I bought a bike a few weeks ago.
Ordinarily, that wouldn't have anything to do with anything I would write here. Except that when I asked people where to get a bike they gave me a couple of suggestions, including a new place called Outdoor Waco. I ended up buying the bike from one of the big box sporting goods stores because the bike was cheap and I have no real intention of becoming a cyclist. I just kind of want to ride a bike every now and then. I'm not a 21st-century outdoorsman, though I do have a beard and like to spend time outside.
I play golf and if you think about it, there's not a whole lot of crossover between golfers and rock climbers or hikers. If I'm going on a hike, it's most likely going to be on the links in St Andrews, Scotland, where they don't allow golf carts.
For those of you who have persevered to the fourth paragraph of this blog, press on. I'm about to get to the point.
People kept talking about Outdoor Waco in the context of a place where they just happened to be going to hang out. This made absolutely no sense to me except for the fact that it made me wonder if there wasn't something else going on here.
As it turned out, there is something else — a coffee shop. Outdoor Waco features the Trailhead Coffee Shop, which has now been added to our restaurant directory in the Coffeehouses category.
What's even more interesting is that my coffee snob friends have said some very nice things about it.
And I found something that kind of applies to my golf world. I have this aversion to playing golf with people who are terrible at golf. If that makes me seem like a jerk, then fine. But a fulfilling round of golf is a delicate creature, which can be derailed quite easily by someone who lacks refinement in the fundamentals and etiquette of the game. Yeah, I am a jerk.
Anyway, I often recommend that terrible golfers take up disc golf. This is for two reasons — 1) disc golf is more amicable to beginners and 2) I have to find some way to get them out of the way at the real golf course.
That's why Gabriel Mahan is my new buddy. He was working the Trailhead counter when we discussed the merits of disc golf versus golf. As it happens, he's the Waco disc golf version of Harvey Penick (bonus points if you get that reference without having to Google it).
In the interest of finishing this blog with something related to restaurants, I've noticed Trailhead has quickly become a go-to location for some of my coffee shop friends. I know my artist friend Erin Dobbins has added it to her rotation and I bumped into another good pal when I stopped in this morning.
We have a number of new coffee shops coming our way, so kudos to Trailhead for getting here first.
