Sunday, February 21, 2010

A Good Cuppa Joe

I know that some of you, gentle readers, think I have been spending my time with a new bf (pictured below) dancing, and neglecting my duties as Explorer of the SL Universe, but NO! RL has placed its unreasonable & ridiculous demands upon me, and in the last month I have moved, ended a 3 year RL relationship (imagine my surprise when i found out I had one!) and spent far more time in a dentist chair than should be expected for a free spirit such as myself.


So now that I have moved closer to Seattle, fertile soil for website launches, innovative music and the best coffee in the world, I decided to find a good coffee house in SL. Now, remember, folks, a coffee house in USA is where you actually drink coffee, and bears little resemblance to the ones in Amsterdam (damnit). I wanted a place with ambiance, good crowd, bookish decor, and big comfortable couches to lose myself in while I chatted with friends. The very best place I found is the one pictured at the top of this blog, but you have to read through the whole damned post to find out which one it is!

First stop, Truthball at 217,29,22 - very comfortable, muted browns and reds, but no people there. *Sigh* Next was Madhu's Cafe, 28,13,701, themed of India, outdoors, more of a bar than a coffee house. Again, not a pixelated person in sight. Jittery Junco, 142,240,23, was not for me, lacking in cohesiveness and some pretty serious details. A fire on the wooden floor with no fireplace? A bit dangerous - why, they might have burned the whole grid down! And as we all know, SL is capable of doing damage to itself, no help from us avatars! Cafe de Paris, 151,162,1115, is a beautiful house, with classical music and plenty to explore; however, wrongly billed as a coffee house. Another time for that one. Sweets, 24,122,79 is a shopping mall.

Red Dragon, 70,195,26 - great blues in the background, cozy - this is a keeper. Nobody there, but that is fine - alert to my friends! This is where we can sit and chat for hours while the real world goes to hell. Ro-Sheen Coffeehouse is another keeper 213,114,42, more like a beach house with beautiful scenery and nice grounds.

Okay you old SL people - do you remember the Mill Pond? Now it is Village @ Gesso, 244,152,23 - more upscale, no sitting on the backs of turtles in the Pond while listening to blue grass, but this is a nice place, worth a visit. Next was Concord Coffee House, and I am getting a little weary of places that throw Coffee House into their description without a trace of a house or coffee in the sim. Concord was a bit sparse, but I did like the bean bags - nice touch! 228,83,27. The Killing Moon Cafe 91,225,40 was too tiny for my taste, and let me just remark here I do not like any words associated with death or dying in a place where I intend to eat or drink. Just saying.

Cafe Amore 177,233,22.....let me just say there was no Amore there. Zazen 148,229,132 is listed as a coffee house, but no music, sitting on the floor in front of a long empty granite table just was closer to meditating than coffee chatting for me. Campus d Art at 139,134,21, was very interesting, but....no coffee.

Final stop was the best: Calypso Coffee Spot, 191,19,22 - set on a beach, colorful, unusual furniture, great music! That is the photo at the top of this entry. If this was in real life, I would probably never leave it. Reminded me a bit of Laguna Beach before the nude beach part opened and everyone left, off to explore each other's parts. Wonder how that worked out? Anyway, this is a fun place and I hope everyone checks it out! And btw, still no coffee to be found.