Priscilla Richardson

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Sometimes you just want some coffee or tea. You grab and go. Other times, you'd like to sit with a friend or colleague over a cup and talk awhile. Suddenly, Botetourt has not just one but three specialty places for you.

You know about one already, Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, located at the Botetourt Commons, known to most of us as the Kroger shopping center. It's open nearly any hour you might be awake, from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. weekdays, staying open till 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and starting at 7 a.m. Saturdays and 7:30 a.m. Sundays. You can get all kinds of coffee, hot and iced teas, pastries for your morning munch, plus sandwiches later.

The casual atmosphere plus the unhurried approach to customers have given Mill Mountain a secure place in Botetourt life. After all, you can get a cup of coffee in Kroger, but that hasn't kept folks away from Mill Mountain.

Now here are two to add to your list of places to go to, for either a quick cuppa to go or a leisurely visit. One is down the road on U.S. 220 between Kroger and Fincastle. The other is in the heart of Fincastle. Both were started by women who came to Botetourt because they found it through an Internet search.

Troutville's Jennifer Aylor runs her White Oak Tea Tavern located in the old Cloyd family cabin relocated along 220 near the Botetourt Veterinary Clinic. I had the sad privilege of watching the cabin being torn apart at its original Amsterdam location some years ago, never dreaming it would turn into a popular tea tavern in its new location. And tavern it is, not tea room. No frilly doilies. The atmosphere is strictly pub, without the alcohol.

Aylor started in business offering tea parties in her home, selling teas she created and had made to order under the name White Oak. When you enter her place today, you can go to the tea shelf and sniff before you buy. And then when you order tea to drink, there's none of this nonsense about tea automatically meaning iced tea. She sells it hot by the pot, large or small. For hot weather, though, an iced tea "du jour" comes by the carafe.

Food includes her own handmade gourmet scones, different ones each day, as the mood strikes her. The day I was there, the flavor was maple and oat. And let's not get into the imaginative cream cheese flavors for the bagels, or the bagel sandwiches, or I'll get too hungry to finish this article. The front room of the tavern is a gift shop. Among the regular weekday customers are Bedford's Barry and Jane Shaff, who enjoy the quiet atmosphere along with a pot of tea many afternoons.

White Oak's hours run from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. "I recommend reservations for Saturdays," Aylor warned, as her small place can fill up quickly.

A Latte Cafe, at 17 Church St. in Fincastle, is run by Fincastle's Kim Fair weekdays only, from 7 a.m. till 8 p.m. Seating for 10 in the old log cabin behind the former Fincastle Baptist Church means she feeds the courthouse crowd via take-out orders as well as in the cafe itself. For the rest of us, this cafe makes a lovely place to rest before or after a town tour or visit to the museum. The first thing that hits you as you enter the cafe is the wonderful aroma of coffee, at least six different kinds. "I have everything Starbucks has but at lower cost," Fair bragged. Tea, bagels, sandwiches, soup, chili and pastries complete the offerings. Plus, you can run your laptop using WiFi there.

Aylor's business has been open about a year, and Fair's for only a few months, but booming business at each shows they're filling a real need. And for us, an unexpected bonus: When you talk to either, you get a new appreciation for our area. They pulled up stakes to come here.

So have some tea or coffee, follow them as they add new items to their menus, and enjoy Botetourt life even more.

Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea: www.millmountain coffee.com, 966-1002

White Oak Tea Tavern:www.whiteoakteas.com, 992-6901

A Latte Cafe: www.alattecafe.com, 473-3322