Huh??!! What??!! Where??!!

I was driving home from the market a little bit ago and drove past one of my favorite places in our city, Kelly's Java Hut. Kelly provides some mean competition for Starbucks, having several advantages. The first advantage is that it is only about two minutes from my house, whereas Starbucks is all the way across town. The second is that it is cheaper, HELLO? And the third is that when you order a size called "tall" at Kelly's, she doesn't insult you by giving you your java in a cup that is the size of one of those Dixie things you use to rinse the toothpaste out of your mouth. But with a lid, because you might spill the whole thing on yourself and make a stain on your skirt the size of a fifty cent piece.

We haven't been to Kelly's in a long time because we're experiencing lean times and that really frosts my donuts. Because Kelly has an excellent selection of sugar-free flavored syrups, and not every coffee house can boast such a thing. She also has really good coffee. I am quite partial to a half-fat latte with a shot of french vanilla and a shot of hazelnut, doctored up with some Splenda.

Anyhoo, I cast a fond look over at Kelly's and....it wasn't there.

It was gone. Gee-oh-in-ee. As in, "not where it was supposed to be."

Truly, Kelly's Java Hut is an actual hut. Or maybe more of a shed, sort of like the thing you might keep a lawnmower in, only Kelly has presumably winterized hers and added plumbing and electricity and a cappuccino machine and a drive-thru window. Even with all the shiny coffee-making equipment inside, it doesn't seem like a place that would be difficult to move, but I've grown used to seeing Kelly's Java Hut standing firmly in one place these last three years and it disturbed me to no end to see it gone.

I hope that Kelly is just investing in another hut and someday soon, I'll drive by and there will be a bigger place there, with Kelly's familiar logo painted on and her weekly specials advertised on a roadside sign. Even though I haven't been there in months, I will still be very sad if Kelly has thrown in her coffee-stained towel.