Revisiting Downtown Merced

Over the past several years, I have found my heart for art and culture nurtured in the Merced area. A few years ago, I attended Hamlet as produced by the Merced Shakes group. Over a year ago, the kids and I attended an Art Hop event. Last September, we headed out to Shakespeare in the Park to see Love's Labour's Lost. All of these have been fabulous experiences. The Art Hop was especially interesting for us, as we walked through Downtown Merced to check out different art pieces and then finished with dinner at Pinnochio's, as recommended to us.

I often read about interesting things happening through the Merced Multicultural Art Center (the MAC) but rarely do we get to take advantage of the offerings. Between schedule conflicts and the driving distance, it takes a lot to get us there. However, everything fell right into place for this week. The MAC is currently offering three one-week sessions of a Youth Art Camp. Each week has three sections per day. My daughter signed up for the morning Portraits class and my son signed up for the morning Comics class. I knew that once I dropped them off, my best option would be to stay local, so I asked about "coffee and WiFi" as I dropped them off the first day.

Turns out that within walking distance is a great place called Coffee Bandits. The coffee is delicious and they pride themselves in part on offering a place for creative souls to work and create. Perfect! I needed a place to write, work in my planner, and spend some time focused on important-to-me items while the two kids were up the street creating artistically.

The staff at Coffee Bandits is extremely pleasant and helpful. Each day I ordered a large cup of coffee, but tried something different for breakfast. The first day I had blueberry muffin. While it tasted good, I have had better. That told me to move on to something else. The next time in, I asked for some suggestion on what direction to go with my bagel. I listened, then settled on a jalapeno bagel with egg and pesto. It was absolutely delicious! I will make an effort to go back in the future if for no other reason than this delicious breakfast bagel! The third day I ordered food, I went with an "Everything" bagel, toasted with cream cheese. I wanted something simple. Let me say again, though, the coffee is outstanding.

According to their website, Coffee Bandits opened in 2011 offering local, organic, and healthy options, as well as offering a creative outlet "for energies in Merced." As we made the hour drive back to Merced for the last day of art camp this morning, the kids and I discussed some of the things we liked and still wanted to do. "I want to try Cinema Cafe," said CD. So, we have agreed that we will return and try even more Downtown Merced offerings in the future. I hope to catch a poetry night at Coffee Bandits, too.

As I walked through Downtown Merced this week, I felt the creative energy that fills it. Walking from the MAC to Coffee Bandits likely had a lot to do with that. We hope to return to see a movie sometime, as well. The historic theatres in downtown are enough to draw you in and the Art Hop events are held four times a year. If you need a place to feel your creative energy nurtured, you will surely find it in Downtown Merced.

Where do you go to get creative? And, why? Share your stories in the comments.

Want to check out Coffee Bandits for yourself? You can find them at 309 West Main Street in Merced. Learn more about them and check out their events calendar here.
Learn about Merced Shakespearefest's upcoming productions, including Songs of Illyria (Twelfth Night) on their website.
You can also see what's happening at the MAC, including the upcoming two weeks of Summer Youth Art Camp by clicking here.

The kids had a wonderful time at Art Camp this week and are now looking forward to showing off their work at an art show tomorrow from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at The MAC.