Seven of us took advantage of another amazingly dry (and crisp) winter day to venture downtown to a new shop just west of downtown.

Considered one of the premier roasters in town over the last few years at their NE Burnside home, Heart recently opened up this stylish SW 12th outlet next to Gruner and across the street from Tasty and Alder.   The shop’s lines were very clean, the light was bright, the ambiance comfortable, the coffee and pastries fine.  But with it being small and without varied seating options, hanging out could be a challenge.

Today’s topics were literally all over the map, from Alaskan dogsledding and its northern lights, to the limitations put on solar panels in Irvington by its historic district designation, to the emotional transitions some of us went through after retiring, to why was that maniacal bicyclist yelling at us on the Broadway Bridge.     537 SW 12th    http://www.heartroasters.com