And Embarrassing Story That Actually Won’t Haunt Me Forever.

I went to an art festival with my artist friend (Clever Cottontail) in this quaint little town kinda known for their charm. When I was walking around and exploring, I noticed on the street that we walked up to get to the market, there were a few places that looked like maybe AirBnBs and then a house with this sign in front of it.

Now, down the road from this place was the “center” of the small town where there were other businesses inside houses so a cafe in a house didn’t seem out of place at all. It fit in with the vibe of the town as far as I could tell. And I was excited because the festival itself mainly just had “fair food” and that’s all Chelsea was able to eat the day before. I went back to the tent and showed Chelsea that picture and she said, “Did it look open to you? I saw it yesterday and it didn’t look open to me.”

I kind of agreed, although there was a small parking area right in front of the place that had one car in front of it, I assumed most of the traffic on that road was probably pedestrian and they used the main parking area down the street. But, I called to be sure. I said, “Hello, I’m at the vendor market up the road, do you guys do carry out orders?” (This was my way of gauging the situation/looking for guidance.) She said, “Yes! We actually have a walk-up window!” “Perfect,” I said. And because I didn’t see anything obvious when I had been there prior I said, “I’ll be there in a few minutes and I’ll just wander around until I see the window!” And she said, “Great! See you soon!”

Welp. So much for guidance.

So I walked down and went through the gate you see behind the fence and followed the walking path down to the deck that had a table and umbrella and I thought that might be where the carryout is. I saw the main door, but there was no “sign” or anything. And then I saw a grill on the deck and I thought, “That’s a weird thing to have on a restaurant deck.”

And then part of my brain started clicking…WAIT. AM I JUST WANDERING AROUND SOMEONE’S HOUSE?

So I rushed back through the yard and out the gate and looked at the sign again trying to figure out where I went wrong. Then I grabbed one of those cards (which I previously thought were menus) and they’re just like advertisement cards and the address of the cafe was listed as like 3 miles away!

But I find that this story – although embarrassing – doesn’t actually trigger my shame/cringe reflex because I kinda feel like they’re in the wrong! The sign SHOULD have said, “Come see us at….” or “Located at…” or something to indicate it wasn’t a sign denoting the actual cafe inside this quaint house down the road from other quaint businesses inside quaint houses.

I mean, was I probably the only one who made that mistake ever? Probably. But still…TOTALLY NOT MY FAULT. I refuse to suffer a lifetime of shutters everytime I remember this error. Nope, instead I’ll remember it as the time I almost walked into someone’s house because of a sign that lacked important inforation.

NOT EMBARRASSING AT ALL.

EPILOGUE: Chelsea drove to the address on the card and found the actual cafe and their actual carryout window and the food was lovely. 5 Stars. Would recommend.