Covert Coffees #2
I took the Southwest Chief up to Kansas City where I met up with Tiana, my roommate who drove all the way from Houston to go. She’d previously done the trip to DC too, and was the conference coordinator for the Kiss of Death retreat—which she did a FANTASIC job of. It’s due largely to her encouragement/persuasion that I entered the Daphne this year in the first place. She designed the conference for a spywriter, which is honestly one of the coolest encouragements I’ve ever gotten. I think I might have driven her a bit nuts with the Starbucks off the highway isn’t good enough thing though, lol!
The inside of Kansas City Union Station (they’re ALL Union Station lol!) was like stepping back in time in the best way. The cathedral-like building is just gorgeous and the two-level restaurant in the center picturesque. I found the station café, Paris, and tried their Blackberry Crumble latte. I’m not one for mixing berries and coffee, or chocolate, but it was a tasty treat and a welcome way to start a long day of travel. I managed to grab one for Tiana when she arrived and inch-wormed my way outside with two coffees, two cases, and not enough hands. Yeah, I didn’t think that one through.
We rest-stopped in De Monies and I hunted down a cozy campus-feeling café about 9 miles from the highway. The atmosphere was great, rich woods and comfy chairs everywhere. They also had some damn-good pumpkin pie.
In the quest to step outside of myself, I started with coffee. As a barista, I always had my favorite type of drink, often time of my own creation, and so I decided that I’d ask their favorites if nothing seemed different enough on the menu, and oh boy was I not
disappointed.
I can’t remember the name of the drink now, because squirrel-brain, but it had to do with brown sugar and OH…MY…YUMM. Smokey Row was worth the detour.
Back on the road, we arrived in Minneapolis around dinnertime, had a Doordash supper, and settled in. The next day was a rest day, but by the end of it, I couldn't keep still.
So, I went down to the bar…