Today, I am going to tell you about a place that I love.In Grand Forks where I grew up, there are surprisingly a lot of great local restaurants that you cannot find anywhere else but in Grand Forks. We have this amazing Mexican restaurant that has never found an equal. Even non-locals say this about my hometown Paradiso. There is also this fantastic bar and grill called The Blue Moose Bar and Grill that serves this secret recipe spinach cheese con queso. No matter what is going on, we must order some.
Along with these tried and trues in my hometown, there is a coffee shop that makes sense to me on any Grand Forks day, hot and humid August or dry and windy January. The old, downtown architecture and the dark tables only made darker by the dim lighting make this the perfect spot for any type of morning/day/evening that a coffee lover would like to have. It sits on a corner. I like that too.
Like any hometown favorite, there are moments. These moments make up the big love for this place.
- During our first grown up summer, a group of undereducated and searching friends gathered at Urban Stampede only to be surprised that it was Tarot card reading night. Amanda coughed up $10 to find out what we all knew about her already.
- My high school pally Dan and I went downtown to this new coffee shop only to realize that we were the youngest and worst dressed in the whole joint. WHOA. This is some special grand opening that we were obviously not invited to, but hey, we took Theatre 100. We could pull it off.
- I stood staring at the menu with words like Latte and Espresso. No idea. So, I took a risk that yielded a lifelong affair of an addiction when I ordered a large Cafe Mocha. It wasn't just the chocolate. It might have been the espresso, but I know it was the whip cream. All together, it became my staple drink. Extra hot, of course.
- Walking down the sidewalk with a friend only to find yourselves standing outside the only adult bookstore in Grand Forks. We couldn't help ourselves
- Countless important conversations.
- Countless coffees to go while you hope that you don't get a ticket for parking in an illegal space.
2 comments:
i think i have to make the 70 mile trip to go get some spinach queso at the moose. i had forgotten all about how delicious it is!
Urban Stampede was my first mocha, too! I had joked that I don't drink coffee, but I'd start before leaving college. The Urban Stampede helped make that true. Mocha is training for straight coffee like gin & tonic is training for gin martinis.
I'm not a coffee addict; I have some once in a while with others. I describe myself as a "social coffee drinker." :) -Kirk
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