If you perk it, they will come

Having spent an appalling amount of money yesterday on the four-wheel place holder in front of my house, I was now free blow my Sunday any way I wanted. I have to admit I failed miserably in the excitement department. 

The basic idea behind coffeeneuring is that you ride your bike a minimum of one mile to a coffee shop and partake of your favorite beverage therein.  Coffeeneurs are encouraged to visit the independent kind you see in Friends or Frasier instead of the cookie cutter chain shops. I have two problems with that. First, there are no independent coffee shops within a five mile radius of my house. You see, unlike most coffeeneurs, I live is soulless suburbia not hip urbia. (There is, in fact, a gourmet shop exactly one mile from my house. I don't think they qualify as a coffee shop, but I will have to investigate next weekend because they make a pretty darn good roast beef sammich.)  Second, the coffeeshops on TV always have places to sit.  Most of the coffeeshops I have been to are packed with WiFi freeloaders.

Today's coffeeneuring ride was to Old Town Alexandria because that's the only direction I can go to find an urbia.  I thought I had used up all the coffeeshops in Old Town itself and might have to ride to Del Ray (another Alexandria neighborhood) or Crystal City which is the saddest excuse for a planned community on the planet. Everything there is named Crystal This or Crystal That. There are even two Crystal Marriot Hotels. It's all a pain in the Crystal ass so I try to avoid it.

Perk Up, Little Nellie

I rode up South Washington Street and within a block came upon Perk Up, an independent coffeeshop. This shop is located at South Washington and Green. I thought this was a Starbucks so I was pleasantly surprised that it was not. I walked in and sure enough every seat was taken, mostly by people with their noses buried in tablets and laptops. I waited for Jennifer Anniston to walk in but she must have been busy looking awesome somewhere else so I ordered a small coffee and sat outside in the sun. It was 50 degrees out so it wasn't terribly uncomfortable.

Once done with my brew I headed back home, making a stop at the local variety store. The Hollin Hall Variety Store is an old fashioned Five and Ten store. It has all the little crap that no sensible store would want to stock. Postcards, crafts, oddball cleaning stuff, and shoe laces, which is what I needed.

Another mile and I was back home, completing my cofffeeneuring adventure at 11 miles. 

Anybody for some fish?

Oh, and on the way, I saw this guy.  (Or gal, it's hard to tell.) He was probably fishoneuring. I'll talk a pass on that concept.