coffeeneuring challenge 2015:7 -- parisi cafe, leawood, kansas

I know, I did it on a day when I also I worked. But I only worked a little bit. And I wanted to get in a coffeeneuring ride while I was traveling on tour, so here it is. Count it or not. I certainly do.

The synagogue where I sometimes visit in my work is in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. I have a very nice arrangement with the senior rabbi here; since I visit periodically, he has allowed me to store a bicycle here so I have something to ride when I come to town. I built up the bike a couple years ago, a refurbished bike that had been abandoned at the synagogue in Portland where I used to work, and shipped out to Kansas last year. It's nothing fancy, just a cheap mountain bike that I "citified" slight with upright bars, friction shifters, fenders and a rack. And a cool Carradice pannier I scored cheap. When I come and teach here during their summer program, I also have the use of a trailer to haul my guitar and music back and forth. The trailer is now on semi-permanent loan since the family's youngest child has outgrown it. When I'm not using it, it lives in a back room at the synagogue. (How cool is that??)

So today, when my meetings were done and I had time before meeting a friend, I took a couple hours and rode from the synagogue over to Park Place, which is technically in the neighboring community of Leawood. Leawood is what happens when you take perfectly good farmland and turn it into a suburb. A suburb with building codes (all the big box stores are tan. Really), gated communities and pop-up islands of urban cool. It's a strange thing to one who is unaccustomed to this kind of development, but apparently it's not uncommon in cities without a UGB (Urban Growth Boundary).

So I rode up the gloriously wide sidewalk (no bike lanes along my route) and went in search of coffee that did not suck.

I found it at Parisi Cafe in Park Place.

 The coffee was hot, fresh and amazingly delicious, so good I probably didn't need to add cream and sugar but since I like my coffee "regular" I went ahead and got it that way. Strong without tasting burnt, A nice rich aftertaste, and best of all it went very well with dessert.
Plus, they gave me a break for bringing my own cup, which helped take a little sting out of the sales tax. (In Oregon we have none. We probably should, but don't get me started.)

Oh my goodness, dessert. A Chocolate cake that was so thick and rich without being overly sweet.
Fantastic mouth feel. So dense I had to eat it very slowly, but so yummy I wanted to eat it all and did so without a shred of guilt.
If you find yourself in Leawood, and you need good coffee, go here.

I returned to work for a meeting that wound up not happening, then rode home to my homestay.

Total distance covered today was probably close to five miles, with the coffee being a good two miles from home. It's probably the only bike ride I'll get in while traveling, since thunderstorms are due in the morning and my friends here don't like it when I ride in their rain. Their rain often comes with lightning.

So "officially" I've got my seven rides in, but will likely just keep adding more until the deadline, just for fun. And coffee.
Happy riding.