Coffee Crawl/Whirlwind tour

So day 2...
My friend Seth lives here in Chicago. We worked together at Third Place(coffeehouse) in Raleigh NC. We planned to hang yesterday and after my hangover hit snooze for me till about 11 i stumbled to the shower and called him up.

Seth is working on a blog. http://americanotogo.com/ It's pretty amazing what he's doing.
 From his site:
 The short story behind this project is that I will be living and working in 17 United States cities over the course of the next 4 to 5 years.  At each stop, I'll attempt to scour up a job in a coffeeshop while I live there for a period of 2 - 4 months.
On the side, when I'm not busy at work behind a coffee counter, I am diligently jotting down and collecting research for a book that will chronicle in detail the evolution of specialty coffee in the United States from post-WW2 to the modern day with respect to development in individual neighborhoods in urban cities. 

Everyone should check it out.

Anyways... I walk down the street meeting him at Damen and Addison(my cross street). He had biked over...PS I cannot imagine biking everyone here. It's so scary. I'm still nervous about driving and people here zoom by inches away from cars like it's no big deal.
He immediately grabs me onto a bus and says off to Wicker Park.
I had mentioned I wanted to grab a cup of coffee to catch up and I had no idea what I was in for. Now I'm going to try to get all of these names of coffee shops and neighborhoods right, but know that we were walking fast, downing espresso, hopping trains, and meeting tons of people so some places are a bit foggy.
After dropping off his biking gear at Buzz Killer Espresso in Wicker Park we headed out.

The Wormhole Coffee - in Wicker Park, this 80's Sci-fi themed cafe was awesome. To your right as you walk in was a real Dalorean from Back to the Future. Star Wars mugs, Skeletor castles, Marvin the Martian, an old school Nintendo with Zelda loaded decorate the interior of the soft lit shop. Sitting a good amount of people on couches and tables with a kind of Parents basement feel. I had a coffee, black. It was awesome.
Ipsento Coffee- This was one of my favorites. In Bucktown, this place is awesome. Extremely knowlegable passionate baristas, awesome unique coffee experiences available, and foods called The Mark Twain(a breakfast croissant) and Homer's Hummus Plate. Had an amazing triple espresso. Plus one real hot barista never hurts.
Filter- back in Wicker Park. This place was huge. I loved the atomsphere(the most my feel). Fun lit walls and plenty of seats everywhere. I felt out of place without a Laptop though. Everyone at every shop along the way was way to plugged in...but this place it almost seemed required. Black coffee for me and then we were off.
Dark Cloud (Urban Coffee Lab)- in Lincoln Park(the to do kinda nieghborhood). This spacious place was slow when i walked in but you can tell they're new and most likely get jumping nights and weekends. Very cool sleek interior. Very unique coffee experiences and really nice guys behind the counter. By this point I was jumping off the wall loaded with caffiene so I had an OJ(sad face).
Kickstand- in Boystown. A tiny but cute little place. Again way too plugged in...I like to meet people and chat at coffee houses. There's not much of that here so far. By this point I was way too hyped and everything is a little blurry lol but I remember thinking I need to go back to this place. After one damn good espresso we were out!

I was jacked the rest of the night...literally shaking and jumping around the house lol, but it was amazing day. I'm learn my way around Chicago based on coffee shops.
Ordered my first delivery later that day!!! Carreno's Pizza from down the street. Awesome!!!!! get the cheezy fries!!

until next time

living the dream(thanks for the tweet erin)
-dustydink

Day One.

so after a 14 1/2 hour drive give or take a few a hours i'm here.
i live in chiacgo!!!!
(back to the drive) awful...never wanna make that drive again! things i'm over because of it: MOUNTAINS!!, indiannapolis, falling rock(just the one) signs, snomisting, detours, red blinky creepy windmills, scary death stops, and Chicago's covercharge.

i got in after midnight here (after one my time) PS I'm an hour younger!!! and was immediately welcomed by josh and spencer(roommates) in the street at Black Rock(bar two doors down from my place). then parked showered got dressed and headed to the bar within 10 minutes of being in chicago. later, drunk, i got to bed about 4am (5am my old time).

i just woke up now in Chicago!!! beautiful day outside...not sure what to do with myself. having coffee and watching tv discussing plans for the day with Josh. spence went to church.

so far plan is brunch then IKEA. i need to unpack my trunk still. Charissa(my singing blonde disney friend that lives here now), tyson(her husband), josh, me and spence unloaded the interior last night after the bar.

day one!!!
couldn't be happier in life and feel so at home already. ready to see where my place is in this city and still aspiring to be a big deal(it'll happen).

until next time. thanks to all my friends for the texts and calls and posts of support. I'm here.

(holding my coffee high) Cheyahs to showing up to my life!!!

with much joy
-Dusty Dink