I always say that friendliness pays off

Nearly every day when Jess and I go on our walk, we come home with a good story. Some days we only walk to a nearby suburb, grab a coffee, and come home. But other days we set out with intentions to tackle some giant hills and trek far away. The other day was one of those days. We wandered about an hour away, winding through Ponsonby, St. Mary's Bay, and Herne Bay. As it rains nearly every day this time of year, finding a cafe usually serves multiple functions since we're usually wet and wind blown in addition to caffeine deprived by the time we get to our destination.

But yesterday was warm and sunny, so we ended up hiking a little farther than normal because it was just so nice outside. When we happened upon a cafe, we figured we'd better go ahead and have our coffee if we were going to make it home before dark. Jesse experiments with lattes, cappucinos, and flat whites, but I'm a flat white girl all the way. So delicious.

Obviously the people here are known for their friendliness, but that word just isn't adequate. The guy at the cafe who took our coffee order was just the happiest, most friendly person you can conjure up in your head. And then another guy brought me the most delicious flat white. We sat outside at a little table, and when the coffee guy came back out for something, I asked him if he was the one who had made the flat whites. When he replied that he was, I said, "This is just delicious. Best flat white I've ever had." He looked surprised and said, "Oh really? That might just get you another one for free!" Sure enough, when we'd finished our coffees, he offered us a second, and we happily accepted. The wind picked up and cloud cover moved in, so after the second coffee we packed up and headed home. We'd left home at about 2pm, and we finally got back home at about 5:30. Good trip. St. Mary's Bay is darling.