The Old Factory Coffee Shop – Orange City, IA

While in Orange City last weekend, we only spent one hour on campus. All the other hours were basically spent, where else but----
at the Old Factory Coffee Shop.
What a place.

This coffee shop was started while I was attending Northwestern. Transformed from a historic wooden shoe factory, store, and museum, this eclectic coffee shop was more of a student center than we had on campus, by far. People would walk the three blocks to the Old Factory with their book bags & stacks of text books and study all morning, then pull out a deck of cards and hang with friends and chat well into the evening.

I probably would not have passed nursing school with out the cozy atmosphere of the Old Factory encouraging me to study. I would have fallen asleep way before all those clinical reflections were typed up without the caffeinated goodness provided by the baristas who owned the building.
At the Old Factory relationships were deepened, faith was strengthened, questions were asked, brides were showered, poems were slammed, coffee was poured over, eyes were filled with tears of joy and with tears of sorrow, and dreams were discovered.
After we graduated, the Old Factory was bought by some young alumni who were a bit older than us, and no one really knew what the place would become…
& soon it was obvious that the place only became greater. It became more of what it is supposed to be.

Coffee. Breakfast specials. Poetry slams. Child art classes. Garage band concerts. Community discussions. Butterbeer. Childhood diary readings. A building filled with people from open to close.

Because we live a whole state away, we could only peak in on the Old Factory via Instagram, Facebook, and their website. And all that social media left my mouth salivating.
It would be lying to say the Old Factory wasn’t a big factor in why we spent a whole weekend in Orange City before heading to Chicago for pre-departure orientation. We had to get in on all that goodness.
& boy did we get in on it.

Saturday we spent 6 hours at the Old Factory drinking coffee and having many conversations with many people. We had some “appointments” with friends, or supporters, or friends who are supporters scheduled, but we also randomly met up with other people who also spent the whole day at the coffee shop. Friday night our friends played a concert in their band called Zeke the Kodiak. I even got to meet up with a fellow NWC alumnus blogger friend, Laura Jean.

Good times.

Do any of you have a place like the Old Factory where you could spend ALL day? A place like the Old Factory that you would take a detour on your road trip to spend a whole day sitting? Please share your stories in the comments.