Blackstone Coffee, Part I

Nursing School has kept me busy since late August (even though we had "Quake Break" for a week, we still had assignments to work on)... and will keep me very busy for the next couple of weeks.  With that in mind, I didn't want to just let my blog sit on the back burner, like giblets simmering away on Thanksgiving.  Instead, I decided to combine school and the blog by visiting a coffee house and enjoying some food while consuming endless knowledge from my Pediatric Nursing text book.  Who knew that the growth of an infant was so complex?

Today, I decided to pack up my books and head around the corner to Blackstone Coffee.  This was not my first visit here, in fact, I met the owner while I was still promoting tourism for a local government.  Don and Paula Merritt are wonderful people... the kind of people you want owning and operating a local gathering place.

You can visit Blackstone Coffee's website to learn all about their history, or their Facebook page to check out all the cool things going on. 

Blackstone Coffee started out in the outskirts of Fredericksburg, (not quite in the City proper) with a really tiny shop and a great roasting operation.  Today, that location is still used to roast all of the coffee beans they serve and sell in their new cafe in Eagle Village, just across from the University of Mary Washington campus in the City of Fredericksburg.  The new cafe has plenty of seating for groups to meet, students to study, and live music performances.  You can purchase coffee beans or ground coffee to make at home, as well as a great deal of beverage options to enjoy in the cafe.  There are also a number of food options from special New York City bagels, quiches, pastries, desserts, sandwiches, soup..... all made by Chef Elan.  Future plans include adding a wine bar and related food.

Today was a nice break from the stress of school.  My fellow classmates can agree that this week back from "quake break" has been a bit stressful with skills check-offs, tests and quizzes.  It was nice to know that today, all I had to do was study.

To make the studying more enjoyable, I stopped in at Blackstone and ordered a breakfast sandwich and a medium roasted coffee.  My breakfast sandwich consisted of eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese, served on a toasted croissant.  I really enjoyed it.  The only time I ever splurge and eat breakfast outside of my house is when we are driving somewhere and stop at a Sheetz gas station for food.  (Don't get me wrong, Sheetz is pretty good at making fast food... better than most of the fast food options out there).  Eating at Blackstone was a real treat.  I could taste the freshness in the croissant.  The cheese was a much better grade of cheese, and my bacon was cooked to perfection, not a crumbly mess.  The eggs were better than fast food restaurants, but you can tell they are pre-cooked eggs.  At the same time, usually when places use pre-cooked eggs, they destroy them in the microwave.  My eggs were perfect!  Still nicely moist.  Overall, I really enjoyed my breakfast.  I don't think I could enjoy it more here at home... especially because I'll have to do so much work... mess up some dishes, actually cook the food, and then clean up my plates afterwords.  I will still make it here at home, but for this meal, it will be better enjoyed at Blackstone. 

I can't wait to go back... and maybe next time I'll get dessert for breakfast. 

Thank you for reading!