Coffee Road Trip: From the Mountains to the Sea

CoffeeCat has been enjoying North Carolina's natural beauty this fall with a fellow coffee-shop lover! Luckily, this friend loves the outdoors as much as coffee shops (if that is possible!). After a sunny fall day spent on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we drove into Boone and used our handy GPS to find a delightful coffee shop, Higher Grounds. Not only was the espresso delicious, we bought
some interesting blends of coffee to take home, and the baked treats were worth the stop, too.

Now, we are enjoying a sunny, warm(ish) weekend at Holden Beach. The trip would not be complete without a stop at Cappuccino by the Sea, a tiny coffee & gift shop on the Causeway. Hours are limited in the off-season, but we were lucky to find it open on a cold, rainy afternoon when we desperately needed a hot shot of caffeine! We were surprised to find fresh-baked treats such as pink coconut shortbread, pumpkin shortbread, and coconut-pineapple-something else yummy-covered with cream cheese Madelaine's. There's one family-style dining table in this tiny shop, so we enjoyed sitting for a spell and chatting about local goings-on with some local folks. Had it been warm and dry, we would have sat on the patio and sniffed the fresh sea air.

CoffeeCat fell in love with the coffee shop thanks to the Triad. I'm spoiled to good coffee, locally owned shops, knowledgeable owners who care about their customers, and local residents who support their neighborhood shops. So, when I travel, the first thing I have to find is a coffee shop!

Isn't life great in the coffee lane??

Dog, are my paws tired!

After a year and a half of blogging, CoffeeCat and MochaMutt have reached the inevitable conclusion that you can blog about Triad Coffee Shops, you can visit Triad Coffee Shops, you can enjoy the awesome events at Triad Coffee Shops, but you can't do all three all the time. Since the blog began, shops have opened and shops have closed, but we consistently have about 40 locally owned coffee shops in our "Coffee Shop Guide." And that's after limiting the blog to four counties - Forsyth, Guilford, Davidson, and Randolph. We have learned about (and visited) other great shops in counties such as Stokes, Surry, Wilkes, and Davie, but we just can't keep up with them all, so we pared down the list. We also do not include "chain" coffee shops and the many restaurants in the area that have an excellent selection of coffee drinks on their menus. With the exception of Krankie's Airstream, we also don't include the many drive-through coffee "kiosks" in the Triad. Other coffee shops in the Triad are "on deck" to be placed in our guide, waiting for a site visit.

Fans, when we started the blog, we had a few shops we frequented, and knew there were others, but we never imagined the extent of the Coffee Shop universe in the Triad. It has been amazing, exciting, and, of course, delicious to discover them all. And we are still going!! Because we like to travel, and know that our readers do, too, we've added a "Road Trip" section to our Guide page. If you find a wonderful locally owned coffee shop on your travels, please share it with our readers!! Post a comment on the blog or email MochaMutt to share your delicious find!

One thing we have decided to do is leave it up to the shops on our Guide page to let their fans know about special upcoming events. We tried to keep up with them, but there just are not enough paws to keep the keyboard typing. What we do endeavor to keep doing is to let you know about new shops in the Triad, extra special/unusual offerings, new tastes, and other interesting things. We just can't keep up with every band, art exhibit, reading, poetry slam, etc. at Triad Coffee Shops. Which we think is a fantastic problem to have. Can you imagine a Triad with only one coffee shop, or one rock band, or one artist's display, or one shop owner who can belt out the blues? It would be a truly sad place to live. Fortunately for us all, the Triad is alive and hopping with art, music, literature, poetry, performance art, charity fundraisers, book clubs, conversation groups, and the many many other activities that come to life at Triad Coffee Shops.

So fans, keep checking the blog for the latest and greatest in Coffee Shop life in the Triad. And link to your favorite shop(s) from our "Guide" page to find a special event that's right for you. Then, let us know how it was. As with all writers, we love to hear from our readers. Connect with the huge coffee shop fan base and let us know what you think!