You took the Metro to the Grand stop then caught the Number 70 Bus heading south. You passed Tower Grove Park and the Corkball Fields and get off to walk around the red brick neighborhood just enough to know this place is bustling and diverse. Record shops, book stores, and locally owned convenience stores pepper Grand and the near by streets. You were looking for a coffee shop that serves the neighborhood, artists, vegetarians, maybe even anarchists, and at the corner of Arsenal and Grand across from the park you find Mokabes.
Inside the red walls invite a welcome warmth on this cold December day. The holidays were fine but something left you cold. You order a coffee and a breakfast burrito but could have just as easily waited a little while and went with the veggie or black bean burger. While you wait you notice the walls are covered in a pride for St Louis and local worthy causes. A little book shelf stands by the bathroom for lesser known authors of revolution and change. The hand drawn menus hang below the ceiling and the refrigerator is freckled with reminders of family and stickers for action. There are still reminders of the day Mokabes was tear gassed by the cops in 2014 after Anarchists rallied from the Police State in the streets. Owner Mo Costelo has never been shy about supporting the power of people coming together. She has always opened her doors to those who organize for a cause including a group that mobilizes in the middle of the night to deliver clothes to homeless.
The counter that evokes nostalgia for the days of Diners and the reclaimed tables bustle with eclectic conversation. A young boy informs his friends how they can get a hold of him after his move to Japan. A group of women plan the itinerary for their LGBT meeting at Mokabes later this month. Youth at the counter are debating Israel and Palestine. A woman convinces her father to retire, offering to write his resignation letter, because after all, she has a job now that makes more than they'll ever need. A table of young adults celebrate another month of sobriety. A group of entrepreneurs finalize an fundraising campaign. The busser smiles as he remembers his holidays with family. Keyboards clickety clack. Voices rumble and hum. Who needs a constant musical soundtrack, when the living are here.
You finish your Burrito before having a chance to let Instagram have a bite. Settling in to enjoy your third cup of coffee, you open the The Riverfront Times upstairs by the window overlooking Tower Grove. You're not sure where else to explore but if this is your first taste of St Louis then you have a lot to choose from. You read somewhere St Louis has the highest population of Voluntarism in the country, one of the lowest costs of living, and was once the coffee capital of North America. That last dubious distinction may have been a hundred years ago, yet this city seems to embrace it's nostalgia the same way a tree keeps it's shape even in winter. You try to remember your shape. You remember your winters. You remember what waits for you when you leave this place.
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