Does Tallahassee exist? Darn it- I’m a proud and happy Floridian (an obvious conclusion when your home stays in sunshine and Harry Potter lives around the corner), but I noticed my local friends tend to leave this little city out of their travels. I didn’t need to see more food from Miami, Mickey ears from Orlando, or buildings from St. Augustine. Is Tallahassee more than a college town? After all, it’s my state’s capital.

Facebook told us of a local Ultimate Frisbee game north of the city. Our drive there led us through one of Tallahassee’s canopy drives. Droopy trees arched high above us, partially blocking the sky and almost forming a tunnel of branches, trunks, and leaves. Between that and the soft rolling hills, Mickey Mouse suddenly seemed so far away.

Unfortunately, a recent storm had struck Tallahassee and everywhere branches and downed power lines had closed businesses, roads… even the Frisbee game. But GrubBurger welcomed us inside with tall, gooey, and comforting Burgers and salty, matchstick Fries. Unfortunately, every three minutes a staffer would smile and offer assistance- it became annoying.

To feed our Coffee addiction… or dare I say obsession? (and waking too early to drive) Lucky Goat on Capital Circle delivered us the concoction called Goat Bomb (Cold Brew & Espresso). It also gifted us WiFi to research 20+ hotels because our proposed housing was one of the businesses without power. The hotels conspired against us by either disconnecting their phones (because of no power) or saying they were full (Tally residents taking up hotels for their power).

Eventually the Hilton Garden Inn accepted us despite it taking an hour for them to overcome system failures due to the storm. Thankfully, this simple and clean room allowed us to finally relax after such a crazy start to the trip.

Tallahassee is a small, condensed city; in a short drive we had crossed the downtown, passed the university, and entered Korean BBQ and More. With serve-yourself Styrofoam containers, we helped ourselves to unlimited Kimchi, Miso Soup, Barley Tea, and Rice Malt drinks from buffet chafers pressed into the corner. Our Bulgogi and Spicy Pork tasted like it had come straight from a home kitchen. Delicious yet insanely casual.

Black Dog Café at Railroad Square did more than give us a late Nitro Brew and an Iced Latte (I said we had an obsession right?) The Zack Bacak Quartet was pa-plink-plinking for their Black Dog’s weekly night concerts. For the next hour we swayed to this intimate performance (while trying not to fall over the gourmet popsicles cooler) and I sipped my Latte like it was Wine.

Proof Brewing Company (a short stumble away) featured an outdoor space I found more interesting than its Brew (although it was cool seeing more than half their offerings were actually from my home city.) We took our flight of Beer outside to sit under the strung lights where other Beer-lovers lounged in the vast space.

It’s only been one day but Tallahassee is already surprising me. By acting as a gateway to the state’s Panhandle, there’s plenty of curious territory to still explore. Hopefully that big storm doesn’t bring more nuisances.