Colleen joined us for breakfast at The Peak Grill on one of her visits. When the waitperson put the hot syrup container on the table, Colleen pulled her cup wrap from her purse and slipped it onto the container to keep the syrup hot for our pancakes!
Because Colleen’s idea worked so well, I sewed a Kup Kollar for myself to match my large Pancake Kap. Pouring hot syrup onto a hot granola pancake from The Peak Grill makes a great breakfast even better!
Two Kup Kollars on Contigo water bottle
Perry and I left Trappers’ Trail and biked to the Drive In at 2309 North Weber Street in Colorado Springs. It’s our favorite place for soft serve ice-cream. I ordered deliciously creamy chocolate with hot fudge sauce in a cup.
Perry ordered a medium-size chocolate cone. After biking in hot weather, this tall cone helps him cool off!
Open seven days a week, the Drive In has been at the same location since it opened for business in 1955. They have a grill if you want lunch or dinner before the ice-cream!
This is the back entrance from the bike path. They have no indoor seating, but several picnic tables and long benches are available.
If you’re visiting the Colorado Springs area this summer, book a room at The Inn at Palmer Divide. The Inn is tucked away in a beautiful mountain setting with easy access to Interstate 25. Each comfortable room has a huge closet and a vanity area separate from the bathroom.
Photo: Cup lid on coffee cup and insulated cup sleeve on iced tea glass
Leaving your room, you’ll walk through an enclosed walkway, pass by conference rooms, and climb the gently curving staircase up to the lobby where you can go left into an inviting bar or right into the moZaic Restaurant with a delicious cuisine.
We joined Lily and Jerry, long time friends who were staying at the Inn. We enjoyed dinner and hours of conversation with them!
Lily’s salad was a great example of the detail given to the food presentation!
One afternoon we walked to The Cup & Crumpet in Woodstock, VA for lunch and tea. We ordered a Pot for Two of their house blend loose tea. It was delicious and well brewed with no bitter taste. The tea was served with the proper equipment – tea strainer with holder, cream pitcher, and sugar bowl. The Asian floral Kup Kap was my tea equipment!
We ordered a hot bowl of tasty tomato bisque soup with chunks of tomatoes and onions floating in it. I felt adventurous and ate the sardine quiche. It was a nice blend of flavors and very moist with a flaky crust. Soups and quiche are made from scratch on site with the owners’ grown vegetables or bought organic vegetables.
Our tea was still hot when we ate our desserts because it was served in a teapot covered by a tea cozy. This was a real treat because tea cozies are rarely used in tea shops or restaurants. The desserts change daily and are baked on site. I enjoyed a piece of Hummingbird Cake, a popular southern cake which may have originated from Jamaica. It’s a frosted banana cake filled with pineapple chunks and layered with cream cheese filling. Perry loved the traditional Bread pudding with rum sauce, one of his favorite desserts!
I experienced a second dessert when I walked into the next set of rooms and found a yarn shop called Fibersmyth. There is always room in the suitcase to take home new yarns!
Photo: FSU Kup Kollars on drink glasses
Where do four Florida State University alumni, Class of 1968, go to remember college adventures? The other Woodstock, a quaint town in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley! Founded in 1761, Woodstock has a courthouse designed by Thomas Jefferson that is still in use.
We ate lunch at Woodstock Café & Shoppes on Main Street. The food and service were excellent. Their pumpkin soup was hot and delicious. We’ll return the next time we visit Woodstock!
After lunch, we browsed the café’s antiques and sculptures. They have a section of books that are free; however, they accept donations to support a shelter for women and children in need.
The Woodstock Café has a large selection of wines. This wine is from R Wines in South Australia. From a review: “The packaging is striking and edgy, and with names such as Bitch, Evil and Pure Evil, they look and sound every bit as striking as they taste.” Australian wines are a great addition!
Perry is a morning person; I’m an extreme night owl. He eats breakfast early in the day and I eat breakfast midday. This is good because he’s always cheerful in the morning, and I’m always grumpy. When I read this Irish proverb about marriage and breakfast, I decided to make a magnet for our kitchen!
Photo: Kup Kollar on cold take-out cup
Last year in Boston, I sat down to breakfast in an au bon pain restaurant across the street from The Onyx Hotel – long after Perry was dressed and teaching his writing seminar. I chose fresh pineapple, blueberry nonfat yogurt, oatmeal added to the yogurt, and peach tea. The food was delicious, but the sweetened tea was too sweet. The sugar taste overpowered the peach flavor.
The next day I created my own sandwich at au bon pain. I chose a croissant, chicken, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes with a basil pesto spread. The croissant was fair, chicken was a little dry, vegetables fresh, and the spread was only on one half of the croissant. The unsweetened black tea was strong and delicious.
My third day at au bon pain, I enjoyed strawberry nonfat yogurt with blueberries and strawberries, fresh fruit cup, and oatmeal that is crunchy and not too sweet. The strong black tea perked me up. I sat in the indoor patio surrounded by green foliage and the sounds of a water fountain. It was a nice way to begin my work day at 2:30 pm!
Photo: Irish Kup Kollar on glass of ale
If Perry and I were in Boston this week, we would celebrate St Patrick’s Day at The Fours Restaurant because the food is delicious and the staff is friendly. Last May, we ate a great dinner of homemade clam chowder, fresh scallops, and Boston scrod.
After exploring the waterfront on another day, I stopped in for a second bowl of their clam chowder. It has a lemony taste I loved!
The walls are filled with framed prints of sports teams and jerseys dating back to the fifties. Perry enjoyed the Celtics’ photos because they’re his favorite basketball team and he has followed them for many seasons.
Because I’ve watched Perry play a lot of intramural basketball games and know his love of the game, I bought this magnet photo frame to put his school picture in. When I showed him the magnet, he said, “Oh, you got a magnet with Larry Bird’s number on it!” I had no idea his favorite Celtics player wore the number 33!
Photo: Kup Kollar on ale glass
Perry and I walked from the Onyx Hotel to Beacon Hill for an early dinner at Emmets Pub & Restaurant, one of many Irish pubs in Boston. Perry ordered a Newcastle brown ale. I ordered tea (no free refills), which didn’t taste good. The waitperson said the tea was a Coca-Cola product that came in a box.
Emmets’ creamy, smooth clam chowder was excellent! We ranked it the best of three clam chowders we had eaten on our business trip.
I ate a tasty plate of Fish ‘n Chips. The fish was fresh scrod beautifully fried, the tarter and cocktail sauces were very good, the wonderful coleslaw had a slightly vinegar taste with finely shredded onions, and excellent fries were hot.
Perry had Fresh Scallops New England from the Special Entrée Sheet. The rice pilaf was fluffy and moist, the zucchini and yellow squash were crisp cooked, and all 12 scallops were excellent.
We shared a piece of Boston Cream pie. The cake was moist but not too sweet. It was a nice way to end our meal.
After we left Emmets pub, we were surprised to find three surfers walking toward us with boards in hand! This young man from Crested Butte, CO is living in Boston and attending law school. He and his friends had been surfing at Hampton Beach in NH. He told me the name of a secret surfing beach in Boston where the locals hang out. I promised not to share this information!
After dinner, we ordered brownies and ice-cream for an excellent dessert! The brownies weren’t overly sweet. It was a great way to end our travel day.
Photo: Kup Kap on coffee mug; Kup Kollar on iced tea glass.
Friday morning we enjoyed breakfast at The Cupping Room Cafe. I ordered eggs Benedict with spinach and brie. Perry had four sausage links, French fries, and eggs. He said the coffee was excellent!
Perry loved the bagels. As they say in NYC, “It’s the water!”
On Sunday we attended their popular brunch along with a lot of other folks from the neighborhood. My favorite dish is their stuffed French toast. The filling was cream cheese, granola, nuts, and raisons. I drank freshly squeezed orange juice.
I recommend The Cupping Room for breakfast because the coffee is excellent, iced tea is tasty, bagels are fantastic, orange juice is freshly squeezed, eggs cooked to order, and the stuffed French toast is a must-have!
After unpacking at the Hampton Inn in Manhattan-SoHo, we searched for a restaurant still open at 10:00 pm. A short walk from the hotel, we found The Cupping Room Café Restaurant & Bar. We always pack our Kup Kollars and Kup Kaps to enjoy iced tea and hot coffee wherever we go!
When we were seated, Tim, our waitperson, asked did we know what cupping coffee meant. He was surprised when we answered “Yes.” When you start a company called Koffee Kompanions, you can’t help learning the term!
Tim shared several helpful hints about NYC and answered our touristy questions with a smile. I told him he was debunking the myth that NYC was an unfriendly city. He replied, “We stopped the unfriendliness during the 80”s!” We saw Tim three more times while enjoying food at The Cupping Room. He continued to share interesting tidbits about himself, the restaurant, and the city throughout the week. Tim is a great ambassador for NYC!
The Cupping Room Café is L-shaped with two entrances. This is the bar entrance on Broome Street. The front window opens so you can sit at a table near the sidewalk but not on the sidewalk. Tim planted the beautiful flowers in the window box.
Tim is busy cutting up limes behind the full liquor bar. There are special drink events every night.