Toothbrush, extra underwear, an umbrella. Travel essentials? Yeah. But boring. A not-boring travel essential: a good place to just…be (either with some other person, with a book, or with your thoughts). Since coffee shops are hard to pack and there’s no guarantee that you’ll find one perfect place by the time your first I need downtime hits, we figured it was worth devoting this Friday Three-fer to starting a list of good places to stop.
Rounding us up to three this week is Irene S. Levine, Ph.D. The good doctor (and our pal) knows of what she writes when it comes to choosing a place for a quiet chat with a friend. A clinical psychologist, professor of psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine, and freelance journalist, Irene’s latest book is Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend. “The Friendship Doctor” also writes for Psychology Today, the Huffington Post, and her very own The Friendship Blog.
Le Jardin du Roi. Photo by Irene Levine.
Le Jardin du Roi, a popular French bistro tucked off of King Street in Chappaqua (Westchester County, New York), is the perfect place to catch up with an old friend. You can order anything from coffee to an aperitif, onion soup, and a half a sandwich, or a meal, and sit in a mahogany leather booth or banquette conducive to sharing intimacies. In this relaxed, unpretentious setting, tap water is served in wine bottles, hot French bread is always on the table, and the windows are gently curtained in Alsatian lace. Don’t get too engrossed in conversation or you’ll miss a Bill Clinton sighting. (He likes to meet his friends there, too.)–Irene
Tantra Coffeehouse. Photo by Sophia Dembling.
San Marcos, Texas is a discount-malls mecca so you can bet your Zhu Zhu Pets they see action this time of year. After that crazy scene, you’ll need SERENITY NOW!, which you’ll find at the Tantra Coffeehouse, a student hangout just off the downtown square. At night Tantra might have music or poetry, but in the daytime, sunlight streams through the windows of the rambling old house, students sit quietly intent on their laptops, and you can settle into an old sofa (or, weather permitting, take a seat on the porch) with a cuppa and a fresh baked something. Or, if the day’s shopping was particularly tough, perhaps a glass of wine …–Sophia
Beans. Photo by Jeff Kubina via Flickr (Creative Commons license).
In need of caffeine to keep me from crashing after some early (early early) photo shoots in Yellowstone, I wandered into Free Heel and Wheel. A local told me that the ski and bike store’s wee coffee shop, Mocha Mammas, served up some fine java. They did indeed. Bonus: It was one of the friendliest place in the mostly-closed-for-the-season town. I went a few times a day and they treated me as though I’d been going for years. Most of my photog workshop classmates were quite competitive–the testosterone-fueled bunch had lots of long lenses in tow (hmmm)–so the friendly faces at Free Heel were a welcome respite.–Jenna
Hey, Irene (Dr. Levine) took me there in person. What a treat. But no Bill or Hillary. Still the food, drink, and company, the ambiance and anticipation, provided a lovely reunion spot for friends.
Lucky you! Sometimes I hope to meet Irene live and in person!
Ditto — can’t wait to meet Irene in person. Feel like I know her but…nope, not really. This whole internet thing’s a hoot, eh?
Lovely postings ladies. Makes me feel like taking a break at all of them.
Hope those photo guys didn’t trip over their lenses!
Thanks Jill. And they did trip over their lenses–especially when I beat (all but one of ‘em) in the class photo contest.