Everyone has a Starbucks around the corner. How many of you have a coffee house that you have been visiting for over 25 years? One where you remember going to for a latte with your girlfriends, after aerobics class, still dressed in your leg warmers and Reebok's? Or when you were unemployed, a place to hang out and read the want ads for hours....Well, the Pannikin is that place!
The Pannikin was the original Encinitas Train Depot, built in 1888. In 1975 it become a charming yellow coffee house, with delicious teas, freshly roasted coffees and awesome baked goods...
This morning I met Janie, Panini Girl for coffee, and we reminisced about how LONG we have been coming to this special place. Besides selling its own blend of coffees, they sells lots of coffee and tea paraphernalia, and for many years it was the home of a wonderful art gallery...
Outside, there are colorful Adirondack chairs strewn all over the lawn...families come with their dogs and their kids pretty much run wild. Sometimes there is a line of 20 people outside the door.
Mostly what the Pannikin is a local place where people can come, run into their neighbors, or their 20 year old daughter's kindergarten teacher, and feel at home.
With times being the way they are, I think we all need to find a place in our community that welcomes us.... a home away from home. I hope you have a special place like this where you live.
If you do, make sure you support them.
