Do you remember Fotomat, the drive-thru photo development kiosks in the early 80’s? The shopping center near my home where one once stood is still in operation, although the stores have changed 20 times since then. There is no trace of the little building, no chalk-drawing outline of a company dead and gone. I’m surprised there weren’t more products available via a drive-thru window, a middle ground between once having to purchase items solely in a brick and mortar and our current buying method of click, click, thump – the sound of the package hitting your porch.
While in the land of java, the Seattle area, Port Orchard specifically, we passed some retail shops with a lighthouse in their shared parking lot. Not a real beacon building, of course, but a coffee shop. Lighthouse Espresso has two windows, one on each side. The single barist takes care of both customers at the same time. I was enchanted. I love a novelty structure. I am also passionate about coffee. This was no Cinderella’s Castle but it was magical to me.
Had I been the one driving, we would have had some explaining to do when we returned the rental car sans brakes. As it was, we passed close enough to the lighthouse for me to be able to detect something unusual in the middle of a car park. When I asked my husband what it was, I could hear the combination of defeat and excitement that comes from the ideas of your wife of over three decades. Up to the order board we pulled.
As a bonus, the coffee was delicious. We returned the next day where I ordered a t-shirt with my latte. The sole keeper, doing a double shot, also acting as merchandise salesperson, had to run to a small shed across the lot to get my swag. There I waited, in the shadow of a lighthouse, five miles from water, but as close as you can get to a great cup of coffee.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindtraveler #travel #fotomat #portorchardwashington #lighthouseespresso
