Bike Racks Are the New Smoking Section
I canceled my parking contract last month as an added incentive for me to bike to work. So that’s a monthly savings of $85 plus gas, minus whatever it costs when I wimp out and pay the ramp’s regular rates. (I’m a big baby about cold hands, and I’ve got no idea how to gear up for rain or snow, so my wimpiness will be mostly weather-dependent.)
This morning, I had to run a couple of errands, which meant pulling into bike racks, all of which were located right next to the outdoor smoking section. This is actually pretty common, now that I think about it. All over the city, bikers pull in and out of clouds of smoke when parking their bikes.
While my lungs don’t take long to clear once I’m gone, I can’t help wondering if the result is kind of like what would happen if all the cars in the city were riding on tires low on air pressure.
Plus, it’s just damned unpleasant.
Dogwood Coffee Co. in Uptown
The Dogwood Coffee Co.’s Coffee Bar in Calhoun Square is an unusual coffee shop. It doesn’t have a door; you just walk up to the bar. It turns out to be a nice place to sit and have coffee, though. The sunny seating is great—and the coffee is fantastic.
I tried the single-origin espresso (for $2.50 instead of $2 for the regular espresso), and it was the best cup of espresso I have had in Minneapolis so far. Not a trace of bitterness or sourness, just velvety smooth espresso. If you aren’t sure yet whether you like espresso, this is the place to go for a pure cup.
As an aside, I don’t know where this trend started of serving a cup of sparkling water with an espresso, but I like it.
Source: dogwood-coffee-co-review
Beautiful shot of downtown Minneapolis.
(via jaysomething)
Source: Flickr / juddfurlong
