Coffee Talk

I love to travel. I think one of the best things about traveling is having the opportunity to discover new and interesting restaurants and cafés. Two of my favorite places to visit are bakeries and coffee shops and I look for unique places wherever I go. They vary so much from town to town and it’s fun to see what each one has to offer. Many independently owned establishments have a local flavor and charm that you won’t find in a larger chain.

Coffee Talk in Stone Harbor, New Jersey is one of my favorite coffee shops. It’s been around for 17 years and is still the best place in this quaint little beach town to grab a great cup of coffee, a light breakfast and perhaps some conversation with the locals. On certain days you might find a new artist performing at the cafe. In fact Taylor Swift spent many summers in Stone Harbor with her family and played acoustic shows at Coffee Talk. Dave Matthews has also been a visitor at Coffee Talk. It’s a special place to a lot of people.

The atmosphere in Coffee Talk is very welcoming. The décor is eclectic and the café has tables and chairs, and cozy couches, offering a comfortable place to dine or relax and unwind. Free Wi-Fi is available for those who would like to access the internet, always a good thing.

I love how the walls are covered in old newspapers. There are so many interesting things everywhere you turn. You really need to stop and look around to fully appreciate the great interior of this cute little place.

The owner of Coffee Talk, Madlynn Zurawski, and her staff are friendly, knowledgeable and on the ball.  They are ready to greet the crowd when the doors open and they have a great system for ordering and pick-up, including a quick serve station right inside the door for those who just want to grab their coffee and run. For those with a passion for flavor, Coffee Talk has a wonderful variety of infused coffee beans for delicious flavored coffees like Bananas Foster and Sugar Cookie. Of course if you are a latte lover like I am, there are all of those drinks too!  My go-to is a small sugar free vanilla latte with a double shot. I call it my morning power dose.

Everyone has favorite places. Whether they are in your own town or in your favorite vacation spot, they are the places where traditions start and places that become part of your favorite memories. I have a handful of favorites in Stone Harbor and Coffee Talk is one of them.  Maybe it’s being at the beach and coffee just tastes better there. Or maybe it’s just that it’s a comfortable place with the perfect atmosphere to chill out. Whatever it is, Coffee Talk is one of those feel good places that for some reason I look forward to visiting. So if you are ever in Stone Harbor, visit Coffee Talk. You’ll be glad you did!

visit Coffee Talk ~ 299 97th St ~ Stone Harbor, NJ 08247 ~ 609-368-5282

Photos by Leslie Reese

Sea Glass

I feel very fortunate to live in a place where I am able to enjoy all four seasons in a year. Each one is different and each one has something wonderful to offer.  Summer is a time for freedom, lighter schedules, family vacations and days at the beach.  Some of my most cherished memories are summer memories. It’s a time when little things like taking a walk on the beach become something that you hang onto forever. For me, searching for sea glass was one of those little moments that ended up turning into so much more than a walk on the beach. If you have never heard of sea glass or you are wondering what is so great about it, I’ll tell you why it’s special to me.

My four sisters and I are lucky enough to have parents who fell in love with a little beach town on the eastern shore of New Jersey called Stone Harbor. For well over forty years we have been traveling to Stone Harbor to spend weeks at a time enjoying the town, the beach and most of all family. It has become a place that holds some of our happiest memories. We are all parents now and it has been fun watching our own children enjoy the time they spend with their cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Now Stone Harbor is also a special place for them.

I’m not sure exactly when it started but a number of years ago my sisters and I started picking up sea glass while we were walking on the beach in Stone Harbor.

Sea glass is basically broken glass from old bottles or glassware that is weathered by the natural elements over time and ends up hidden in the sand on the beach.  The cool part is that there is some real history behind sea glass. Certain colors, like turquoise, are very rare and hard to find. Some of the glass that is found dates back to the 1800’s and could have been anything from a whiskey bottle to an ink bottle. It’s fascinating.

Searching for sea glass has become something everyone in our family loves to do. It doesn’t matter if you are on a walk with other people or you are running alone. You are usually looking, at least part of the time, for sea glass. It has sparked interesting conversation and created investigation into what each color might mean. At times it has been an unspoken competition, trying to find the most glass or the first cobalt blue piece of the summer. For years, three of my sisters were convinced my sister Lisa and I had a secret sea glass spot because we seemed to find so much of it when we were together. It was a coincidence but we played along. Our kids collect it now and as a matter of fact I think my niece Jillian has found the best piece yet . We have enjoyed all that searching for sea glass has turned into. For us it’s about family.  It’s about being together. It’s about the little things and the memories that are created. For us it’s so much more than a walk on the beach.

Photos by Leslie Reese