Coffee on the road

During our occasional travels, Julie and I have increasingly sought out local, independent coffee houses for our daily espresso fix. Early on, we'd just take the easy coffee route and head for the nearest Starbucks, but as that chain has steadily declined in quality we've begun to look elsewhere. Here's some good ones we've found.

Java Joe's, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Just blocks from the beach, where the ravenous seagulls will be more than happy to rip your scone out your hand if you're not careful. Java Joe's is tiny but comfortable (despite the tight space, we were still able to wheel in Maddie's stroller when she was a baby and park it next to the couch) with plenty of local flavor.

The Green Sage, Asheville, North Carolina
We overnighted in Asheville on our most recent drive to and from Hilton Head, and were quite pleased to find this place. Very organic and crunchy-granola kind of place (even for bohemian Asheville) with very good espresso and great baked goods.

Perkfection, Jeffersonville, Indiana
Espresso here was so-so (though much better than I expected in small-town Indiana) but the food was pretty good. A pleasant stopover during a long car journey.

Mocha, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Our most recent discovery, and definitely one of our favorites. Great espresso, fine baked goods, plenty of comfy chairs, a nice urban feel and big street windows for people-watching. (Regarding the latter: most of the people in the Westown neighborhood on weekend mornings seem to be female joggers, for some reason. Not sure where the guys were, other than maybe sleeping off the previous night's bender.) 

Drink Coffee, Sister Bay, Wisconsin
When we visited this shop in 2001, it was called DC Coffee and was under different ownership, so I can't really vouch for its present incarnation, but back then the espresso was very good and the cherry scones (cherries being the leading fruit crop in Door County) were wonderful.

Kick Coffee, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Again, another shop which appears to be under different ownership than when we visited in 2001, so I can't totally vouch for it, but it was good then and has a great location in downtown Sturgeon Bay, doorway to the Door County peninsula.

Cafe Julia, South Haven, Michigan
They brew coffee roasted by Intelligentsia. And have a porch with rocking chairs. Enough said.