The Last Hole in a Sedonan Wall
[Speakeasy] AZ, Sedona - Random Acts of Coffee: You can't be any more of a "hole in the wall" than actually holding shop thru a physical hole in a dammd wall... and, thru that hole was Sedona's Random Acts of Coffee. Well, there were also a few steps involved. Whatever. To say it was "The Sedona Underground" would be just another literal descriptor. You get the point.
Sedona's beauty draws in so many tourists that it was hard to find where the authentic Sedonites sat back, lit up 'n drank with ease. I wouldn't've even found the place had it not been for another hitchhiker called Wild Spirit. I, in turn, took it upon myself to introduce the other travelers staying at the Sedona Hostel to the wonders of Random Acts of Coffee. It was one of those places that you wanted to tell everybody about... and, sadly, I've finally confirmed my worst suspicions. Random Acts of Coffee is gone.
My brother Tristan and I were on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, with Burning Man a bit farther out on the horizon. Even though it was in the opposite direction, the two of us made a side-trip to Sedona. I'd already been warned that the Sedona Hostel had closed shop, but we were met with a lot of other closed doors once we got there... that, and an annoying amount of construction. It took some asking around, but a fellow traveler let us know that the coffee shop had closed just a year after the Sedona Hostel. Fortunately, we found that there are still some boondocking sites around the area... so not all's lost.
There are some good Sedona boondocking sites [Here on The Wandering Hobo].
Boondocking won't save the art scene in Sedona, however, and that's what Random Acts of Coffee was all about. In a satire of The Last Supper, Random Acts had a huge mural of musicians covering one of the walls, with Lennon in his proper place at the center. Live poets and musicians would fill the evenings, owning their presence and enveloping the audience from an open area opposite of the horse-shoe shaped coffee bar. Of all the things to remember, however, what I remember the most were the people and the frakking red sofa that sat just in front of the coffee bar.
You see, the people are attached to the sofa. Sitting on the coffee table next to the sofa was a book on dreadlocks... and, sitting on the sofa was Li, as she taught me how to dread-up my own whiteboy hair. This is the same sofa that I found Wild Spirit sprawled over when I came to the place a second time... and, just behind it was where Mary was standing. Memory is an interesting thing... or, as NoMeansNo put it: "A memory is a loaded gun... and I remember every one."
One of the saving graces for hunting the place down was an article by Fox the Poet. This was written by someone who intimately experienced the place and was struck even harder by the news. If you want to really know more about Random Acts of Coffee, read the words from the man himself:
Random Acts of Coffee in Sedona is closing
With both the hostel and the coffee shop closed, it's temping to scratch Sedona off of my 2012 hitchhiking trip. I haven't scratched it off yet. I'm going to try to find out if there's still a rogue art scene to fill its place, and if there are any other speakeasies in the area. We'll see.
• Squats - Sedona Hostel [Closed]
Song of the Day: [Click to Download]
Matthew Dear - Slowdance (How To Dress Well Seance)
"Slowdance (How To Dress Well Seance)" by Matthew Dear
Sedona's beauty draws in so many tourists that it was hard to find where the authentic Sedonites sat back, lit up 'n drank with ease. I wouldn't've even found the place had it not been for another hitchhiker called Wild Spirit. I, in turn, took it upon myself to introduce the other travelers staying at the Sedona Hostel to the wonders of Random Acts of Coffee. It was one of those places that you wanted to tell everybody about... and, sadly, I've finally confirmed my worst suspicions. Random Acts of Coffee is gone.
My brother Tristan and I were on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, with Burning Man a bit farther out on the horizon. Even though it was in the opposite direction, the two of us made a side-trip to Sedona. I'd already been warned that the Sedona Hostel had closed shop, but we were met with a lot of other closed doors once we got there... that, and an annoying amount of construction. It took some asking around, but a fellow traveler let us know that the coffee shop had closed just a year after the Sedona Hostel. Fortunately, we found that there are still some boondocking sites around the area... so not all's lost.
There are some good Sedona boondocking sites [Here on The Wandering Hobo].
Boondocking won't save the art scene in Sedona, however, and that's what Random Acts of Coffee was all about. In a satire of The Last Supper, Random Acts had a huge mural of musicians covering one of the walls, with Lennon in his proper place at the center. Live poets and musicians would fill the evenings, owning their presence and enveloping the audience from an open area opposite of the horse-shoe shaped coffee bar. Of all the things to remember, however, what I remember the most were the people and the frakking red sofa that sat just in front of the coffee bar.
You see, the people are attached to the sofa. Sitting on the coffee table next to the sofa was a book on dreadlocks... and, sitting on the sofa was Li, as she taught me how to dread-up my own whiteboy hair. This is the same sofa that I found Wild Spirit sprawled over when I came to the place a second time... and, just behind it was where Mary was standing. Memory is an interesting thing... or, as NoMeansNo put it: "A memory is a loaded gun... and I remember every one."
One of the saving graces for hunting the place down was an article by Fox the Poet. This was written by someone who intimately experienced the place and was struck even harder by the news. If you want to really know more about Random Acts of Coffee, read the words from the man himself:
Random Acts of Coffee in Sedona is closing
With both the hostel and the coffee shop closed, it's temping to scratch Sedona off of my 2012 hitchhiking trip. I haven't scratched it off yet. I'm going to try to find out if there's still a rogue art scene to fill its place, and if there are any other speakeasies in the area. We'll see.
Random Acts of Coffee, 1730 W Highway 89A #7, Sedona, AZ 86336Related Posts:
• Squats - Sedona Hostel [Closed]
Song of the Day: [Click to Download]
Matthew Dear - Slowdance (How To Dress Well Seance)
"Slowdance (How To Dress Well Seance)" by Matthew Dear
