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thegloballocal · 7 years

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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A Cup for Humanity at Rio Coco

Your vibe attracts your tribe. In my case, my vibe lead me to a café that had me at Aloha: Rio Coco Café in Vero Beach

My story starts on a Tuesday afternoon in Vero Beach. I pulled off to a Starbucks Drive-Thru for an afternoon pick-me-up between sales calls. I normally refuse to go to Starbucks when I’m at home in West Palm Beach. They are overpriced, over-roasted, and over marketed. However, I was dozing off and did not know of a good local coffee shop, and Starbucks has one thing done right: visibility.

I pulled up to the window and kindly asked my Barista if she could fill up my reusable water bottle. As I took off the lid, and handed it to her, she rolled her eyes and said “I can’t take that. It’s against Starbucks policy.”

What policy? The Maximize Single Use Plastics Policy? I kindly canceled the order and she said “I can give you a cup of water for free,” to appease me. I replied, “You’re missing the point here.”

I typed coffee shop into my Yelp! App in the Starbucks parking lot. If the App could talk it would have said “You’re kidding me, right? Starbucks is 0.0 miles away!” I scrolled down past 3 sponsored Panera and Starbucks listings and found a unique spot with 5 stars “Rio Coco Café.”

My GPS lead me to an industrial park adjacent to the Vero Beach Airport. I thought Yelp was really yanking my chain, as this building looked purely industrial. I meandered down the rows of garage doors, and finally saw lovely green tables with smiling patrons beside a window sign that said “Legal Highs.” I chuckled to myself, this place had a sense of humor.

Opening the door, I felt the Spirit of Aloha rush over me. Rio Coco was a tropical hideaway with vintage plant hangers strung from the ceiling, tropical decor and vintage mid-century Polynesian couches luring guests to loiter. I must have appeared elated and awestruck, as the Barista called out to me “First time here, huh?”

As she crafted a triple espresso coconut mocha for me, she told me how Rio Coco is a nonprofit charity to raise money for a school in Nicaragua. As if this place wasn’t cute enough, it was above all humanic, and they had a water cooler to fill up my reusable water bottle!

My coffee cocktail slid across the counter as the owner Laura placed a tray of tasty treats next to me and offered one to me. The Barista said “It’s her first time here!” and Laura smiled big and said “Welcome!” with a bear hug impressive for her tiny stature. I felt so happy to find this place and I just said “Would it be weird if I just took a bunch of photos? I want to write a blog about you. Everyone needs to find this place!”

Laura took me for the grand tour, talking about their grassroots effort in establishing local education in Nicaragua (I encourage you to go to their site). The first Rio Coco is in a town called Utila, and the shop is adorned with pictures of their dive adventures there. Laura led me to the Roasting Room, where beans from around the world were roasted, packaged and stored. She also shared that she wants the shop to be a community which it truly is, with a piano welcoming musicians on Wednesday evenings, and community rooms hosting church youth groups.

In addition to roasting their own coffee in house, they have a full breakfast and lunch menu at very economical prices. I brought my boss for lunch there and when he ordered the flank steak salad for $7.50 he said “Did they put the right price?” If you want to take Rio Coco home with you, they have a retail space selling cold brew and bags of beans, or you can purchase their roasted beans online.

So I challenge you to refrain from the frappeccino, and find a rad local coffee shop to support instead.

Have a cup for humanity and caffeinate kindly, my friends! And as always, live global and stay local.

#local lifestyle #coffee #coffee shop #humanic #social good #nonprofit #charity #nicaragua #utila #vero beach #florida #treasure coast #local coffee #support local #starbucks #espresso

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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Making #onesmallchange per week to help the 🌎. This week is riding my 🚲 for those short trips near my house like the post office, store, bf’s house & the beach. This week is easy bc I posted about it already in my blog {link in bio}. Need suggestions for upcoming weeks! ⠀ 🌊✌🏻🌎.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #thegloballocal (at Flagler Drive)

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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“What we know is a drop. What we don’t know is an ocean” -Sir Isaac Newton (Read more👇🏻)⠀ .⠀ .⠀ Just a pic from my liveaboard experience with @deepseadiversden sponsored by @fundforteachers in the Great Barrier Reef in 2015. This is Byron, a dive guide, showing off a tiny #nudibranch in his hands to us. Nudibranchs are the most adorable, colorful little 🐚-less molluscs. Their name means “naked gills” from the combined Latin words (nudus=naked; brankhia=gills). So basically this flamboyant critter’s insides are just flapping around.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #cairns (at Great Barrier Reef (Australia))

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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Mexican

#ethnic eats #mexican food #Mexican ice cream #helado #Michoacán a #michoacán #paletas #paleteria #ice cream #west palm beach #south florida #southfloridaliving #mexican #the global local #multiculturalism #ethnic food #travel blog

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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The moon jellyfish's scientific name is Aurelia aurita, translated from Latin it means "golden long ears." This shit ain't gold nor can it even hear, I just feel like there was a lot of lost opportunity on naming this one. . . .⠀ #saltyscience #respectthesea #oceanminded #signatureseas #saveoursea #jellyfish #justkeepswimming #seacreatures #goprodive #marinelife #marinebiology #oceanconservation #oceanacidification #oceanlover #oceanlife #blueheronbridge #gopro #snorkel #adventurevisuals #snorkeling #freedive #underwaterlove #underwater #thanksbutnotanks #onebreath #girlswhofreedive #thepalmbeaches #pureflorida #ilovesouthflorida #singerislandscenes (at Diving Blue Heron Bridge)

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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This is a great post of a woman’s struggle to enjoy orca’s in captivity even though her husband loves aquariums. She talks about Lolita’s quest for freedom from Miami Seaquarium. You can donate to help!

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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Read my post about the symbolism of palm trees in Christianity, Islam and Judaism and the concept of pluralism.

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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#salty science #snorkeling #limestone #geology rocks #jupiterinlet #jupiterfl #treasure coast #palm beach county #florida #loveflorida #snorkel #coral reef

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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#ethnic eats #indian food #lake worth #south florida #ethnic food #curry #punjab #tikka masala

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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#ethnic eats #brazil #brazilian foods #acai #acai bowls #acai ni tigela #olympics #rio de janeiro #organic food #healthyeating #healthfoodporn #clean eating #ethnic food

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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#local lifestyle #colorado #mountains #rocky mountains #skiing #apres ski #brewery #mountain life #vail #breckinridge #sunsets #denver

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thegloballocal · 7 years

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#local lifestyle #sustainable #biking #bike ride #commuting #florida #lovefl #bike month #sustainability #global climate change #palm beach #picnic #parks #gardens #west palm beach #the global local

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thegloballocal · 8 years

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A little high tide action at Blowing Rocks #jupiter #florida #loveflorida #geologyrocks #waves #hightide #treasurecoast (en Blowing Rocks Preserve, Jupiter Fl)

#loveflorida #geologyrocks #hightide #florida #jupiter #treasurecoast #waves #salty science

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thegloballocal · 9 years

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Mystery Monday is back for the school year. This critter I saw plenty of in the Great Barrier Reef but they live in coral reefs in Florida too. Their name means "naked gills" in Greek and they are a soft bodied mollusk so they do not have a shell. My students can bring me the name of this animal on a piece of paper by Friday for 5 points extra credit! #marinelife #marinescience #greatbarrierreef #mollusk #coralreef #scuba #australiagram #australia #scubadiving photo cred to Stan Jazwinski aboard the Taka with me in Oz

#marinescience #australia #coralreef #scubadiving #marinelife #greatbarrierreef #mollusk #scuba #australiagram #salty science

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thegloballocal · 9 years

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It's turtle Tuesday! Was hanging out with this little green sea turtle the other day.#staysalty #coralreef #artificialreef #marinescience #dive #snorkel #lakeworthlagoon #lovefl #seaturtle #westpalmbeach #soflo (at Blue Heron Bridge)

#artificialreef #marinescience #coralreef #dive #soflo #lakeworthlagoon #seaturtle #snorkel #lovefl #staysalty #westpalmbeach #salty science

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thegloballocal · 9 years

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Snorkeled the Blue Heron Bridge yesterday and it was a pretty impressive artificial reef system. The Sharks didn't bite but the jellyfish do sting! #blueheronbridge #westpalmbeach #lovefl #lakeworthlagoon #snorkel #dive #marinescience #artificialreef #coralreef #sharks #fish #staysalty (at Blue Heron Bridge)

#lakeworthlagoon #marinescience #fish #sharks #coralreef #artificialreef #blueheronbridge #staysalty #snorkel #lovefl #dive #westpalmbeach #salty science

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