite spots on Union's campus. The soft green walls, plush leather chairs and excellent coffee provided by Gusta Java make it a nice stop to meet a friend, study or read. It is a great stop before I go into the office and a nice way to unwind after work. It is also a very important place on campus because it provides a great good place for Union's students away from the structured academic classroom and the chaotic dorm-room. I am curious how the library can learn from the atmosphere at Barefoot Joe's and potentially provide services, virtual and in person to student who choose to study at Barefoot's.

The Green Frog

I walked to the downtown location of The Green Frog this afternoon as things are calming down a little bit from the hectic move to Jackson, TN over the weekend. The Green Frog is in the downtown area of Jackson just across from the Madison County courthouse and describes itself as, "a sophisticated southern coffee café". The green frog has been instrumental in my move to Jackson. As my Dad and I were hunting for apartments over a month ago now we were nearly settled on one particular apartment that was close to where I will be working at Union University. Just to explore all the options, however, we came downtown to have lunch and see if there were any living options. We found the Green Frog and had their specialty a "Frickin Sandwich", fried pickle, grilled chicken and a special dill sauce on a croissant. It really is quite good! It was on this trip to The Green Frog that we saw an advertisement for the renovated downtown apartments that I now live in. We called the number for the apartments and my now landlord/property manager met us here at the Green Frog.



The Green Frog has Wi-Fi which is now a must for most coffee shops but what is special about it to me is that they are open until 11pm on every night except Sunday. This will prove to be a "great place" when I am have left Union and don't want to be in my apartment anymore but still have work to do. It has an assortment of coffees, teas, hot chocolate and baked goods. It will be a good place to come to enjoy something hot on a cool Tennessee evening. A friend of mine who works at Cup O Soul in Winter Park ironically recommended The Green Frog to me after I visited it for the first time.

Carpe Diem

Mobile, Alabama is the city of my birth. This past year I ran my marathon PR here and although I have never really been a part of the Mobile community I love to ride through it's winding streets and hear my Dad's stories about growing up in downtown Mobile.



Just outside of Mobile's downtown is a historic neighborhood called Springhill. Springhill's historic homes and winding avenues are shaded by tall oak trees and it is home to a small Jesuit college, Springhill College. I visited Springhill during my senior year in college before I settled on Rollins. Across the street from Springhill is Carpe Diem, a small wooden house with a front porch that has renovated and transformed into a coffee shop. When I'm in Mobile I usually try to come into Carpe Diem for a cup of coffee and chocolate covered espresso beans that I buy out of machine for a quarter. Students from Springhill and the University of South Alabama, which is nearby, seem to come through these doors often to have a cup of coffee, talk or use the free wireless. Several adjoining rooms, leather chairs, a fire place and the smell of roasting coffee give Carpe Diem an inviting atmoshpere. Even on a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of summer time Carpe Diem is hoping. This is most likely due to the fact that it is conveniently located so near to two universities and has established itself as Sprignhill's local coffee shop. Southerners are slow to change and seem to respect their institutions and Carpe Diem has become an institution that will most likely remain for some time to come.

Stacey's Drugstore

Located just adjacent from the train station in downtown Foley, Alabama is a tiny drugstore called Stacey's. The entire downtown Foley is a throwback to a time when main-street existed in America. When small downtowns were clustered around train stations. This was an age when everyone knew their neighbors an age before Walgreens, Wal-mart and big parking lots. Stacey's is an actual drug store that fills prescriptions and has a professional pharmacist on hand but it also has chewing gum, cologne and delicious ice cream sundaes. The sign above the ice cream counter at Stacey's reads Fizzsician indicating that an ice cream soda expert is ready to make a delicious creation. They also serve fresh squeezed lemonade and lime sours, this is a real soda fountain like something out of the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life". They also have self-serve coffee for just 10¢ per cup.



Before Interstate Highways, Urban Sprawl and McDonalds I imagine that America had many great and good places like Stacey's.

Fairhope Public Library

I have discussed the small town of Fairhope on this blog before in a post on The Page and Palette and Latté Da. It is a beautiful, quaint little town that lies on the eastern side of Mobile Bay. Historically the town was a Single Tax Colony and to this day one cannot actually own land in Fairhope. The Fairhope Public Library is a gem. It has lots of comfortable places to sit, fast efficient wi-fi that is open to the public, great resources and nice reading tables that remind me of The Boston Public Library. The current facility was built opened in 2007 but the Library itself has a rich history that dates back to the turn of the century and it is intertwined with Fairhope's unique ideals. You can read about the history of the library here.



As you can see above the Fairhope Library is also a great place to find out about concerts, reading programs, film nights, and general community events. Also on the web, the library's home page is not the catalog but rather an informative page of local events. Currently they sponsor a story time at The Fairhope Farmer's Market. This Library seems to do a great job of being at the heart of public life in Fairhope and in the digital age Libraries will secure strong positions as hubs for life in many of their communities.

Austin's Coffee

I rarely come to Austin's because during my graduate school days I had several very unproductive experiences here trying to get things done. One night I was working on a paper and I decided to come to Austin's thinking that I might be productive. The space is quite small and I sat down where I could at a table with my lap top and a sandwich. There was ridiculously loud horror movie playing that everyone was laughing and talking over. The commotion is a good sign as the teenage hipster all have a welcoming and fun community hang out at Austin's but for a "serious graduate student" like myself this was the worst environment possible. Finally I went outside on the porch that overlooks Fairbanks avenue as cars whiz by. Just when I got myself situated outside, the movie inside had ended and everyone came outdoors for a smoke break. So now these teenage hipsters were laughing, talking loudly and unintentionally blowing smoke in my direction. Well, at least the movie was over so I went back inside to try and get something done until I found out that another movies was starting in just 5 minutes. I gave up and went home.

The last time I was at Austin's Josh Bales, a friend of mine, was here playing his brand of poppy chic pleasing country for all of the girls that go to my church. The place was crowded, my friend Karie Brown was here selling her plumery (artsy trinkets and hair pieces made from feathers) and the atmosphere wasn't half bad. Still I wasn't convinced to become an Austin's fan.

All that being said, today is much better. I walked here and realized just how close it is to home. Although I did pass Cup O Soul and probably would have gone there had it not been one of my purposes to write about Austin's for this blog. After a pleasant walk here I was greeted by a friendly young woman who recommended a passion fruit green tea on ice (pictured above) that is really hitting the spot on a hot day. One of the trademarks here is that with each order you get a Hershey's Kiss on your plate and I have always thought that to be a nice touch. In addition I found a nice spot on a comfy retro couch with an electrical outlet located conveniently next to me. In addition I have a table to sit my things on and the wi-fi is working well. Life is good!

I used to meet with friends from church to hang out, talk and play board games here at Austin's. Named after the trendy city that is home to The University of Texas this is great place to study or to meet friends. Just avoid movie nights.

Palmano's

On Thursday morning I had breakfast with one of my favorite librarians at Palmano's on Park Ave. Like many other great and good places Palmano's business is rooted in coffee and from what many connoisseurs have told me Palmano's has the best coffee in Winter Park and maybe in Orlando. They roast their own coffee beans and I can say that the Soy latté was very good although some would say that soy milk obscures the real taste of the coffee. Palmano's does offer free wireless internet but it has never been a good study venue as their is very little seating inside and it is not conducive to lingering for long periods of time. The outside seating is located in a little alcove off Park Ave. and many people go there for breakfast or to meat a friend from coffee. They also serve dinner and have live music and from what I understand the place is hopping on a Friday night. Recently they have renovated and there is now seating on the sidewalk outside besides in the alcove. This gives the place a sort of Parisian sidewalk café feel but yet the menu and decor are really not that Parisian. White and red checkered table clothes and breakfast paninis give the place sort of an Americano/Italian feel. But it's good and I would have to say that it is probably the place to spend time and meet friends in or around downtown Winter Park.

infusion tea

infusion tea in College Park on Edgewater Drive is a minimalist tea shop with an Ikea-like feel. I couldn't leave Orlando without writing about this place because it is associated with some very good friends and mostly good memories. Usually "great good places" are rooted in the coffee industry and so infusion is nice alternative to the coffee shop. It's clean, fresh decor makes it a refreshing place to spend time.

Aside from tea, infusion serves an excellent gazpacho that is great on a hot Orlando day. The food here is fresh, tasty and vegan friendly. Pizzas, Panini's and Whole wheat wraps always go well with a cup of Moroccan Mint Tea.

There is also a small local artist's co-op where a few of my friends sale their artwork. The community at infusion is definitely not as hip as other places in town but I'm not really very hip anymore either so that works well for me. The service has not always been great as some of the help seems young and at time distracted but they are always friendly. At times there have been large meetings and I have not been able to focus on academic work here at infusion but today has been great and I found a quiet table near a power outlet.

Located in this trendy section of Orlando, infustion tea is a great place to meet a friend although the friends that I would always meet here now live in places like Philadelphia and Paris. It is always a great place to come write a blog entry or use the free wi-fi.

Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux

Bikes is because the owner seems to be a Cycling enthusiast. Notice the bicycles tied up outside where mine is now also tied. Beans is because, like every "great, good place" they serve great coffee and Bordeaux is the region in France where the fruit of the vine is produced. 3B has only been in Winter Park for a few years and is located right across the street from Stardust on Corrine. The husband and wife team, Darryl and Jennifer, have done a great job to create a unique, friendly and clean atmosphere. Sometimes B3 can feel too sterile and not homey enough but it is always a nice change.

As you can see in the picture cycling is always playing on the flat screen above a comfortable seating area. The art on the walls is interesting, the menu includes healthy sandwiches, that always come with jelly beans and carrot sticks. Right now they have fun things on the seasonal menu like waffles topped with mango, coconut and almonds or vegan black bean soup topped with cheddar, red onions and sour cream. I am having a classic Italian Panini with mozzarella, fresh basil and big slabs of tomato on doughy foccacia bread.

Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux is always a great place to meet a friend, study or work on a blog post.

Whole Foods

These are some friends of mine from Seminary days and The Geneva School. We recently gathered at Whole Foods to discuss languages, books, travels, graduate school, ideas and theology to name a few. One might ask why we would gather at a grocery store but Whole Foods has made an attempt at creating "place". Even now I am enjoying a fresh squeezed juice and a sandwich while writing in this blog, using the free internet and sitting in a comfortable chair. At Whole Foods you can buy your oatmeal, enjoy food from the hot bar, get a massage and use the wi-fi or just have lunch with a friend. These new seating arrangements on the patio are an addition since I went to London but because of the space, the food and access to the internet Whole Foods has caught on to the idea of being a "Great Good Place".

Winter Park Public

For all of the acclaim that Winter Park Public gets for being one of the best public libraries in the state and maybe in the country I don't think that the space is all that attractive. It is a three floor facility with worn out burber carpet and low ceilings. Fluorescent lights everywhere give the building more of a hospital feel than that of a "great good place". When I walk in the door I don't see old friends laughing and calling each other names. Even so, this library has a wealth of resources including books and films. This is the first time in a long time that I don't actually work in a library and I now realize how I took for granted having all of the services a library has to offer at my finger tips. So I keep coming back to Winter Park Public to print things, get music, movies and reading material. I just checked out the sound track to the new movie, Crazy Heart. Sometimes I have one of Beverly's wonderful lemon bars and just the other day I ran into an old friend. Besides as you can see from the picture they are making an effort to create friendly space.

Cup O Soul

Cup O Soul used to be on Fairbanks Avenue just across from Austin Coffee, that I will soon write about on this blog. Cup O Soul is now in a great location on Orange and Holt avenue just behind where I live in Winter Park. This place is literally just down the block and for that reason I should come here more often. The furniture is comfortable as they have plush couches, leather chairs and coffee tables all crammed into a samll attractive space on the corner. Glass windows surround the entire lounge area which most likely makes it difficult to cool during the hot summer months. Outside there is café like seating on the sidewalk that would make for great outdoor dining or conversation. The Wi-Fi is fast and reliable and although there is a dull murmer of chit chat in the background, the music is soft and I am not finding it hard to focus. Cup O Soul offers fresh baked goods and great coffee. I think Cup O Soul is going to become one of my top choices when looking for a place to study, write cover letters (I'm stilling looking for a job) and/or meet friends.

The Drunken Monkey

If it weren’t for writing this blog I would probably have gone to Stardust this morning. I was hungry and cold and just wanted a familiar place. After all, Oldenburg argues that part of the need for third place is simply a need for familiarity. Today, however, I came to Drunken Monkey so that I could write about it but I am also having a really good time. Drunken Monkey is located on Bumby just on the other side of Colonial and across from the Plaza Theatre. ( A concert venue where I saw Bon Iver and Iron & Wine). The Drunken Monkey as you can see is very busy on this unusually cold morning in Central Florida. The service is friendly and they have a number of vegan, vegetarian friendly pre-made things like the vegetable breakfast burrito that just hit the spot after a hard morning run. I am also enjoying my coffee with Hemp milk. The gentleman sitting just behind me is wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and was friendly enough to loan me his extension cord to plug in my laptop. A key to a good third place is plenty of plugs and good wi-fi. The Drunken Monkey has both and although I am not really being very community oriented with my headphones in while staring at my computer screen there are still quite a few people socializing here. Stardust for me has set the standard and feels most like home but Drunken Monkey is doing a great job and if it were closer to my house I would spend more time here.

Seven Sisters Coffee

This is my first trip to Seven Sisters Coffee. It is located on Mills Avenue just just before one reaches Colonial in a small quirky old house. Close enough to downtown, Winter Park, and Thornton Park it is not in a very walkable location unless someone were to live in the neighborhoods just near colonial. I rode my bike here but didn't notice a bike rack outside. Inside the walls are brightly colored and they make good use of space. I am seated at a large central table with a couch but there are plenty of nooks and little side areas where one could sit and study. I don't believe that Seven Sisters has a lunch menu but simply coffee, tea and a few baked goods. The cup cakes look really good and if I weren't eating Pizza tonight I would try one. The girl behind the counter is friendly and hip while the Soy Latté that she made is good. The WiFi is working well as I have a nice strong signal strength. I would come back to study and enjoy a coffee and maybe a cup cake.

Stardust

This is the most important entry on this blog. Of all the places that I hang out, besides where I work or live, Stardust is the most dear to me. It definitely has flaws and the community that it attracts is mostly of an "indie" cultural persuasion, making me feel not cool enough at times. Still, Stardust has achieved so many things as a place. Situated on the edge of Winter Park's historic neighborhoods and in proximity to other relevant businesses like Park Avenue CDs it is walkable from the neighborhood but still commercially zoned. Oldenburg argues that the problem with U.S. zoning laws is that it does not allow for third places within residential communities. Stardust is tucked nicely in between residential and commercial properties. Stardust is within easy access to Orlando, Baldwin Park and Winter Park. Stardust is founded on the business model of selling videos & coffee but it has evolved into far more. I rented films from Stardust years ago but now far fewer films line the walls. Only the back wall is filled with movies and no longer the entire back room providing more natural light and better places to hang out. When they made these changes a local artist/neighbor said that it now looked like a library but I never thought that was a bad thing. It still has great coffee but also has an excellent selection of beer and wine. The food here is great and semi-healthy. The toasted cuban like sandwiches are good. I just had a vegetarian bar-be-que sandwich with field greens and then a great home made cookie. Stardust has St. Bernadus, a first rate Belgian Abbey Ale on draft as well. It also has a old photo booth. Stardust is the meeting place for such events as Critical Mass, Scooter Night, Poetry Slam, The Grandma Market Party. You can come to Stardust to hang out with friends, play scrabble, eat lunch, have coffee, study, use the wi-fi, hear a local band, rent a DVD, have a drink, watch a film, go for a scooter ride hear a lecture by faculty from UCF or even Rollins.

The Princess Louise

This particular pub in central London has an ornate interior of partitions made of intricately carved wood and colourful glass. It might not make the best use of space but it gives the pub an intimate feel. It is very close to The British Museum and London University and so is frequented by locals, professors and graduate students. It is a tied house meaning that it can only serve the product of one brewery. In this case the lack of variety is not a bad thing since they serve Samuel Smiths from Tadcaster, York. I have always loved their Oatmeal Stout and Nut Brown Ale. At the Pub they have Organic Cider and a great Bitter that is under two pounds per pint.

It should also be noted that there are no gaming machines and no music at all played at The Princess. That is because the primary entertainment is conversation and great pints of Samuel Smiths'. One time I met three "lovely" elder men who had been coming to the Princess to have a pint since the 1950s. They used their free tube pass for the elderly to get home after sharing old stories with each other on a regular basis. This is the type of "Third Place" that Oldenburg highlights in European cultures and juxtaposes with the lack of community in American society.

Barnes & Noble

This major book vendor is now taking strides to create a "third place" in American Society. Since I have returned Barnes & Noble has taken two major steps. They released the Nook, a paperless, lightless, book reader and they have begun to provide free wireless internet in their stores. They also have a café with Starbucks coffee, some nice teas and a few sandwich items. This changes the entire character of bookstores because now they are a legitimate place to go and study/work and you don't even need to buy one of these things people used to read called books. The Nook, Barnes & Noble new eReader offers access to over 1 million eBooks as well as access to Google Books' collection of digitized materials. What's more one can upload their own PDF files allowing you to take Academic Journal articles on the go!

Still my criticisms of Barnes & Noble is the lack of intimacy. Ray Oldenburg argues that one of the reasons American needs a "third place" is simply to have somewhere that everyone knows your name. I don't know anyone here but everyone seems to be in and out and primarily to themselves.

Latté Da & The Page and Palette

The Page and Palette is a small book shop located in downtown Fairhope, Alabama that is connected to a small coffee shop called Latté Da. Fairhope is a very well to do community with New Orleans Style architecture situated on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile Bay. Fairhope is a town that captures Gulf Coast life as the city holds fast to its French Heritage. It is a quaint, charming town but one is constantly aware that it does not accurately portray the demographics of Alabama. Yet downtown Fairhope is a sleepy little secret and The Page and Palette is at the heart of the community. Two middle aged writer/artist types are sitting at a table laughing at the women who can't parallel park outside, telling jokes with a box of chalk next to them. They yak it up with the women who is working behind the counter wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide sweat shirt. She was very welcoming and helpful when she served us our coffee and tea. I always like to visit the Page and Palette when I'm at my parents house and they put on some great community events. They have hosted New Year's Eve dances, 5Ks and book signings.