A Damn Fine Downtown Dream
Donation protected
My first experience with Downtown Alexandria was 2004. I was invited to go to a little coffee shop on 4th Street after work with a coworker. After my first visit to House of Java, I pretty much showed up every day. Eventually, I was hired as a barista. I worked at HoJ until its unfortunate closing in 2009.
In 2009, I ran into a childhood friend whom I hadn't seen in a few years while shopping. We decided to catch up over a drink at this bar downtown. She and I began meeting once a week, then twice a week, then whenever we were available at Finnegans Wake Pub on 3rd Street. After months of regularly meeting up, my friend was offered a job there. "Um, I want to work here too!" They begrudgingly accepted my application. Then, weeks later, they called me out of desperation. One of their bartenders quit with no notice. Two days before Christmas. The second busiest season of the year. I showed up, ready to go, on December 26th. The rest here is pretty much history.
Also in 2009, a good friend of mine asked me to meet him downtown. To my surprise, while we were talking, he pulled out his keys and opened the door to the once House of Java. It was his now. He had plans for a new coffee shop downtown. And, bless his heart, he was worried to tell me, because he knew that at one time, I had tried to get my hands on that location for my own. I met with him regularly after that meeting to consult, to plan, and to just drink coffee and talk dreams. Jeff opened Tamp & Grind the following year, and I worked for him until I took on management duties at the pub.
I have had the opportunity to work in three amazing businesses downtown. Each a physical manifestation of a dream. Each run by men with a passion to share their dream with the rest of the world. And now, it's my turn.
My absolute dream is opening my Whiskey bar. (Oh, I'm not sure if y'all know this, but I kind of like Whiskey...) With regulations and ordinances being what they are in the midst of all that's going on, I need to open the kitchen first. Lucky for me, I had already planned on having a great kitchen in my dream, with cuisine unique to this area. And somehow the stars have aligned in such a way that the chance to start my kitchen downtown has presented itself. However, I cannot do it alone. As I mentioned, I work at Finnegans Wake, and we have been all but shut down since March 17th. Half that time we were 100% shut down. (Stupid pandemic.) That being said I am asking for help to achieve this longtime dream of mine of sharing my passion with the world from my own little corner of Downtown Alexandria. Any amount that can be given will assist in bringing something unique to our city, and get me that much closer to having my dream realized.
Whether you're able to donate or not, I look forward to serving you in the near future!
Slainte mhath to you and yours,
Melissa Scarborough
In 2009, I ran into a childhood friend whom I hadn't seen in a few years while shopping. We decided to catch up over a drink at this bar downtown. She and I began meeting once a week, then twice a week, then whenever we were available at Finnegans Wake Pub on 3rd Street. After months of regularly meeting up, my friend was offered a job there. "Um, I want to work here too!" They begrudgingly accepted my application. Then, weeks later, they called me out of desperation. One of their bartenders quit with no notice. Two days before Christmas. The second busiest season of the year. I showed up, ready to go, on December 26th. The rest here is pretty much history.
Also in 2009, a good friend of mine asked me to meet him downtown. To my surprise, while we were talking, he pulled out his keys and opened the door to the once House of Java. It was his now. He had plans for a new coffee shop downtown. And, bless his heart, he was worried to tell me, because he knew that at one time, I had tried to get my hands on that location for my own. I met with him regularly after that meeting to consult, to plan, and to just drink coffee and talk dreams. Jeff opened Tamp & Grind the following year, and I worked for him until I took on management duties at the pub.
I have had the opportunity to work in three amazing businesses downtown. Each a physical manifestation of a dream. Each run by men with a passion to share their dream with the rest of the world. And now, it's my turn.
My absolute dream is opening my Whiskey bar. (Oh, I'm not sure if y'all know this, but I kind of like Whiskey...) With regulations and ordinances being what they are in the midst of all that's going on, I need to open the kitchen first. Lucky for me, I had already planned on having a great kitchen in my dream, with cuisine unique to this area. And somehow the stars have aligned in such a way that the chance to start my kitchen downtown has presented itself. However, I cannot do it alone. As I mentioned, I work at Finnegans Wake, and we have been all but shut down since March 17th. Half that time we were 100% shut down. (Stupid pandemic.) That being said I am asking for help to achieve this longtime dream of mine of sharing my passion with the world from my own little corner of Downtown Alexandria. Any amount that can be given will assist in bringing something unique to our city, and get me that much closer to having my dream realized.
Whether you're able to donate or not, I look forward to serving you in the near future!
Slainte mhath to you and yours,
Melissa Scarborough
Organizer
Melissa Propst
Organizer
Alexandria, LA