FILTER: "The Coffee Shop That DOES Exist"

I took the bus to Dupont Circle with my grandson this morning. We decided to visit the bookshops.

On two occasions different members of staff at Kramerbooks have enthusiastically recommended a coffee shop called "Filter". Twice I've failed to find it, in spite of clear directions. It has a rather hidden entrance, I later discovered.

I asked a passerby who insisted it didn't exist.

"I know every single coffee shop in the area. I'm telling you it doesn't exist. There is NO coffee place called Filter. It definitely doesn't exist".

Finally we found it at 1726 20th Street. It was full up. No free tables.

I told the staff that I'd been searching for Filter in vain, and how warmly their coffee had been recommended. I also told them about the man who insisted they didn't exist.

I asked for a card to prove their existence.

Instead of a card, I was given a piece of cardboard used to put round a hot to-go coffee.

The friendly young lady asked my grandson if he had read The Chronicle of Narnia.

He had, and he explained to me that you had to believe in order to find the secret passage.

On the piece of cardboard she had written the address and telephone number of Filter (202 234 5837, in case you want a good cup of coffee near Dupont Circle).

She had also written "We exist...but you have to believe!!".

I'll definitely go there before I fly back to the UK. If it's still there...

But we had to catch a bus; we just missed the N4, so we grabbed our "to-go's" from Starbucks.

Maybe that adamant Doubting Thomas worked for them? Maybe I'd asked directions to a coffee shop instead of a coffee house? My fault? A misunderstanding?

We enjoyed our take-away Starbucks coffee and hot chocolate. It was a cold day.

Mr Cameron would not have approved.