Tag: Coffeehouses and Cafés

I’ve been back on my café and coffeehouse hopping of late, revisiting places I’ve hopped past before to see what might be new, and dropping in to those I’ve not previously covered.

One of the latter is The Palm & Quill, created as a hang-out for lovers of the night by Luella Moonchild. An expansive beachfront location, it offers a warm welcome to all who happen to drop by.

Welcome to The Palm & Quill, a magical coastal hideaway tucked along Solstice Shore, where the coffee is cosy, the ocean views are dreamy, and there’s always a little corner waiting for you. Come wander through the café, settle in for co-working, lounge by the pool, gather around the bonfire under the stars, or slip down to the beach when you need a softer kind of escape. Whether you’re here to work, socialize, daydream, people-watch, or simply exist beautifully by the sea, The Palm & Quill is open for you.

– Palm & Quill Destination Guide Entry

Situated in the south-west quarter of a Full private region using the Land Capacity bonus available from Linden Lab, The Palm & Quill is a multi-functional setting, combining indoor and outdoor spaces in a pleasing mix with plenty of room to wander around paths and trails.

The primary points of interest within the setting are the main café and the outdoor Moonwater Lounge. These bracket the Landing Point, which itself appears to be an open event space.

The café is an airy converted beach house overlooking warm sands on two sides – but do be aware that the region boundary runs through these sands, so don’t try going for a barefoot wade! Do, however, try to avoid swatting away the little flying saucers – we don’t want any upsetting of the Vl’Hurgs, after all (not unless you happen to have a very small dog with you, that is! :D)†.

The café can be split into four areas: on the ground floor is a large and comfortable space with mixed seating carefully patrolled by the resident cats. Through a bead curtain is a co-working space with a focus on creative flow, and which shares the rest of the ground floor with a small space offered as a spiritual retreat. Upstairs is a more social space forming a galleried mezzanine overlooking the front café / coffeehouse area.

The Moonwater Lounge has its own bar and mixes cosy sofa-style seating with pools of water for social gatherings and relaxed conversation.

There’s space here for whatever mood you arrive with. This space Is – a place for connection, creativity, and shared moments; a coastal retreat to unwind, explore, and be present; a welcoming space for kind, curious, and community-minded people.

– From the Palm & Quill description

Those who are seeking quieter moments, there’s seating on the beach, a winding walk around and over the sandy dunes to the summer pavilion with the camp site alongside it and, a little beyond this, The Palm & Quill tree house.

With an in-world group available for those wishing to keep abreast of events at The Palm & Quill, activities are also promoted via Primfeed, making staying up-to-date on things easy.

Best seen under the star-filled Shared Environment, being a place intended for social night owls, The Palm & Quill is a super café / coffeehouse setting.

† Yes, another Douglas Adams reference. What can I say? I still love the man’s genius!

Slurl Details

• The Palm and Quill (Solstice Shore, rated Adult)

I was led to Frog’s Garden by the redoubtable Sam Rougefeu (Dodderi Haifisch), after he pointed to the setting recently on Twitter. Sam is, like me, an avid explorer of Second Life and he records his explorations and discoveries via his blog Exploring Second Life – and if it’s not on your reading list, then I suggest it should be 🙂 .

Frog’s Garden is the work of Kaoru Darkstone and occupies roughly one sixth of a Full private region exercising the additional Land Capacity bonus offered to such regions by Linden Lab.

Although occupying the south-eastern corner of the region, and so open to the sea on two sides, the setting keeps just its eastern end open, drawing a curtain of vertical cliffs around the other three.

Doing so is actually to the setting’s advantage, allowing it to come across as a tranquil setting far from the pressures of the world; a place where travels can rest and recharge their batteries.

This is place of gentle contrasts, from the rough, shingle shoreline to the cliffs with their tumbling screens of water and the streams and pools to which they give rise, all of which shelters groves of tree, blankets of flowers and grasses and meandering paths.

Within it, as well, are three physical places to spend time, each of which gently contrasts with its two neighbours.

The first of these is the large, modern café. Such is its prominence, I’ve opted to use it as the Slurl Landing Point for this article, as none appears to be set or enforced within the parcel.

The other two are, by turn of the footpath leading away from the café, a Shinto shrine sitting within its own grounds and tucked back into a corner of the setting. Close by, but sitting behind its own dry stone wall in a little need of repair, sits a small vegetable garden, most likely growing fresh produce for the café.

Of the three, the café offers the most comfortable place to relax, with both indoor and outdoor seating. The temple forms a nice retreat, although it might be a little disappointingly empty for some. However, in his piece, Sam does point out it is a memento from a now-closed location in SL, so its currently condition perhaps shouldn’t be critiqued too much.

Which is not to say the café is left as the only place to sit – there is a table and chairs out at the little open-sided barn at the vegetable garden, and some other little spots are to be found through the simple act of wandering.

This is a place for careful exploration, as there are a lot of details which might be missed – I’ll leave to find the tiny waterside shrine and the deer tucked away among the trees for example.

The shoreline here is not one for sunbathing or paddling; whilst there is a path running down to it, the shingle and rocks are all fairly rough and liable to be indifferent to the comfort of bare feet. However, this actually adds to the attractiveness of Frog’s Garden, as nature can be indifferent to our needs, and not very stretch of coastline is necessarily sandy.

That said there are perhaps a couple of rough edges to things here and there: the base on which the café sits could be a little tidier and one of the bridges is perhaps a little oddly placed. But these are very minor grumbles.

The one thing the parcel could benefit from, however, is a Shared Environment which brings out more of its natural colour and depth. After initially taken some shots using the default environment, I did find myself switching to one of my personal EPP Day skies; should you visit Frog’s Garden, you might want experiment with your own EEP settings.

Frog’s Garden is a charming corner of Second Life rich in detail and ideal for those who love café hopping around the grid. My thanks to Sam once again for pointing me towards it!

SLurl Details

• Frog’s Garden (Enchanted Falls, rated: Adult)

Over the past few years I’ve enjoyed occasional visits to [REN], an engaging parcel designed and held by Noa (Noa Cloud) in western Nautilus. For much of its existence it has been curated as a tranquil haven of imagination, a place to visit and appreciate, witness art or relax within on your own or with friends.

More recently, and due to physical world commitments, Noa has had to scale back on the overall size of [REN], reducing it (for the present, at least) to some 4,350 sq metres. This is more than enough, however, for [REN] to become the home to Café Bar Manoaya and to continue to offer a quiet retreat.

The café sits within a Japanese summer house set little back from a beach of golden sand, a ribbon of sunflowers hydrangea and wildflowers separating the one from the other. A terrace and flagstone steps form the public connection between the beach and café, with the terrace given over to cats and rabbits rather than the more usual tables and chairs to help maintain a feeling of space to breathe.

There is a gentleness to the parcel which helps encourage that since of peace and freedom to relax. A path circles the café,  passing by way of a cluster of small waterfalls dropping gracefully into a rock pool to where tall curtains of bamboo have been pulled across the cliffs behind the café to soften their granite faces.

There is a raised platform at the back of the café for those who prefer sitting outdoors, green tea and shaved ice fruits treats waiting to entice.

More cushions for sitting outdoors can be found tucked between the rear wings of the café, and while it is possible that some of the feline patrons might either object to a human presence there – or demand payment by fussing them in return for intrusions into their garden space. However, two of them at least appear to have found a focus for attention which might preclude their interest in any human interlocutors (although the subjects of that attention probably wish this were otherwise, and the cats in question would indeed find more interest into and humans happening to sit down here!).

My favourite aspect of the setting, however, is the octagonal summer house on the east side of the the land and set slightly further back from the beach than the café. Within it can be found a kind of sanctum sanctorum for a multipotentialite whose interests encompass lepidopterology, national histories (notably South Africa and France) marine life, gemology and music. And there is something utterly relaxing in sitting there and listening to the cello music (whether or not you opt to try the cello yourself!).

Taken as a whole, Café Bar Manoaya and its surrounds make for a charming visit.

The same is true of a visit to The Java Bean Café, albeit for different reasons. Created and operated by Katie J. Ronas (Katrina Flowers), it is located on the central southern coast of Corsica, close to the waterway running up from Chopsaw to Skains. Despite the general sense of bustle to the area, it is a peaceful haven keeping itself tidily separated from any possible hubbub of boats arriving and departing the moorings just beyond its south wall.

Surrounded on three sides by waters flowing into it via a corner channel alongside those moorings, The Java Bean Café uses a curtain of maple, weeping willow and other trees as well as the noise-deflecting walls to offer a sense of cool detachment and peace from the more general goings-on beyond its boundaries.

A large deck extends out over the shallows of the waters to the front of the café, not as a place for small boats to come alongside (the entrance to the cove in which The Java Bean sits is guarded by a large semi-submerged rock to discourage this anyway) but to offer patrons outdoor seating and the opportunity to play table-top games or simply watch the floating lanterns drifting between the lilies guarding the waterside edges of the deck.

The café occupies a large, predominantly wooden framed and sided structure with large windows, high ceilings and skylights giving it a light, airy feel which encourages a sense of ease and desire to get comfortable with a really good coffee – particularly in the four deep armchairs ranged before the large stone fireplace (which would likely be a popular spot in winter!), whilst the back room presents a space for larger visiting parties to enjoy.

This a setting focused very much on the idea of a café being a social centre; a place to come to and spend time together without feeling the need to explore or to distract. True, there are the games out on the deck – but these don’t have to be be played; those who wish to to can sit at them, chat and watch the frogs hopping and round the lily pads and the dragonflies flitting around, deftly avoiding the attention of any of those frogs who might might be eyeing them as a possible snack.

Rounded-out by a summertime soundscape of singing birds (and croaking frogs!), The Java Bean is nicely presented and cosy.

SLurl Details

• [REN] & Café Bar Manoaya (Strutter, rated Moderate)
• The Java Bean Café (Papercut, rated Moderate)

In July, I visited The Boathouse Café, a charming setting designed by Sorcha Tyles under her Dutch Pavilion banner (see: More coffee and photos in Second Life). Well, Sorcha has been busy!

Paging through the Destination Guide I came across an entry for Outpost Bay, sitting within the region hosting The Boathouse, and which at the time of my last visit has been a private space for Sorcha. So, intrigued, I had to pop over and have a look.

Listen to the gentle sound of waves and birds as you take a peaceful stroll down to the beach and relax by the vintage changing huts. When you’re ready, wander into the cosy Concept Store to pick up a fresh coffee, breakfast, and something good to read. Settle in at a table on the deck to enjoy the morning sea breeze, or head over to the lighthouse and take a boat out on the water. Outpost Bay is a warm, rustic place made for slowing down, unwinding, and living in the moment.

– Outpost Bay Destination Guide Entry

One of the things I really appreciate with Sorcha’s designs is how she can take a relatively small space and turn it into something that is inviting and encouraging of visits.

The Boathouse Café, for example sits on 3120 sq metres; Outpost Bay is barely bigger, sitting on a 3136 sq metre parcel. Yet both are visually impressive and photogenic, carrying plenty of detail without either parcel ever feeling overcrowded.

Given the two locations are within the same themed region (and sitting just across a water channel from one another), they share something of a similar look, both in terms of the flora and the buildings present on them.

This is not a critique: by using the same flora and similar architecture, Sorcha creates a sense of continuity flowing between the two islands – and with the rest of the estate. It also suggests that both islands were developed as little places of commerce around the same time, the buildings sharing ta wooden construction style as they were built around the same time and shared the same readily-available materials in the form of the trees growing on them.

With Outpost Bay, the main building was once a warehouse-come-seafood market, the original signage conjuring images of fishing boats coming alongside and their catch going from boat through cleaning to sale.

Now, however, the building serves as a café-come-store (do note that the doors are phantom, rather than opening, so just walk through them). It’s a little tired inside, to be sure – perhaps a statement to its frequent use – but there is more seating outside on a wooden deck for those who prefer.

The one exception to the dominance of wooden buildings in both settings is the tall white tower of Outpost Bay’s lighthouse. This looks out over a rocky corner of the island which might cause boats passing along the channel between it and the next island over.

With the lighthouse and café located on the east side of the island, the rest is relatively open as a wild garden which partially surrounds the cafe’s deck before giving way to a cosy beach alongside a short, rocky length of coastline.

The sands of the beach is patrolled by godwits and watched over by ibis whilst offering humans a place to relax and enjoy the summer Sun.

There is a main path wandering through the setting, and it does so in a manner intended to reveal rather than simply lead, winding out from the cafe’s deck it gently reaches out to the lighthouse and the beach, allowing people to gently explore and discover many of the little touches Sorcha has placed around the setting.

In all – and as I noted with The Boathouse Café – Outpost Bay is an utterly delightful setting with a lot to offer for those seeking to relax and those wishing to take photos. Individually or taken together, these are locations well worth visiting.

Slurl Details

• Outpost Bay (Moonlight Bloom, rated Moderate)

In my previous Exploring Second life piece, I wrote about Storywood Sanctuary, noting that it is one of two settings located in the Mainland continent of Heterocera designed by the Wild Abundance team. The other of these locations is The Swaying Shelf, sitting a little further to the east along Mock Heather Road, and which I also recently visited.

Around twice the size of Storywood Sanctuary, The Swaying Shelf contains themes and motifs in keeping with the former whilst offering its own character and nature.

There is no set Landing Point, but a pair of tree houses (the excellent Yara Treehouse by Cory Edo) sit close to the roadside, one of which acts as the entrance from the road – just climb and descend the steps. As this delivers visitors from the road to the setting’s footpath, I’ve arbitrarily used a SLurl in this piece which will drop you more-or-less onto the same spot on the footpath.

The path forms a loop around an arbour on its opposite side to the tree houses.  Draped in vines and with grass for a carpet, the arbour sits as a cosy reading room complete with rocking chair and blazing fire in the hearth.

Pointing eastwards, the path, lit by lanterns – the setting had its own day / night cycle – makes its way past another tree house, this one atop a tree apparently growing out of a storybook, before weaving its way to where a gate provides access to the Greenwitch Cafe.

Whilst larger than Storybook Sanctuary, The Swaying Shelf is more open in nature, just the one path winding through it and most of the land is give over to trees and flowers. Which is not to say it is not without its own little details worth looking out for; in this regard, do be careful where you tread when you’re approaching the gate to the café next door.

Sitting in a parcel of just 1024 sq metres, The Greenwitch Café sits just over the region boundary from The Swaying Shelf.

As a part of The Nature Collective, the café has been designed by the extended Cerulean family under the Le’eaf & Co banner. This talented group are responsible for many such builds beautifying corners of Mainland, a good few of which I’ve covered in these pages, as well as operating the Cerulean estate, which I’ve also written about several times.

Savour garden-to-table meals in a queer-owned, cannabis-friendly café nestled in the Lake District, surrounded by forest and blooms. Everything is grown on-site — from herbs to healing plants. A cosy, magical LGBTQIA+ friendly retreat.

– Greenwitch Café About Land description

Apparently utilising a converted shipping container as its structure, the café offers outdoor seating on the wooden deck placed before it and on its roof, there latter reached by a set of outside stairs to one side of the deck. Additional seating for visitors sits just to the right of the entrance gates in the form of a small pergola neatly and cosily set with furnishings and décor.

As the About Land description and signs on and around the café make clear, this is a place to enjoy a drink or two and nibble on something sweet or savoury – or which may well give a person a certain buzz, shall we say.

The Landing Point sits between between the sweep of Mock Heather Road and the gabled gates providing access to the café’s grounds, it being only a few steps from the gates to either the café or the pergola.

Bees and Silkies – Chinese silk chickens – are cared for here, and it’s easy to assume the honey produced by the former finds its way into and onto some of café’s offerings. Eggs from Silkies are known to be especially rich in favour, so its likely some of these also find their way into the cafés kitchen – although Silkies are often kept as much for pets / exhibition birds as they are for their eggs. Towards the back of the land is a neat little area with pagan / occult-ish vibes – and with a neat little twist on the idea of Tarot cards.

Surrounded by tall fir trees and wild grasses, the café also shares its space with the local squirrels – do be careful where you tread on the deck! – whilst a barn owl keeps an eye on all that goes on. I admit to finding the parcel’s Shared Environment leaning a little towards the dim side and so played around with the Sun position to brighten things a little (rather than playing with the HDR slider), but that’s purely a personal thing.

Taken individually or as a joint visit (no pun intended given the nature of the café!), The Swaying Shelf and The Greenwitch Café again demonstrate how small corners of the Mainland can be turned into welcoming little spaces for people to freely enjoy.

Slurl Details

• The Swaying Shelf (Itame, rated Moderate)
• The Greenwitch Café (Notata, rated Moderate)

It was sort-of back on the road in Mainland for me after catching a Tweet from Hico Spicy concerning her Hi-Café, tucked away on the northern arc of Heterocera’s Route 3. This is an utterly charming little corner of SL, lovingly packed into less that 1,500 sq metres to present a restful environment rich in colour and with a sense of fun, ideal for relaxing within and take photos.

With the rainy season at hi-cafe over, the season has shifted from hydrangeas to sunflowers! I hope you can enjoy the full-on summer atmosphere

– From Hico’s Tweet

Set a little back from the main road, the café / bakery offers its own bus stop, with two entrances to its garden space, the smaller passing by way of a newspaper and magazine stand to the one side of the building, and a larger one complete with a greeting to the regions the café is both with and faces, whilst leading to the other side.

Being effectively double-front in design, the building – which is of Hico’s own design and available in her Marketplace store – naturally lends itself to something of a mirrored setting, with brick-edged paths bordering it to either side which are in turn bordering by long, rectangular ponds.

The footpaths contrast nicely with the paving of the courtyard within which the café sits, whilst the trees lined up between each path and pond provide welcome shade.

The setting is surrounded by brick walls, giving it a nice sense of calm and separation from its surrounding without feeling overly enclosed. Even the tall viaduct-like bridge marking the back of the setting fits well with the scene, both blending with the trees and providing an arched space before which an aged tree grows, bench seating and a busker’s music stand under its spreading branches.

Given the paved nature of the courtyard, the majority of the trees have been trained up through tree grates which are also home to many of the sunflowers that give bright bursts of colour to the place, and which can be found in brick-built planters and the brick-retained front garden space.

Further depth is given to the setting through the use of signs and advertising boards, splashes of graffiti on the surrounding walls and the richness of the décor in and around the café. I couldn’t help but smile at a lot of the signage, such as the chalkboard noting that Our coffee is an experience that chalk is unable to convey.

Cats appear to be the overlords here as well; they keep an eye on things from various vantage points, and one appears to be prepared to help out in cleaning up dropped ice cream cones – although admittedly, the cherry which presumably once topped the ice cream is the centre of his attention.

A cosy, memorable place to visit – limited rezzing for photographic is available via joining the local group, but please do clean-up when done!

Slurl Details

• Hi-Café (Sprawler, rated Moderate)