The thing that makes a great coffee shop is that it makes you feel like you are at home without actually having to be home. It provides you with comfy chairs and couches. The temperature is just right, but you don’t have to pay the energy bill. It’s a place that you can invite your friends to, but you don’t have to make sure it’s clean before they get there. You get to drink yummy coffee and eat fresh muffins, but you don’t have to make them. There are people and noises around you, but they don’t require your attention. There are dishes to wash, but you are not allowed to wash them.

A good coffee shop feels like home with all the amenities but without the responsibilities. Therefore, the award for best coffee shop in the entire world has to go to The Looney Bean in Bend, Oregon.

The Looney Bean is a house that was converted into a coffee shop. The door less bedrooms, dining room, and living room are all fitted with couches, tables, and chairs. They are little nooks within the whole of the coffee shop. The kitchen is, well, the kitchen but of course it doesn’t look like a kitchen in the traditional home sense. A black chalkboard menu hangs from the ceiling, a display case of pastries decorates the front counter, and espresso machines and other coffee making necessities take up the rest of the space. The inside of The Looney Bean is fantastically cozy, but the best part is definitely the outside.

The outdoor seating area is in the backyard. This gloriously long backyard tumbles out on to the Deschutes River and is full of tall shady trees and patios tables and chairs. It is by far the best place to sit in The Looney Bean.

The first time we went to Bend it was for a concert. We had been married for seven months and Jenny and Johnny, Bright Eyes, and Death Cab for Cutie were all playing in the same concert. We drove twelve hours, out of state for no other reason than to see this concert.  I spotted The Looney Bean as we were wandering around town and made Ashley go in with me. I got far too loudly excited about how awesome the place was while we were in there.

This time around, Ashley suggested we go there first to make sure didn’t miss it. We sat outside with our Latte and Chai, and Ashley, the perpetual critic, declared it his favorite place in Bend.  If the photo of this yummy scone, coffee, and river view aren’t enough to convince you to go to the Looney Bean in Bend, Oregon, let his opinion be.  It’s truly a home away from home.

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Time Travel Thursday is when we go back in time and talk about favorite travel experiences from the past.  Basically, it’s Throw Back Thursday, but I pretend there’s a TARDIS involved.