A Lutheran Seminarian @ Wired Beans Cafe

Photo credit: Mom of Three Photography

While doing reviews isn't usually my thing at "It's Only a Northern Blog," my first visit to Wired Beans Cafe was an amazing experience and I just had to write about it.  Since I got to Philly a year and a half ago I've been looking for my "third place," a place that isn't home or school that I can belong to.  Unfortunately though, I hadn't found much luck... Infusion's hours weren't very good, Chestnut Hill Coffee came off to me as very pretentious (and way overpriced) and Starbucks was well, just a typical Starbucks.  While I occasionally would venture out farther for a good coffee shop, I never would have thought of going much farther down Germantown Avenue.  I'm sure to be over-generalizing a bit here, but I'd say that there's an unfortunate notion on campus that venturing much farther down the avenue than the Acme (at least on foot at night) for entertainment can get a little dangerous.  That may just be my own thinking, but at any rate, it never crossed my mind to check out the area.  A couple days back though I was looking at Google Maps and saw Wired Beans.  After checking out a couple reviews I was pretty impressed... the prices looked amazing, and it was recently voted the best coffee shop in Mt. Airy.  That really peaked my interest, so I decided to check it out.

It was warm out last night so I decided to walk over after hitting the gym, and all the reviews turned out to be absolutely correct.  The place had an extremely welcoming atmosphere, someone's child was playing at one table and there were Obama organizers meeting in a corner of the shop.  After grabbing a three dollar macchiato I sat down and got to work on an independent study I'm doing this January.  The coffee seemed good enough but after giving the menu a glance I was even more impressed... the sandwich selection was awesome and omelets were only five dollars!  Soon though I got distracted from my work by the folks setting up for an open mic poetry night (which I found out they have weekly Thursday @ 7pm).  As the place filled and people gathered around the microphone, I realized that work probably wasn't happening, so I pulled my chair over to listen for a bit.

The host opened up with a thought provoking and humorous poem about serving coffee, but it was the second poet that absolutely blew me away.  She began by reciting passionate lines about society not living up to the dreams of Martin Luther King and then followed up with a heartbreaking poem about loosing her young son to the great oppressions and injustices many face growing up in Philadelphia.  Before I had to leave I listened to another man's poem about Malcom X.  As I headed out the door I knew I had finally found my "third place" in Philadelphia.  There was a lot to love at Wired Beans Cafe... the coffee was good, the price was right, the atmosphere was welcoming.  Most of all though I really appreciated the sense of community I felt there.  Wired Beans is a place where folks of all different backgrounds, colors and economic situations can meet in true fellowship.  From a Christian perspective, it's the type of table fellowship spoken of so often but rarely experienced.  I highly suggest you check Wired Beans out, and as for me, I'll be heading back tomorrow morning for that omelet.

God's peace,
Dustin