Years of road-tripping has taught us some basic truths. Travelling secondary roads rewards you with discoveries you likely would have missed, beauty and wonder can be found just about anywhere, but good coffee is hard to find. We were inspired by a friend’s careful curation of a map of coffee shops and restaurants that serve coffee that meet his standards. We have been compiling our own list of java oases, and we’re happy to add another in Liverpool.

On our recent trip to Liverpool, we stopped into Oscar’s. We had met Oscar the year before. He was in costume greeting customers, we were in costume post parade, so naturally we hit it off. At the time, Oscar’s was a new business, less than a year old. His focus was beautiful flowers and gifts, things made for celebrations.

But in preparation for our recent trip to Liverpool, we learned that Oscar had added espresso and pastries to his colourful shop on Main Street.

Espresso? At a flower shop?! This gave our figurative coffee oasis a bit more of a literal meaning.

Turns out it’s a pretty (and fragrant) combination. We chose a booth at the front of the shop, by a corner window overlooking Main Street. Each table is adorned with a single china teacup and a rose.

We made our way to the back of the shop to order, past busy displays of flowers, chocolates, trinkets, and gifts, and ordered two double espressos. Oscar’s offers a small set menu. On the day we were there, it was still early enough to order the Belgian waffle and late enough to get the vegetable soup.

Drew’s waffle was topped with a sweet, slightly tart berry reduction, big enough to make for a filling lunch. My vegetable soup was a hodge podge of veggies and assorted rice and noodles. Oscar came by mid-meal and poked fun at my healthy choice, but I was happy with it. The broth had a lot of flavour and the mixed veggies added a lot of body and taste to the soup.

Oscar’s gets their coffee from Pavia, one of our favourite coffee shops in Halifax. The espresso was good, made even better paired with the Saturday paper and people watching.

The danger of stopping at Oscars for coffee is that you’re probably going to shop. The place is packed with gifts (it’s a bit overwhelming). I fell in love with this nautical dish set, and left the shop with visions of fresh flower combinations dancing in my head.

Great coffee has become a staple of a great road trip for us. At one time, we didn’t write much about key coffee stops, but as this blog has grown, we’ve learned that coffee is important to you, too. And when you’re in a new place, stopping into a random coffee shop presents a risk. Oscar’s, in our opinion, is a safe bet for your road trip caffeine requirements. Besides what they are cooking that day, Oscar’s also carries a selection of baked goods like cupcakes and cookies.

Location:
Oscar’s Flowers, Gifts & Such
154 Main St
Liverpool, NS

Website: http://www.liverpoolflowersgiftsandsuch.com/

We experienced Oscar’s during Privateer Days 2015. The festival made arrangements with local businesses so that we would have a place to stay, food to eat, and gas to get to the festival. We appreciate the support of the Privateer Days committee.