As noted below, Floyd is currently awash in “gourmet” coffee shops along with a number of early am spots for strong, black java. When we lived in Arlington (up in the no-man’s land called “Northern Virginia”) my favorate java spot was Common Grounds, an eclectic hangout where the coffee was srong (and not bitter), the conversation interesting and the wireless Internet free.

Now comes word from Arlington that Common Grounds closed. In its place is something called “Murky Coffee,” a coffee shop that originated in DC and has now spread to the People’s Republic of Arlington.

Not good. Common Grounds had a style all its own and, as anyone who lived in DC for any length of time knows, a coffee shop that called Capitol Hill home is probably too hipper-than-thou. The demise of Common Grounds is yet another reason to be glad we abandoned the urban jungle for the hills of Southwestern Virginia.