Last Cup at Hattie's

I've been home about an hour after I drank my last cup at Hattie's Cafe--my last cup ever. They're closing this afternoon, for good.

"My" chair & table at Hattie's

Hattie's has been part of my daily routine for quite a while now. They open at 8 (well ... sometimes it's more like 8:05ish, which can be a problem on these cold days), and I am usually the first customer. I sit on a high stool by a little high table, right against the north windows, and there I do the same things every morning: read the New York Times on my Kindle, check my email (their wireless is not totally reliable), check Facebook to see who has "liked" the posts I did before I came over, read 100 pp of a book I'm reviewing for Kirkus Reviews. I drink two cups of Hattie's coffee, have fun with the manager and servers (Dan, Amy, Sandy, Chrissy, Matt, Amanda, and others), and eat a scone I've made at home and sneaked in with me. I take a calcium/Vitamin D pill (part of my regimen now that I'm "enjoying" Lupron injections to retard the progress of my prostate cancer).

I'm usually done by 9:45 or so, and home I go to do in my study the other work of the morning.

Hattie's is the fourth coffee shop I've "closed" in Hudson in the past decade or so: Saywell's (which used to occupy half of the Hattie's space--Joyce and I habituated that place for about twenty years), Dave's Coffee (down Main Street, north a little--near the Learned Owl), Caribou (now Peet's, whose ambiance I abhor--I don't go there), and now Hattie's ...  Am I the Curse of Coffeeshops in Hudson?

Afternoons--about 12:30-2:30--are for Starbucks, whom I'm not likely to drive out of business.

It's been sad, the past few weeks, watching the inventory decline--shelves growing empty--watching workers move on to other positions. I bought a couple of Hattie's cups (see photo above) for souvenirs; then, today, just before I left, they gave me another one. In this case, three's not a crowd. I said good-bye to each of the workers today; Sandy, a special friend, hugged me hard, and both of us had tears in our eyes.

I walked home in the snow, expecting to have to shovel the walk when I got there--but Joyce had already done it! (Marriage rocks!) Inside I went to mix and bake some maple-pecan scones.  The only question: Where will I sneak-and-eat them now?

Bruegger's Bagels down on Rte. 303 (Streetsboro Rd.) is a possibility (a likelihood?): It's only a little farther to walk. But it won't be Hattie's. It won't have the history, the view (see below), the people I've come to care about very much.

RIP, Hattie's ...

My view through the east and south windows in Hattie's.