It wasn’t until my travels took me all the way to Fargo, N.D., that I encountered this phenomena.  I have read about it, and seen corporate news releases that warned it was going to happen.  Yes … in Fargo, I encountered two Starbucks that were out of business

Remember when the news came down that the green giant would be shutting hundreds of stores around the country?  Well … I found two of them.  I ain’t gonna lie.  The first one really chapped me too.  When I checked into my hotel in Fargo — a Comfort Suites — I was excited to see the unmistakable Bux logo about a half block from my hotel.  The first chance, i trudged over in the snow, only to find an empty building.  Dang.  Take the sign down people.

So … back to the hotel …

Good thing Comfort Suites has adequate Wi-Fi .. strong signal, but a little bit slow on the connection — compared to a CS just a few weeks ago in Philly  — 5 pings.

I chuckled when I saw the names of two businesses across the street from North Dakota State University. Next door to Jimmy John’s sandwich shop is a coffee joint called Jitters. Why this funny?
It is funny to me because when I was in college, I created a paranoid, tongue-in-cheek redneck character named “Jimmy Joe Jitters” — when I wrote for the college newspaper in Texas. So, I thought maybe these guys were distant relatives.

Closed To Volunteer, Wi-Fi Running

My JJJ back in the day, would ramble on (in jest) about the evils of art and culture … and open-mindedness and stuff like that. The joke: I was actually the arts editor at that paper, so it was sort of a guerilla ploy to create more attention for the arts. (I received some hilarious hate mail!)

I digress …

Well, today this redneck planned to sample some Jitters coffee and Wi-Fi and whatever Jimmy John had to offer. But, they had better things to do — and I mean that sincerely. Jimmy John, Jitters and Sandellas next door were all closed to join in the sandbagging efforts in Fargo.

Will Work For Flood

Ain’t no thang! I just stood outside with my communicator in hand (Blackberry 8820 from T-Mobile) and sampled the Wi-Fi from the great outdoors. It was chilly, but the three retailers were putting out some nice Wi-Fi warmth. The networks I found were fairly strong out to the sidewalk and open — ready to go.

Wi-Fi and volunteerism … perfect scores for cuzzin Jimmy John, Jitters and Sandellas respectively.

Grounds Zero -- Atomic Cafe

Next I trekked on over to Atomic Café. It was closed too, for catastrophe prevention, I assume. So I stopped long enough to check for signal and to admire the psychedelic bison outside. Sioux-weeeeet. (Most U.S. cities have some mascot, and they put painted statues all over town: Cleveland –guitars; Dallas — pegasus; DC — pandas; Pensacola — pelicans; St. Paul — Peanuts characters … etc.) I dig the bisons, dude.

I will give Atomic Café the benefit of a doubt, and assume they were sandbagging over at ground zero while Wi-Fi was radiating from their core — 7 pings.

Next stop … I heard there was a cool coffee shop over on Main. So I headed on over expecting to take a photo of their locked door too. Big surprise. They were open.

I won’t lie, Babb’s Coffee House is the coolest coffee shop I visited in Fargo … even though it was the only one to that point …

Very cool place. Great “period” tin-tile ceilings, more easy chairs than any coffee shop I have seen, excellent Wi-Fi, funky modern art and some vintage neon. Only problem … no people. But of course, they were all off fighting in the war against Mo Nature.

Babb’s — Love the first name (lose the Seattle subtitle — in Fargo), $3.50 for a teabag is a bit steep — but overall … a new favorite — 6 pings.

Last stop, and old friend more commonly seen in Chicagoland and the Twin Cities, I believe — Caribou. I tracked west of downtown along 13th Avenue and spotted Caribou in retail area with all the earmarks of a more suburbia setting. Caribous are so cool — a nice blend of gourmet coffee with a rugged hunting lodge motif.

Babb's -- Warming Vols

The Caribou in West Fargo had great free Wi-Fi after I signed a consent form on the splash page … but frankly it was kind of a weird layout. The cafe was long and narrow, erasing any sense of coffee shop community. It was more like having a cup of joe on a train, only without moving scenery.

Caribou — I didn’t get what I ordered, so there goes one point on the rating, and there was just something lacking. Good Wi-Fi network though — 4 pings.

Know what I sayin?