Shopping in the Square

After a week of 20-chapters-a-day editing to meet a tight deadline on a book about coma, I gave myself the day off and decreed that Saturday would be devoted to Christmas shopping in Kennett.
Fortified by a lunch of quesadillas at La Pena Mexicana, we ventured uptown to The Mushroom Cap as our first stop. Kathi Lafferty, the owner, couldn't wait to tell us the latest about the Mushroom Drop, scheduled for New Year's Eve. On her iPad she showed us a photo of the seven-and-a-half-foot tall, 700-pound stainless-steel mushroom, which will be lowered from a crane at midnight in the middle of town. Kathi's unsure how many people will attend the celebration, but to her delight and surprise it has attracted national media exposure. She's heard people are planning their New Year's festivities to include it.
Kathi's enthusiasm is contagious: I usually stay home on New Year's Eve, but I hope to be there to witness it, even if requires an afternoon nap.
Our next stop was the Market at Liberty Place, which since my last visit has added an organic fruit and vegetable vendor, Terra Foods. Their produce looks lovely, and if you need quail eggs, now you know where to go.
Also at Liberty Place there was also an impressive display of artwork by the Kennett High School Arts Honor Society.
A few blocks east, we stopped in at the Bayard Taylor Library and watched a demonstration of the library's new 3D printer, the Maker Bot.
After all this excitement, feeling the need for caffeine, we went to the new coffee shop, Philter Coffee, at 111 West State Street. The place has a friendly Seattle vibe to it (tempered perhaps by the Jim Graham photos of the Cheshire Foxhounds on the wall), and it seems to have developed quite a loyal following already. The House Blend coffee was hot and delicious, and we were fortunate enough to get a seat at the front window, a great spot for people watching. We had a front-row seat for watching motorists trying to parallel park their really large vehicles. The parking enforcement officer was vigilantly patrolling State Street checking meters (just as one couple left Philter, they spotted the meter guy approaching their vehicle and raced over).
As we walked back to the car (we took advantage of the free weekend parking in the garage), we actually saw a few flakes of snow. I'm glad we -- and lots of others -- didn't let the ominous wintry forecast discourage us from enjoying a pleasant day in town.