NC day one

the flights down here were pretty horrible. cramped seating,drunk moms, screaming children. but being greeted by my mom at the airport was good. i was so happy to see her and her partner. got back to her house to see that the kitchen had been completely remodeled with solid marble counter tops and stainless steel everything plus bamboo flooring. very posh and very comfortable to snack in!
we woke up friday morning with the intention of a) getting a good cup of coffee and b)taking care of the business i came down here for.
the first part was a lot harder than it sounds. i really wanted to go to this place called 3cups, that i'd never been to before ( check out their website www.3cups.net). it sounded and looked exactly what i was looking for in a cup of coffee. unfortunately they were closed. boo! then my mom recommended that we go to shadetree coffee on erwin road, which looked like it was permanently closed. boo! so we walked over to the building that she works in to the coffee shop they have on the bottom floor. port city java. upon walking, i noticed their fully automatic e(X)presso machine. i order an organic sumatra coffee. it had no syrupy body whatsoever. it was bland and i dont think that they used the standard 2 tablespoons per 6 oz of water rule. boo!
we gave up on getting coffee and focused on records and thrift stores which this area has a plentiful array of, but stumbled upon parker & otis where the old fowler's grocery used to be. the lady working the coffee bar had a great knowledge of the counter culture coffees and sold me 4 1/4 pounds of different coffees to take back to pittsburgh.she also made me a cappucino which was very tasty but the milk was steamed in the old way, not the microfoam way and was a bit dry for my liking. but eh. i was satisfied after having looked allover for a decent cup all day.
after dinner at watts grocery, an all local foods restaurant on broad st., we went to caffe driade for some coffee after some more record shopping. the guy behind the counter suggested the tanzania in a press pot and i took the bait. it was really delicious. it was light in body and mouthfeel, with some really nice floral aromatics. some serious dried apricots and cherry flavor notes with a robust tobacco note to finish. a great cup of coffee. i almost walked away with the tiny 12 oz bodum they had handed over to me, but my guilt got the best of me. it would have been a great souvenir from the day that coffee was not to be had.
later we discovered that we had missed a public cupping @ the counter culture roasting works earlier in the day. for that i am kicking myself, but now i know what to look forward to next time i visit: avoid coffeeshops in durham, full stop. only go to driade and go to the cuppings @ CCC fridays @ 10am.