A new coffee shop adds a creative stop on Moraine Avenue

Downtown Estes Park has a new place to warm up. Whimsadoodle officially opened its Wonderful Things coffee shop on Friday afternoon with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Estes Chamber of Commerce, and it is more than a place to grab a latte.

The shop sits at 170 Moraine Avenue in a renovated house that was formerly home to a shop owned and operated by Barb Marshall. It is part of the Wonderful Things gallery, open space, and pottery studio, so a coffee stop can turn into browsing handmade work or signing up to make some of your own.

The setup fits mountain mornings. There is a walk up window for ordering outside, plus inside and outdoor seating, with gas heaters outside to take the edge off a crisp day. This month the featured drinks are a Cookie Butter Latte and a Maple Cinnamon Latte, which sounds about right for November in Estes Park.

The new shop is also joining Estes Park Restaurant Week, November 13 to 22, with a pairing that pairs well with this town: for $25, customers get two coffees, two movie tickets to the Historic Park Theatre, and a small bag of popcorn.

Next door, the pottery side keeps busy. The studio offers pottery date nights, classes, and workshops, Tiny Maker Mornings for children ages 16 months to 5 years, and other workshops that include stained glass aspen leaf projects and sgraffito leaf dishes. Classes run at the Moraine Avenue studio and at the Bear and Bee Makers Studio and Boutique in Lower Stanley Village.

Small businesses like this are the texture of a town. A coffee shop that is also a gallery and a studio gives locals a place to gather in the quiet season and gives visitors a reason to slow down on Moraine Avenue instead of just passing through. As Barb Marshall used to say, "Another ho hum day in paradise." Welcome to the neighborhood, Wonderful Things.

Read the original reporting at Estes Valley Voice.