Boo!

A friendly face from Krankie's

The first coffee shop Halloween party is posted on the Events page. CoffeeCat's favorite holiday is just two weeks away!

Krankie's Airstream kicked off the season with its annual pumpkin carving event. The Airstream is next door to Reynolda Farmer's Market. Where else can parents kick back with a cold coffee beverage while the kids carve pumpkins in the sun?

Backstreet Buzz is planning its annual Halloween party. Last year, iCoffee hosted trick-or-treating. Some events might be on Saturday, some might be on Sunday, so we will post the details as soon as we find them.



Coffee shops, you can post your events here in the comments or on our Facebook page.

A quaint, cozy coffee shop, or . . . ?

This column in the weekly Triad Arts This Week e-mail news letter caught my eye. I've used the term "City of the Arts" in a few of my own blog posts lately, so I read along as Martin Tucker debated whether Winston-Salem lives up to the name it has given itself.

He makes a convincing argument, but the fur (CoffeeCat, after all) on the back of my neck stood up when I read, "you probably imagine a quaint, cozy coffee shop with great scones. And you’d be right."

ACK! Is someone about to say something bad about quaint, cozy coffee shops? Hey, I like quaint! I like cozy! I like scones!

Ahhh. Deep breath. He moves right along and says, "But 'the café' is so much more."

Crisis averted. No one is bashing my beloved quaint coffee shops! You know who you are! But being CoffeeCat, you know I love the not-so-quaint and not-so-cozy coffee shops, too. Triad coffee shop fans are so lucky to have a variety of shops to choose from. And we're lucky that some are quaint and cozy by day, but lively and hopping with good music by night.

So, coffee shop fans, what's your preference? Quaint and cozy? Bright and bold? Rocking and rolling? Scones or sushi? The Triad has 'em all!

[MORE] Stuffed Again!

Brace yourselves for another STUFFED coffee shop weekend. Check out the Events Page - bullet points under a date mean "WHEW, look at all these places to be and people to see, all in one day!"

For starters, you can fill up on Casanova's fudge in exchange for a donation of books to Lewisville Library. Nothing goes better with fudge than coffee, a good book, a warm blanket, and a snow storm . . . oops, sorry folks, it's October! Let's hold that until January. For now, we'll take sunny days, fudge, and festivities at the historic Lewisville Mill.


Lab wants some latte

 I'm still looking for my time travel machine for Saturday night. Let me know if you see one on e-bay. I hope you coffee shop fans are having as much fun as I am!! Bzzzzzz.

Don't forget the events on the Howls & Meows page, too!
And a shout out to Smitty's Notes awesome event calendar at http://www.smittysnotes.com/.

Art Happens

at Triad Coffee Shops! Check out this album of photos taken at Krankie's in Winston-Salem. What about others? Tell us about your photos, art, music, drama, and comedy happening at Triad Coffee Shops.

You Never Know What You'll See

on your coffee shop adventures! I was so glad to find the Coffee XChange, a classic coffee shop in Asheboro's business district. The iced cafe mocha was just what I needed when the temperature climbed to 80 degrees!

Just down the street, I saw artist Susan Harrell painting this mural on the side of a restaurant. It's called The Polar Bear Project and celebrates the city's residents at the North Carolina Zoo.

 It was the perfect day to sit and catch my breath in the coffee shop, get a caffeine bzzzzz, and tool around this traditional "main street" kinda place. If you like antiques, crafts, local eateries, and bargain books (thanks to the friends of Randolph Library), then spend an afternoon here. Also nearby is Bicentennial Park, which is home to events like the Tractor Heritage Parade and Show and a Latino Festival.

Next time, I'll leave time for a visit to the real polar bears!

Somebody's Gotta Do It

It's a great job, and CoffeeCat's just the one to do it!

This weekend I will be pounding the pavement looking for some new coffee shops in a Triad city that I'm just getting to know. I've heard rumors of coffee shops and bakeries in this city, so I'm going to put my feline curiosity to work and sniff out some cafe au lait!

If I'm successful, I'll blog about these yummy new finds. If I fail, well, you know the answer - CoffeeCat will travel to another Triad town and find success! In the Triad, there is never any reason to go a weekend without a coffee shop fix. And CoffeeCat never gives up on local coffee shops.

One recent Sunday, Mocha Mutt and I were seeking a new coffee shop. We drove around and around the shopping center where it was supposed to be, but with no luck. With caffeine headaches threatening to ruin our day, we booked it to a tried-and-true coffee shop. But, we later found out the lost coffee shop had moved and all is well!

Coffee shops are just like life - sometimes you want an adventure and the thrill of a new discovery, but other times you don't fix what ain't broke. Whichever way comes out on top this weekend, you can be sure that I'll manage to get my caffeine bzzzzzz and some good info for coffee shop fans!

Be sure to check out the Events Guide to plan your weekend bzzzzzz. By the way, I'd love to hear from you about last weekend's STUFFED calendar. What events did you enjoy?

Conversations in a Cafe

Here's proof that CoffeeCat isn't the only one who sees life happening at coffee shops. A world-premiere play set in a coffee shop starts this weekend at Korner's Folly in Kernersville. Conversations in a Cafe follows eight characters who cross paths at Newton's Cafe, a small coffee shop in New York City. All characters are in one phase or another of seeking love, lust, a relationship or even just a friend, while their waitress contributes and comments.

Get full details here: http://www.billcissna.com/conversationsgen.html