Encinitas: Where People Are Even Nicer Than Canadians.

I've been too much of a homebody. Clearly.

I failed at the whole "getting out of the house and working from coffee shops" bit. Working from home keeps me chained to my laptop at my dining table. And that's sad. And it's also no one's fault but my own.

So I haven't discovered all of the awesome coffee shops in my city.  And there are quite a few. And I got to meet up with a new friend at one of them today, finally...

Pannikin.

I had driven by Pannikin a number of times. It's a cute old building, with a pale yellow exterior and white trim. It's off of the Coast Highway... And I could walk to from my rental.

But I never have.

It's very popular on weekends with the "Brunch Crowd." The tables always looked crowded, and the line extended outside of the building, beyond the outside seating.

"I'll visit it eventually," I would promise myself.

Inside, it's easy to see that it used to be part of an old train station. And it's that history that made me immediately fall in love with the space... The wooden floors and benches.

But, there was also the menu board... With it's list of caffeinated libations named after prominent artists.

There were two that caught my eye... But one I wanted to know about first..

"What's in the Keith Richards?" I asked the barista.

"That's four shots of espresso in hot chocolate," he said.

"I'll take it!"

BOOM!

Now, typically I loathe mochas. They're too "chocolatey" in my opinion. But with four shots of espresso... It was a perfect balance.

My "caffeine drinking buddy" ordered the same thing as well.  (TWINSIES!)

We sat and chatted about self-publishing and digital writing. It was good to finally meet someone I'd been chatting with for a while through social media. There are so many people I've met in this area through my social network connections!

Even though there isn't wifi at Pannikin, I will definitely go back. In fact, I love that about it. It forces me to actually disconnect (except for from my phone). But it's not like I can sit there for hours writing away on the Internet from my Macbook. The space facilitates conversations. You could tell who the regulars were at the place by the way they were sitting at different tables and chatting at each other.

"It is so different than the East Coast," kept going through my mind.

People are nice in Encinitas. In fact, I would argue that they nicer than people in Canada (who are a super nice society).  People in Canada are very nice and helpful, but not outwardly friendly. It takes a few conversations to break the ice and form a connection (in my experience - though perhaps that is just Toronto). But in Encinitas? People will meet you, have a conversation with you, then hug you as you leave. 

And even though I am a digital extrovert, I am an introvert in real life. But the way Encinitas flows... It works well for me.