Espresso Yourself in Newport

This past weekend I traveled up to Newport, PA. I was coming up to visit a former coworker of mine, and I remembered that this cafe was up here. Actually, I've known about it for some time, and I think I may have visited it once in the past, but it was a few years ago at best. What's interesting is how Newport has become sort of the Mecca of New Age culture in Central PA. Espresso Yourself seems to be an epicenter for it. I came on a music night-they have those every few Fridays-but you'll have to Google them for the schedule.

Newport's in the middle of Perry County, which doesn't exactly have the reputation of being either progressive politically, or the center of an art scene. I beg to differ. It's not right in your face, like the dozens of galleries in Harrisburg and Camp Hill, but if you drive along Rt. 15, you'll find that a lot of the small towns along the road and back in the hills are really starting to take the initiative and create their own artistic life. It's called the "Byway of the Arts" apparently. Who knew? Well, now I do and so do you! To be honest, I really like this kind of town because it proves that you can find nice little artsy towns east of the Susquehanna River. I love running across an isolated small town that makes itself a center of culture.

Oh, another cool thing is that someone up there puts out this magazine called the Holistic Health Networker. Seems to be a small operation, but the magazine distribution does get as far as Camp Hill, just west of Harrisburg. It's very New Age/Holism friendly!

Coffee: Three and a half mugs.

Atmosphere: Four mugs.

Here are some pics...

That's the entrance...

Here is the rack of teas...

And that's the interior on a quiet afternoon.

Ratings revisited

I just decided on a new system for rating future coffeehouses. I'm still rating on the same dimensions, but the actual rating levels are changed. Instead of the descriptions, I'm using rating by "mugs" (kinda like "stars" or "diamonds"...except they're mugs). Scale will go from a rating of one-half mug (for utterly horrific), up to five mugs for a place that is the paragon of what a coffeehouse should be. Well, there it is...I'll be updating my former posts soon, so watch for it.