I stumbled upon the coolest coffee shop in Oklahoma City with a friend the other day. I was meeting up with one of my Thailand teammates (we were on a mission trip together this past July, which you can read about here). We wanted to find a cute little spot to hang out. With the number of coffee shops we explored in Bangkok, you’d think we’d be tired of it by now, but I think coffee, Jesus, and adventure never get old.
So I met up with my friend, and we found a place on Apple Maps called Vintage Coffee. My friend lives in Oklahoma City but hadn’t heard of it, so we shrugged and drove over there. We turned onto the street and immediately saw an empty parking lot, an adorable coffee-and-rainbow-themed mural, and the cutest old building ever. Vintage certainly seemed like a suitable name, I thought as we parked.
Golden sunlight shimmered on the parking lot asphalt as we accidentally walked through the drive through line. It was close to closing time, so not many people were around. At the front of the building we started to climb some old red brick steps up into what looked like an old church. And it turned out it was! As we ascended the stairs, we turned and saw a church billboard that read, iglesia, 1948.
“It’s an old church!” I said, and my teammate and I were delighted. How cute, that we met on a mission trip and now got to have coffee in an old church?
But as we kept walking, a man called out to us. “Are you looking for the coffee shop?” He asked. “Because it’s in the basement.”
“Oh, thank you!” We responded, following him down into the side door under the stairs. The drive-through windows had looked a little close to the ground.
“People do that a lot,” he said, and I wondered if the shop paid someone to wait outside and catch lost potential customers who had wandered there on a whim anyways. “On the other hand, if you need medical marijuana, there’s a dispensary upstairs.”
My friend and I looked at each other. Church turned dispensary with a coffee shop in the basement. Interesting combination, no doubt. We politely declined and followed him down into the shop.
And the coffee shop itself was like nowhere else I’ve ever been, but like everywhere I’ve wanted to be. I absolutely love adorable and secret places, the ones you find by happenstance and that have their own culture that’s so evident right when you walk in the door. Vintage was small, friendly, and local—that’s how I’d characterize it. The walls were decorated with framed portraits taken by a local photographer; a shelf by the door proudly displayed an Oklahoma City artist’s pottery. The hallway leading to the exit had corkboards on both sides completely covered in cards for small businesses in the area. It seemed like the kind of place that you become a regular if you go twice and part of the family if you come back a third time.
The man who directed us to the correct entrance appeared behind the counter and explained the shop’s commitment to organic and artsy coffee. You could pick from four kinds of sugar, lots of milk options (my friend got oat), and a whole list of twenty or so syrups to add. They had a board of their favorite combinations, which included names like truffle, blueberry cobbler and salted caramel, so I had to ask again to make sure those really were coffee options. I ordered the Cancun (mocha, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon) and watched as the barista took a Sharpie and wrote my order on the side of a glass. That made me smile—I was expecting plastic and had been disappointed that I didn’t bring my reusable cup to Oklahoma.
A few minutes later, our coffees were ready. We looked at the small tables, the artistically mismatched furniture that’s absolutely my aesthetic. A rectangle of comfy and well-loved couches surrounded a stuffed bookcase with a sign that declared, “donate and take one.” There were some bags by the couches, though, so we took a seat at a table by the wall and drank our coffee. I loved mine. The spice took me by surprise in the best way possible. I almost wish I lived in Oklahoma City so I could try all the other flavors!
I can absolutely imagine studying here or having a little Bible or book chat with a friend. I was just so amazed by the fact that this place was there at all, by the location, by the randomness with which we found it, and by how community-based it seemed. As we were leaving they gave us free Vintage Coffee stickers. These are the kind of places that make me so excited, that seem like something out of a movie, but not real life—somewhere small and local, unique, thrown together and kept that way by the passion and enthusiasm of the owners. I think every town probably has a spot like this, and I was so delighted to find one in Oklahoma City at Vintage Coffee.
This adventure was really special to me because of how simple it was. Something that I learned a lot in Thailand was to treasure how each moment can be an adventure in itself—how each day with Jesus can be its own beautiful adventure. It was something I never understood until then. But there I learned the excitement of finally focusing and being present where my feet are, loving the moment I’m in instead of dreaming about the next one. Vintage was a wonderful example of the exciting and ordinary moments of a life less planned.
Comments