A local attraction is a very unique little coffee house named Flora's.
Flora's is not your usual coffee house like Starbucks or other chain places but totally one in itself. It has a bohemian flavor to it, almost reminiscent of the coffee houses of the Beatniks, or the coffee houses that were popular in the late sixties and seventies by the said "hippies". It has an open mike poetry night and a night just for women. It has almost as many different flavors of coffee as Baskin and Robbins has of ice cream.There are wooden benches and tables surrounding the front and one side of the old building that houses Flora's so people can sit outside if they wish. The inside is two rooms besides the kitchen and counter and wonderful different statues and artwork decorate both rooms with heavy wooden tables inlaid with mosaic centers and wing back wicker chairs with embroidered cushions of all kinds of designs.
Some of the tables have little pull string reading lamps for the customers who chose to read or study.There are the skeletal remains of a very old upright piano against the wall in the back room with a few ivory keys missing and the rest yellowed with indiscernible age. Music ranging from jazz, mid-eastern, blues or classic plays softly through the speakers discreetly hidden from sight. A book shelf dominates one corner of the room with paperbacks and hardbacks of any type for the reading pleasure of Flora's patrons. The voices from the tables are usually low and soft and anything can be discussed.Flora's is a local neighborhood gathering place from the very young adults to those who still remember similar times of their youth.
The patrons of Flora’s are as varied in range as the different patterns on the table. In one corner of the front room, two middle aged men of mid-eastern descent are playing baccarat Their attention is focused totally on the game while yet, a light conversation passes between them, interspersed with an occasional chuckle of laughter. There seems to be an easy camaraderie between them.At one of the center tables, a young man reads a local paper, while sipping coffee from a paper cup. Steam is still rising from the Styrofoam cup, its contents black and thick.
He must have chosen the Ethiopian without the lightening of any milk. His dress is casual and neat as it would appear he was going to or coming from a retail job. The music inside Flora’s is momentarily drowned by the whirl of a bean grinding machine and the hum of the cappuccino machine as it dispenses steamed milk.The brewing coffee on the multiple-pot coffee maker creates a strong pungent smell that is a pleasant odor and befitting of the casual atmosphere of Flora’s. The front door opens and a small bell at the top jingles as a new customer enters the establishment.
This is a young woman dressed in the classic black of the Gothic group and she smiles warmly at the female clerk who greets her at the counter. She speaks her order in a soft tone and is answered with a nod from the clerk who prepares her order.
