BJ's Coffee in Molalla is our favorite local hangout. It is Noah's first choice for a place to go for breakfast. The owner, Mary, knows our names, and always welcomes us with a warm smile. She also knows that Noah will want coffeecake and 'coffee water' when he comes in. She knows that Steph will want a breakfast sandwich, and she knows that I will want a 20 oz. mocha. She always has to hold Emily, and often parades her around the coffee shop. It is a wonderful little hangout... and the coffee is good, too.
Noah's favorite spot is a corner booth with a Mediterranean mural painted by Mary's daughter, Kristy. The mural is of a bayfront scene with houses, boats, fishermen, and even a little coffee shop right along the waterfront. Steph once asked Noah where on the mural he would want to live, if he could choose. He pointed to a window right next to the little coffee shop and said, "If I lived there, then I could walk to the coffee shop". :-)
BJ's Coffee is located kitty-corner from Safeway -- a Safeway that just opened up a corporate giant 'coffee counter' (I won't utter their name here) inside the store. This is not good for our favorite little coffee shop. Sure, the corporate giant does make a good cup of coffee, but we really don't need them in Molalla... we already have good coffee shops -- including BJ's, which carries only locally roasted coffees that are Fair Trade Certified.
While I have been known to purchase coffee from this corporate giant, I refuse to patronize the one in the Molalla Safeway... and I urge anyone who may be passing through our town to do the same. Don't settle for sipping your coffee in the middle of a supermarket... make the 30 second jaunt over to BJ's Coffee... it is well worth the walk.
