Heading Back East, and 2 more cafes!

We left Denver a few days after Easter. Our first order of business was to make sure that each morning when we woke, we would be able to find WiFi so Libby could teach. Through a combination of public WiFi (thanks McDonalds!) and an internet hotspot that we had checked out from the Denver Library, we were able to make that happen.

We were able to meet up with Libby’s sister Aly & her husband Parker for lunch in St. Louis at a hipster burger joint called Mac’s Local Eats. Our friends Rob & Katie joined us as well. We even got to see some of the renovation progress at their new house!

After that brief stopover, we headed on to Shelbyville, KY to stay a couple of days. Spark Cafe had opened just a quick drive from there, so it was the perfect opportunity to visit family and check off another community cafe! Nellie, Mark and Caelin joined us for the field trip over to Versailles (pronounced ver-sales). Interesting fact — almost all of the white oak barrels that are used to age bourbon are produced in either Versailles, KY or Versailles, MO. Well, at least I think it was interesting! 😉

Spark was the 40th community cafe that we visited since we left SAME over a year ago. This cafe was started as a result of a high school class project that one of the students just couldn’t let go. As a result of Tristin’s temerity as well as the dedication of Andy, his teacher (both of these folks were working the day we visited without notice), there is finally a place in Versailles that people who are experiencing poverty can dine with dignity.

Upon leaving Shelbyville, we headed further south to Knoxville, TN. We had another “odd job” there that we had committed to — we were babysitting our friend Mary’s 2 year old son for a week! You may remember Emory from such past posts as Take it to the House Mountain or Knoxville a.k.a. Emoryville. Josh and Mary were going on vacation and needed help with their little guy, and since we didn’t have any other obligations, we volunteered. We did our best to keep Emory entertained — we went to story time readalouds, splash pads, the Knoxville Zoo, the Knoxville Art Museum, several parks. We even took a 3 hour road trip to meet our friend Marisa and her kids in Roanoke, VA!

We learned a lot from Emory over that week. Mostly we learned how 2 year olds can be just as set in their ways as the rest of us! After Mary & Josh returned and we had a chance to catch up with them and hear about their trip, it was time to get back on the road. We had the chance to see yet another Cafe that had recently opened, this time in Wytheville, VA.

Wytheville is a smaller town, fewer than 8000 people in all. But like a lot of the small towns in the south, there is a significant number of people who have no idea where their next meal is coming from. Open Door Cafe opened last November in an effort to feed those folks, as well as to offer a healthy meal to anyone who wanted to come inside. They ask for an $8 donation, but will accept any amount. Volunteering is also an option to pay for a meal. While we ate, we visited with the staff there and heard about the experiences that they have had in the months since they opened.

(We have written a more in depth account of our visit to Open Door on our new website — read it here!)

From Wytheville it was a short but beautiful drive south to Boone, NC. We will be spending quite a bit of time there this summer, filling in at F.A.R.M. Cafe so some of their staff members can take some time off. There are certainly worse places to spend time!

Back to Denver

We made it back to Denver just in time for the annual SAME Cafe Gala fundraiser. This event is the largest fundraising night of the year for SAME, and we try not to miss it! Once again, Libby and I made a dish that we served as we visited with those who attended. This year that number climbed to well over 400! There was a lot of excitement this year around the launch of the SAME Cafe Food Truck, and the Gala night was its official unveiling.After the Gala, we settled into our friends’ Lakewood condo and tried our best to keep smiling through all the snowstorms that Denver decided to throw at us throughout March and April. There were a few normal storms, but then there was something new that forecasters coined a “Bomb Cyclone“, which is apparently when tornadoes happen during blizzard conditions. Fun Stuff!In order to keep from getting too stir crazy from a lack of driving our normal 100+ miles each day, we involved ourselves in lots of projects. Despite the snow, we had the chance to catch up and assist in projects along with several of our Denver area friends and family members. While we were in town we helped build a couple of tiny houses, painted a full-sized house, installed a dishwasher, laid a bamboo floor, and changed out several light fixtures. We are building up quite the odd-jobs portfolio!Besides all the work, we found time to hit up a couple of Escape Rooms with our friends Mary, Kim & Matt. After 7 rooms we still have a perfect record! Easter fell during our Denver time and we had visits from several members of the Birky family over the holiday weekend. The weather was much more cooperative at this point!

One of the major reasons that we stuck around Denver for so long was the opportunity to join several of our fellow Beanstalk Foundation leaders for a first-ever retreat. Over a long weekend, 10 of us came together at the Colorado Springs Glen Eyrie retreat center. We laughed and cried together, shared some of the best and worst moments of our organizations, and generally helped each other to recharge and focus. It was an amazing experience that went beyond what we had hoped for, and we came away truly inspired.