SAXTON B. LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
319 Route 87 Columbia, CT 06237
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MARCH 15, 2010
The Cup that Traveled the East Coast
We were off on vacation, heading south, trying to catch some warm weather, which we never happened, but that's another story. If you've ever traveled with my husband you know you've got to build in time for what he calls pit stops but are really coffee stops. Normally the first stop would be somewhere after The George Washington Bridge, at one of the highway rest stops but having gotten a late start (hey, I'm on vacation) and being a work day, we ran into our first hiccup in traffic somewhere well before New York. Waiting for the rest stop was not an option. We pulled off in New Rochelle and pulled in at one of the national fast food chains that offers senior coffee. Two cups to go and we were once more on our way. I honestly can't remember the next stop but several hours later our car was parked in another of said chain's parking lots. Not wanting to be wasteful I brought the first cup in. Before I could even ask for another cup, the cheery clerk grabbed the cup and said "refill?". She filled my cup, no charge. Well, this was something new to me. I had never gotten a free refill before. The thought of a free refill intrigued me and believe it or not gave me such a chuckle that a plan was born. Our eventual destination was Florida, with Charleston as a layover. Could I make it all the way to Charleston on one cup and free refills? Well, not only did we make it to Charleston, we made it all the way down the east coast, through central Florida, along the panhandle, up into Georgia, and on to Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and then home, over 3000 miles. All on that original cup! We had 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day and not one employee in any of the restaurants blinked an eye. Filled the cup up to the brim and sent us on our way; thank you, you're welcome!

 Alright, before you call us cheap; I prefer the word frugal, we did buy a few cups of coffee at varying places along the way. But we didn't have too. Up until we tried to get that last refill right here in Willimantic. The girl at the register gave us a dubious look when we handed her the cups and said "Two refills please". "Where'd you get these cups", she said, and then without missing a beat, "these aren't ours, that'll be $1.67!" The founder of The Hole in the Wall Gang did us in...

 I'm a big fan of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel and thoroughly enjoy the column 20 Tips. Over the years I've gained some sage advise from intrepid travelers by reading this column. Some of the tips are down right funny but others are right on. You can find Budget Travel on our magazine shelves along with National Geographic Traveler and International Travel News. These three publications should give any would be traveler a head start on that next destination.


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Comments

Staca said, on Mar. 15 at 12:36PM
If only Dunkin' Donuts would do this! At $2.00 a cup of coffee, they really should! This was a fantastic story!

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CarolK said, on Mar. 15 at 4:34PM
Agreed! Too little coffee for too big a price. So many other places with better value to buy a Cup of Joe.

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