I'm a librarian(!), and this is the first I've heard about LibraryThing! I learned about it from one of my very favorite bloggers, Susan Wise Bauer, who recently discovered that she has a LibraryThing page.

Sometimes I'm not entirely sure which direction this blog is going, but I kind of like it that way. I appreciate the wandering nature of a blog. Perhaps I should amend this to say... if we choose to wander on our blogs, we certainly may! And speaking of wandering, I just returned from vacation in Northern and Central California with the love of my life (always nice to have on a road trip). We were headed up the 101 (wine country!), on our way Monterey, and then on a whim, we decided to take G16, a particularly winding road (although we had no idea how winding and curvy it would be, so that I finally had to insist he pull over so I could gag in the grass).

On our way back to Riverside, we took a breathtaking drive down Pacific Coast Highway, stopping off at Point Reyes (utterly beautiful!). Then we cruised on down to San Simeon, where we decided to stay the night and visit Hearst Castle the following morning... also not part of our original vacation plans, which was fine with me.

So we went to Hearst Castle, and the way this ties in with Riverside is that architect Julia Morgan, who worked with Mr. Hearst to design his ivory palace, also designed the Riverside Art Museum just two buildings down from the Main Library. Perhaps you already knew this? I remembered hearing about it, and then tucking it away. But having seen Hearst Castle for the first time yesterday afternoon, I'm going to make a point of taking a leisurely walk through the museum upon my return to the library.

There's a new coffee company in town—The Riverside Coffee Company—and it just happens to be located on the second floor of the Main Library (next to The Mission Inn). Readers, I tried out their coffee for the first time last Thursday and could hardly believe my taste buds! I thought it was incredibly delicious, and so I made a point of asking the owner, Andrew Freeman, to divulge his secrets. Well… maybe one or two.

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AF: It's high-end coffee. The coffees we normally use are Lavazza and Illy, and comparing the two is like comparing Ferraris to Mercedes. They're both high-end, they're both exotic. As far as aroma, body, consistency, and acidity goes, they're great tasting espressos. We don't get into the full-body coffees the way Starbucks does because they're just way too bitter, way too acidic.

DM: I heard a rumor that you guys outsell the two Starbucks on the CSU Fullerton campus.

AF: Oh yeah. Our other location is MJ's Espresso on the Fullerton campus, and actually there's three Starbucks down there.

DM: Three Starbucks!

AF: Yeah, and we do pretty well. We're open six days a week down there.

DM: What else can customers at this new location look forward to in the near future? I know you've got plans!

AF: We're working on a lunch/snack menu, but with less of a vending feel. I want to offer healthier options. I don't want to do the Sam's Club muffins. I know a lot of places do that but I think it's tacky. We're going to move it to the next level. I've been doing this a long time. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but I have seen so many places come and go.

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A girl of about 10 walked up to the counter. "My mom wants to know if you take credit cards," she asked.

"We don't at the moment, but we will in about two weeks," said Andrew reassuringly.

For those of us who rarely carry cash in our wallets, that could be dangerous.

Their website, www.riversidecoffeecompany.com, should be up and running soon.

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The Riverside Coffee Company's hours (subject to change):

Mon thru Thurs
11:30 am - 7:30 pm

Friday
noon - 4:30 pm

Saturday
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Sunday
noon - 5:00 pm