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Monthly Archives: June 2019

Idea Coffee

Have you ever watched one of those movies where the heroes accidentally stumble in to some kind of strange, seemingly perfect utopia where you’re not sure if it actually is a utopia or if there’s some kind of secret behind the sweet facade? That’s kind of what happened to me. Not that I was doing anything heroic, mind you, just trying to get caffeine in my system. Still, in the process of looking for the coffeehouse that Google Maps swore was in the middle of nowhere, I happened upon a world apart at the end of one of those winding country roads of Central Pennsylvania. As I’m typing, all of this takes place about a month ago. A month before this post becomes a post that is.

The coffeehouse I ended up at was Idea Coffee, and as you will shortly see it’s not really a house or even much of a building yet. It is, however, smack in the middle of a town square of sorts. A town square that doesn’t really belong to a town, but to a brand new suburban development named Arcona. That name’s just ominous/cool enough for me to like it. I also happened to arrive during the beginning of a torrential downpour! I scurried around the large, fancy restaurant called Thea’s (yes, the same Thea’s that’s run by chef AnnMarie Nelms from Sophia’s at Walden…who also owns Idea!) looking for the little dot that Google Maps insisted was in fact the coffee spot.

Thankfully, I was rescued by the guy who runs this joint (and apparently literally built it) named Trevor who took pity on the loner in the midst of the square grubbing for coffee. The coffeehouse is a cool little silver shed-thing with a colorful awning over it. I just asked for whatever the medium roast was (Idea is its own roaster I think). The coffee was solid for sure; it had a savory element to the taste and mouthfeel was pretty creamy. Good stuff to come find after that aforementioned long country drive.

Another cool thing about this area is that it’s home to a Spring Gate Winery expansion! It looks like they’re branching out to this community too. Indeed, it looks from all accounts that people are endeavoring to bring a little bit of the city to the country. I’m all for that; I love the college-town ambiance with or without the college. All you need is a community with creative souls and people looking to the future. Arcona seems to have all that. And also a good supply of coffee.