Tuesday, May 8, 2007

First I want to apologize for going off on the traffic here in Branson. I hit a couple of bad examples and I guess I let the frustration go yesterday. I meant to talk about some other things not just the traffic so I will take this opportunity to do so.

In previous blogs I have mentioned that coffee shops are few and far between here in the South.  Well I still see this to be true but I have had a little luck in the last few days.

After not seeing any coffee shops in Branson I finally did a web search at the Starbucks.com store locator and found that there are two in Branson. One is on the North side of town at the Target shopping center.  I have not been there yet but know about where it is. The other one is located on the strip (Highway 76) at the Music City Centre. Now I had passed by their fully a dozen times and never saw it. They do have a big sign out front but the strip is lined with all kinds of attention getting signs and other devices that it actually gets lost in the clutter. For example there are at least two full sized airplanes sticking out of a building or mounted atop some poles plus plenty of splashy looking buildings and marquee's that keep your eyes distracted.

Anyway I have been to the Starbucks inside of the Music City Centre and found it to be like most other Starbucks nice and pleasant inside.  However, I do prefer the unique coffee shops that I usually find out on the Left coast of the country.

This is only a little aside, I will tie it all up for you in a moment. I like a good cigar from time to time. I don't like the kind you can buy at your local stop and shop. I prefer the kind you have to go to a dedicated cigar store for. Well today I did an internet search for a Branson Cigar Store and I found one called Bob's Cigar Box. I got the directions and went looking for it. When I was in the vicinity of the address I was stopped at a stop light and while sitting there I looked a few shops down on the cross street and saw a Cyber Cafe named Click N Sip.

Now I haven't seen a Cyber Cafe in years. So I pulled on in and got myself a cup of JO and asked the operator for directions to Bob's Cigar Box. I found out that the Click N Sip was under new management and that it's new name is Studio.11 Coffeehouse. I now have found me a place to stop once in awhile during my stay in Branson for a quiet cup of coffee and if I want to surf the internet I can.

By the way, if you want to learn more about the Studio.11 Coffeehouse which is located at 607 Hwy. 165 Ste. 4 in Branson and you can visit their temporary website on myspace.com here: http://myspace.com/studio11_coffeehouse

While at Bob's Cigar Box I chatted with one of the owners, Phil was his name, and come to find out he used to be a web programmer in the early days of the internet. In addition to chatting about cigars we talked about our early years building websites.

Well I just wanted to share this with you today after telling you all about the horrible traffic Branson has on my post yesterday. I hope this was a little more enjoyable.

I need to go because it has been a month or so since I had a really good cigar and I want to kick back and enjoy one.

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