About Coffee and Coffee Mugs - Part 2

More of my coffee mug collection

Last night I dreamed about coffee and woke up craving a cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain. Of course, I don't have any of that coffee now, but I still remember the taste from 22 years back when my husband and I took two vacations to Jamaica. We wanted to go to the most exotic locale that we could afford. Fortunately, the young travel agent at AAA told us about a trip he'd made to Jamaica and before we knew it he'd booked a trip for us.  We had so much fun on our 4-day trip that July (over my 36th birthday) that we went back again the following November for a whole week. Both vacations were great!

Anyway, the trips I'll save for another post, but let me say that Jamaica Blue Mountain is the best coffee I've ever had in my life. Both vacations we brought back several pounds of  Blue Mountain at the then price of $8.50/lb. We put it in the refrigerator and saved it for weekends and special days. Now it costs around $38.50/lb. (at least that's what I found on the net this morning), so it doesn't fit our fixed-income budget at the moment. But that doesn't mean I won't end up buying some down the line. On the other hand, it would make a great Christmas present, hint, hint.

Back when my husband and I were both working, before he retired, our budget allowed us to try different coffees. We even joined a coffee club, Gevalia, a couple different times. One Christmas my brother bought us a gift pack of a dozen different coffees. They were all great! Other times one of my sisters-in-law brought us back some Kona Coffee whenever she made a trip to Hawaii. So good. I can still taste that one too. Plus, our daughter and her new husband brought us back a pound of Blue Mountain when they went on their Honeymoon Caribbean Cruise. Don't we have the best daughter in the world?

Now I just stick with 100% Colombian. It's a good every-day coffee and I can drink several cups a day without breaking the bank.  So I sip my Colombian and dream of other coffees now and then.

This morning I lined up some of my coffee mugs for a quick photo op. I snapped a handful of pics which I'll add to these coffee posts. Like I said yesterday, each coffee mug has a memory attached. So this morning my mug is the one from Busch Gardens with the elephants. I'm remembering a trip there with our daughter, when she was young enough to still enjoy vacationing with her parents. When she got into her late teens I think she didn't want to be seen with her "crazy" parents, but that too is another story.

I look at this coffee mug and also think of the few times as a kid that I got to ride an elephant. Mostly I remember doing that at Knotts Berry Farm in southern California. I ask myself now what elephants were doing there? I wondered if the elephants minded carrying little kids around on their backs all day long. I remember that I told mine that she was beautiful and  petted her thick neck. I like to think she didn't mind giving me a short ride. I have pictures of that particular elephant somewhere in my "treasure chest."

I think tomorrow I'll have my coffee in a Planet Hollywood, Key West, mug. Then I can day-dream about our many Key West excursions through the years. I uncovered a couple of those old photos the other day. We were defintely younger and sexier back then.  Hmm! Where did all those years go? I swear it was just yesterday! (Read more on Part 3.)

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