"The first thing we do, let's...drink a lot of coffee!"

Here is the continuation of my Ashland adventures (the part that didn't involve any Shakespeare).

Monday 9/7: The festival was dark because of the holiday. My mom's business partner, Gary, was also in town for the Festival (see, I can live in a small world too, just like Susan and Debbie from my breakfast group!) and he invited me to join him for dinner. I accepted, and met him and the rest of his group (his wife Sandy, and 6 other lawyers). We went to an Indian food place called Taj. Let me tell you...having dinner with 8 lawyers is quite an experience! A woman named Susan was deemed “the boss” of dinner, which meant she got to make the rules for ordering the food. I was a little surprised...who makes rules for ordering dinner?? But I went along with it. Which is a good thing, because Susan was very serious about it. The main rule was:

1. Everyone orders something different and shares it

One person “abstained” from participating. It was Susan's husband, whom she promptly asked to “approach the bench,” and requested a “side bar” (aka private) meeting with him, I assume to discuss his lack of cooperation. It was all in good fun, but I was still completely blown away by the amount of lawyer lingo that managed to find it's way into the dinner conversation! I almost abstained as well, but decided that part of the fun was going along with whatever these crazy lawyers came up with.

In the end, it turned out to be a lot of fun. Each of the lawyers were very serious about ordering 9 different meals, and the whole group objected to holding up the plate-passing parade (Yes, I was the one who got in trouble for that). All of the food was delicious, but my favorite was called the Chicken Korma. It tasted very similar to, and looked a lot like, my favorite Thai dish, Evil Jungle princess.

Chicken Korma; Evil Jungle Princess

I also really liked a special drink Sandy ordered, which she shared with everyone. I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically a yogurt drink with mango juice and honey. It was better than a smoothie!

Everyone asked me about my road trip and listened very attentively. Upon telling them about my social work aspirations, I learned that Susan is a licensed social worker with her own practice...what was it with Ashland and me running into social workers?? (AND lawyers!!)

After the dinner I headed back to the Inn to finish packing while the others went off to see a movie. It was a great way to spend my last evening in beautiful Ashland! I forgot my camera, so unfortunately I have no pictures of the evening (the food pictures are borrowed).

Tuesday 9/8: After the backstage tour, I still had a couple hours before I needed to hit the road for my next destination. During a conversation had with my aunt Charm while walking back from dinner, I confided that I had forgotten to go coffeehouse browsing while in Ashland. I decided that I would use my free hours to set things right!

The coffeehouse I had been hoping to visit (and had forgotten about in the excitement of the Festival) was called Bloomsbury Books and Coffee. I knew its general location, but as I wandered around looking for it, the little shop eluded me! Finally I gave up, and settled for the next cute little coffeehouse I found, Key of C Coffeehouse.

On most nights of the week they have live performances by local artists. Unfortunately there was no one playing while I was there, but I did come across some great images depicting what a typical event would look like:

I loved this one in particular, because it strongly resembled the nymph I saw playing music on the street my first night at the festival!

They had really good coffee,

but I just about bowled over when I saw these!!! Talk about a major coincidence!:

After finishing up a nice conversation with a gentleman about my travels (I've met some truly great people, all of whom express nothing but admiration and well-wishes for my adventure!), I headed back towards my car, which I had parked a little ways up the road.

Well. You'll never believe what I found as I ambled unconcernedly up the street:

The coffeehouse I had been looking for in the first place!

Once I had found it, I couldn't bring myself to walk past it. Feeling relieved that I drink only decaf, I swung open the door and stepped inside. The fresh smell of books, lots and lots of books, greeted me, and I immediately fell in love with the place. I also knew I would not be walking out of there without a book to call my own. When I found the table devoted to Shakespearean works, I perused the selection eagerly.

The book I ended up choosing was not actually a Shakespeare play. It was a book called My Name is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs, and Shakespeare. Basically, it's a tale of two intersecting lives, the renowned William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon, and young man named Willie Shakespeare Greenburg of UC Santa Cruz. Their stories intersect in fascinating (and often comical) ways...or so says the back of the book. I haven't finished reading it yet!

I have a test that helps me decide whether or not I should buy a book. I read the back, and if I'm interested I read the first page of the story. If I'm still captivated, I flip to a random page in the middle. If by then I'm still actively reading, I buy the book. That was the case with My Name is Will, so I hurried over to the register to make my purchase!

Upstairs and around the corner, the coffeeshop charmed me with its red-brick walls, old-fashioned high-back chairs, and wooden coffee tables. What's more, they served their drinks in heavy glass ale steins! Once again, I was in love

I spent a good hour relaxing in the soft-lighted ambiance of Bloomsbury Books and Coffee.

I reluctantly evacuated my perch when I realized it was nearly 3pm! I had a good 4.5 hour drive ahead of me, so I knew I couldn't dwadle any longer. I bid a fond adieu to my new favorite coffeeshop, then hurried off to where my faithful steed chariot automobile awaited my return. I made incredible time, pulling into the gravel driveway of my new, slightly "out there" location just after 7pm.