New bookstore/cafe, new hangout!
I've discovered something really cool. I think everybody should go here.
I've discovered something really cool. I don't want anybody else to go here.
I'm torn. There is this great new bookstore/cafe/tea/coffee/eclectic shop near my house. It is a store dedicated to the alternative mainstream of convention-going, ren-faire-attending, cosplay-dressing people.
There is a meditation/reading room, with soft lighting and softer pillows. The cafe touts a tea bar featuring a tea producer enjoyed by the Queen of England. The coffee is made at a monastery in Wisconsin. Their bookshelves cover types of fiction that big retailers stick in back corners, namely sci-fi, speculative fiction, graphic novels, and steampunk novels of all sorts.
Did I mention that the place has a steampunk theme? There are brass goggles, model dirigibles, ornate leather masks, and hats of every description. They have music for sale that I've not seen outside a convention dealer's room. The funky t-shirt collection is small but growing, including one of my favorites, a baby doll tee with a corset silk screened onto it.
They have game nights. They have live performers. They have drumming classes and book readings and guided meditation and they'll make you a sandwich.
This is the sort of place who's eclectic nature almost guarantees that it won't become so mainstream as to have to worry about walmart level crowds. The atmosphere and charm of the place is only enhanced by the quirky idea that the customers are unusual outcasts who are oddly elite in their own sphere. But the more people who know about it, the less exclusive it will feel, and the more likely it is to be crowded and hard to get a seat.
So, my conflict: Tell everybody where it is, or keep the place secret?
Ah, what the hell, company makes pretty much everything better.
It's called Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, in Farmington, Michigan. The website is www.otbp-bookstore.com.
They just opened the doors about a month before I first visited, so the place still has most of the shiny. I get the feeling that Sal, the proprietress, plasma to keep it that way.
So go, shop, eat, drink, be merry. Buy a book, play a drum, drink excellent tea.
In short, check this place out. It's so worth it!
In case you missed it:
Off the Beaten Path Bookstore and Café
www.otbp-bookstore.com
I've discovered something really cool. I don't want anybody else to go here.
I'm torn. There is this great new bookstore/cafe/tea/coffee/eclectic shop near my house. It is a store dedicated to the alternative mainstream of convention-going, ren-faire-attending, cosplay-dressing people.
There is a meditation/reading room, with soft lighting and softer pillows. The cafe touts a tea bar featuring a tea producer enjoyed by the Queen of England. The coffee is made at a monastery in Wisconsin. Their bookshelves cover types of fiction that big retailers stick in back corners, namely sci-fi, speculative fiction, graphic novels, and steampunk novels of all sorts.
Did I mention that the place has a steampunk theme? There are brass goggles, model dirigibles, ornate leather masks, and hats of every description. They have music for sale that I've not seen outside a convention dealer's room. The funky t-shirt collection is small but growing, including one of my favorites, a baby doll tee with a corset silk screened onto it.
They have game nights. They have live performers. They have drumming classes and book readings and guided meditation and they'll make you a sandwich.
This is the sort of place who's eclectic nature almost guarantees that it won't become so mainstream as to have to worry about walmart level crowds. The atmosphere and charm of the place is only enhanced by the quirky idea that the customers are unusual outcasts who are oddly elite in their own sphere. But the more people who know about it, the less exclusive it will feel, and the more likely it is to be crowded and hard to get a seat.
So, my conflict: Tell everybody where it is, or keep the place secret?
Ah, what the hell, company makes pretty much everything better.
It's called Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, in Farmington, Michigan. The website is www.otbp-bookstore.com.
They just opened the doors about a month before I first visited, so the place still has most of the shiny. I get the feeling that Sal, the proprietress, plasma to keep it that way.
So go, shop, eat, drink, be merry. Buy a book, play a drum, drink excellent tea.
In short, check this place out. It's so worth it!
In case you missed it:
Off the Beaten Path Bookstore and Café
www.otbp-bookstore.com