Hi, David! We have a "coffee box" in Alpharetta, GA. I'll try to remember to take a photo and post here for you! I always wonder how it survives - I think it's been there over a year and I literally do not think I've ever seen anyone there! Maybe it's the very early morning rush! Plus they are across the street from a Starbucks...I honestly don't know how they do it!

~Maura Gebhardt

Hi Maura, They probably make it specifically because they are drive through, and probably locally owned.  There is a huge market for non-chain, locally owned businesses.  This group of pictures I've shown is only a drop in the bucket of the number that actually exist here.  I don't know the numbers, but I would guess there are at least 50 or 60 of these things around this community.

This is a cute post that looks like it took alot of time to put together.  Thanks for sharing!

We have dozens and dozens of those here in North Idaho as well. Northwesterners love their coffee!!

Dave,

I went to high school in Blaine, so I scanned through your post, I was hoping to see the Blaine Boat House "coffee box" and you didn't disappoint!!!

By far the best one you've got displayed there :) The lady that built that boat in Blaine has two sons that have spent their fair share of time in Alaska.  

I love the 'Coffee Boxes' in WA!!! My favorite is in Ocean Shores - they have delicious Dominics coffee - and I usually walk up from my hotel.

We don't have those here - property is a very high premium for such as these.

Thanks for the delightful reminder - I've been wanting to take a trip down, this just adds to the incentive.

Me again! I especially love the drive south out from the Chuckanut (& I love the Chuckanut itself!) into the farmland toward Mt Vernon & LaConner. There are several coffee boxes out that way - they just make me smile! I've stopped for the coffee too. WA just has the best coffee everywhere (almost)

I like the boat one to but you could never put it in here there would be to many bureaucratic hurtles they would probably call it a ship and make the crew wear life jackets all day and do fire drill and man overboard drills.

cheers
Scott

All this rain is great for the garden hey.

Renee, Thanks for stopping by and the compliment.

Charles, Yes we do love our coffee in the northwest.  Some of the best I've had recently was in Vancouver, BC inside the Granville Island market.

Hi Bob, I like the boat best too. . .and their coffee is pretty good.  I often work at Semiahmoo and am in need of coffee by the time I arrive there.  I've stopped there a number of times.  Thanks also for the history of this great coffee box.  It means more when you know something about it.

Hey Deborah, Let me know when you're coming down. Maybe I can steer you toward some great coffee or food.  Thanks for stopping by - twice.

Scott, Too funny!  I've had some excellent coffee on your island too. Yes, I can actually hear the gardens sigh from getting all this real moisture.  It's been rare to have summer rain over the past ten years or so.  Maybe the drought is finally over (that should get a rise out of some of our Southwestern friends!).

David - I am actually hoping to go soon. Living in the valley makes me feel closed in & I'm overdue for a getaway. I love that I can be at Larabee? with the starfish 4 hours from here. We have huge Okanagan Lake here which I walk beside everyday, but it is SO not the ocean!

So yes please - coffee & food - I usually end up at Collophone cafe, but I'm really bored with that. I like Dos Padres, but I go all the time! I like Mexican, just about any ethnic food, oysters, fish & chips - what else when you go the sea??

At Ocean Shores a favorite thing to do is drive up to the ocean's edge facing trhe fabulous Pacific at sunset & eat fish & chips.

Another thing - I love Bellingham, but it is laid out, so I always get lost between districts & spend so much time redirecting! I've been lost pretty good down there a few times!   

I left some notes for you on my meme, I think a while back.

cochin-goraka - the graphic word??

Yes Deborah, Bellingham can be difficult to navigate.  It's because when it was incorporated as a city, it consolidated three different towns with three different street grids.  The grids wrap around the bay and confuse a lot of people.  Once you learn it, it is very simple and easy to navigate.  Just remember that Holly St goes East and West and State St goes North and South.

Restaurants, in no particular order:

Flats Tapas Bar, in Fairhaven.  A Spanish (not Mexican, they are very different) style tapas restaurant.

Pepper Sisters, on State St. near downtown.  New Mexico style, reasonable prices.

Nimbus, at the top of the Bellingham Tower.  Great view, NW style, good place for drinks.

Fino Wine Bar, in the Chrysallis Hotel near Taylor St. Dock.  We love to walk the trail from downtown, through Boulevard Park and over the water to this place for a bottle of wine and meal.

Oyster Bar, down Chuckanut Drive.  It's been a while since I've been there, but it used to be world class.

Rhododendron Cafe, farther down Chuckanut Dr (in the flats).  Funky, but excellent food.

Breakfast, Either the Old Town on Holly St. in Old Town or Harris Avenue Grill/Tony's Coffee in Fairhaven.  I know the owners of both of these places well.  they both do excellent breakfast.

Coffee, My current favorite is Cafe Addagio on Railroad Ave. across from the municipal bus depot (under reconstruction at this writing).

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much David! I've been to the cafe' in Old Town on a Sunday am, but it was packed with a line up, so didn't stay. Is that the one? - very rustic? cool! I've seen Pepper Sisters. Oh yeah,I like the Coop there & in Mt Vernon - healthy delicious food. 

What about event sites on the net?

Deborah, try  www.cascadiaweekly.com . You can download a PDF version and see the arts and entertainment calendar.

We actually call them "Coffee Huts" over here. People that visit from out of the area seem to think they are the strangest things......

Charles, those out of the area people must be "Easterners".  Anybody on the west coast would know all about them.  Heck, I've seen drive through windows for liquor stores in Arizona, and to carry it a bit further, I've seen drive through windows for bars to buy drinks in Montana.

I love these coffee boxes!  Somehow the coffee tastes better from than too.

Ever seen The Java Jive in Tacoma?  It's truly an institution... shaped like an old peculator and built in the 60's I believe.