#12 Dick's (not a coffee drive thru)

I just realized that there are lots of "drive thrus" in Seattle, hamburger ones that is. So this may turn into a hamburger / coffee drive thru - shack, whatever blog. Why not? Dick's was recommended by my sister who has been in Seattle for almost 3 years. Super easy to find, close to the U of W and smelled great! How cute is this place?

They have a really simple menu and people seemed friendly enough BUT unfortunately, they do no customization of burgers! Simply put, if you want a plain burger (nothing on it) you can't have it at Dick's. I was with my pregnant sister - in - law who just cannot stomach anything on a burger (not even a small bit of ketchup and mustard). I was also with my brother - in - law who has an allergic reaction (puke) to mayo or anything that might resemble mayo. We were so sad to leave Dick's but had to because they couldn't help us out! Perhaps the car companies could learn something from them? Less variation in their product pushes you to buy what's available? Well - we didn't. We drove right down to Kidd Valley on 50th Street and got just what we wanted. You're cute enough to come back - maybe next time Dicks!

#11 By the Way....

Yup - this is really called BY THE WAY. By the way, can I please have a cup of joe? This is located right by the highway in a non-descript pseudo parking lot. Never a long line here (1 or 2 cars at most) and although they don't offer drip coffee they make a good Americano. My brother - in -law who just loves vanilla steamers ordered one here. He claims it's the best he's ever had. He's from Indiana so just keep that in mind :).

Small Americano and Small Vanilla Steamer $3.50ish

#10 Big Foot Java

The name says it all. I had to stop at this place as it looked to great to pass up. Besides I drove by it 3 times before I figured out which exit from Hwy 5 I had to take to get to it - it's exit #151 as you head towards

Tacoma. I've seen these before in the Federal Way / Renton area too. Good service and lots of choices for Italian Soda. One of my passengers ordered a Vanilla Italian Cream Soda and loved it. I splurgged since it took some work to get to this coffee drive thru and had a cappucino instead of my usual drip. My spouse and I agreed it was a very good cup of cappucino.

Small Cappucino $2.95

Small Italian Cream Soda $2.25

#9 Fremont Coffee House

Last day of Music Camp. The kids and I really enjoyed the week and also the chance to explore Fremont. What a great place! Music Camp was a terrific experience. I couldn't believe how hard all the kids and faculty worked this week, the final performances today was just AMAZING. The day got started right at the Fremont Coffee house. My sister told me about this place and I came earlier in the week, but parking is a bit tricky (no lot just street parking). I got lucky today and was able to find a spot right in front (about 8:10AM). This is a cute house with no cell phones allowed - yipee! A nice quiet place to read the paper and enjoy a good cup of coffee. I also got a croissant, which I shared with my kiddos (aren't I nice?). Croissant was just OK. Coffee was good. Service OK - not overly friendly but adequate. My guess is that this place is a local hang out.

Bye Bye Fremont - see you next year at Music camp as we will be back for sure!

Medium 12 oz. drip coffee $1.80

#8 Organic Espresso - Fremont by the Bridge

You know I'm fairly new to Seattle. I've only been here since the monsoon month of November last year. Driving around I quickly realized that there are so many coffee shacks and I find them all too cute. However, this week my kids are at music camp and we are in Fremont everyday. Wow - lots of coffee places there. Organic Espresso is where I visited today. No line, quick service and they even gave me a chocolate covered coffee bean which was placed on top of my lid. Just eat it quickly as it melted (coffee was hot!). If you're not into that "organic" stuff - I'm not quite there yet - these guys had a really tasty cup of joe. Maybe there is something to all that organic stuff?

Medium Drip with milk, $2.00

#7 Yellow Coffee Shack Drive - Thru

Climbed Little Si today. Our hiking book says this is a moderate climb - I completely disagree. It was hard! 2.2 miles to the summit (4.4 miles back). Great hike and not too sunny either. This coffee drive -thru, called New Dawn Espresso, is very yellow and right by the hike. Too bad I was so thirsty for water instead of coffee or I would have stopped by to see if their drip is better than Dunkin Donuts (which was voted best coffee in the U.S. recently).

#6 Cnpecco Kanny4nho - Moscow

The last coffee shop during the Russia trip was in Moscow. Great coffee, cute mugs (I bought 2 of them) and located at the Arbat (shopping area). They had cute black with red piping t-shirts, but none for sale. They really should sell them as I would have gotten one for sure. Guess what I ordered? Cappucino of course! # 2 for the day. Paid in rubles - can't recall how much. It's Moscow so I probably paid $10 US for it! That place is expensivo...

#5 Ctapbak in Moscow

This is Starbucks in Moscow. Unfortunately our swift tour guide didn't allow us to stop for a good 'ole drip here. It's certainly a place to check out next time we're there. This one is close to Red Square and the Kremlin. Not many of them around - saw none in St. Petes.

#4 St. Petersburg, Russia Coffee Sign

Coffee sign and cappucino in St. Petersburg, Russia. Paid in rubles - can't seem to recall how many rubles. Great cappucino you gotta have at least 3 / day while vacationing, right?