Friday, April 9, 2010

Amber - Anyway (Steve Porter Remix)

Sometime in the middle of 2005, I was working until 11:00PM at the local college. My wife started work a few miles away at 10:00 PM, and worked until 6:00 AM. As you can imagine, this played hell with our sleep schedule.

There was this awesome little place just up the road from the college, though, called Santa Fe Junction. It was basically a trailer home on top of a tall foundation, which had been converted to a smallish coffee shop and diner. It was open 24/7. The food was okay and affordable. The brewed coffee was great, and most of the baristas knew how to craft decent espresso drinks. Toss in comfortable chairs, couches, fun music on the speakers, and free WiFi, and you've got the perfect place to hang out on weeknights when you're working an oddball schedule like I was.

I'd go in a few nights per week armed with a $10 bill and my laptop. That would buy me supper, keep me hacking and caffeinated until the sun came up, and cover a reasonable tip.

It closed down in a matter of months, but it was worth it while it lasted. It opened a year or so later and became simply "Bar" with more traditional bar hours, no caffeine, and crappy bar food. Bar closed down a few months ago and it recently re-opened as "Woody's." I don't know that I'll even bother venturing by, even though I live a mile away from the place these days. I pass it on my bicycle a few times per week.