When in the Hub City, go southbound

It has been a long time since wifey and I have been able to visit one of our favorite coffee shops in Hattiesburg.

Once upon a time a few years ago the local daily paper, The Hattiesburg American, had a feature on the eatery, and so we decided back then to give it a try.

Wifey is from Hattiesburg (MS), also known as the Hub City, and through the past 65 years, she has seen major changes to the downtown and surrounding areas.

Trains pass through Hattiesburg on the major line going north and south. There are offshoots from the mainline where railcars loaded with raw products are taken to local plants and then the finished items are shipped out.

Looking toward the railroad crossing

That's where the hole in the wall gets its name.

Southbound Bagel is located just across from one of the offshoots where Front, Market and Agnes intersect. The newspaper article that sweetened our interest was the fact that they made cinnamon rolls, but only on Saturday mornings.

Enjoying a cinnamon roll

A couple years ago, when we first visited, they offered basic coffee and had one of those cappuccino machines like one now sees in gas stations. But they have updated and actually have an upscale machine that their baristas  use to make all sorts of hot coffee drinks.

Just last week, following a memorial service for wifey's mother, Linda threw out the idea of getting some hot tea.

I was headed out toward the University of Southern Mississippi to another coffee shop that offered free wifi. But I made a quick turn in our van and decided otherwise.

I am glad I did. It was about 1 p.m. and there was just another couple in the small establishment. Having parked  our van in a sidestreet and taken Linda inside, on my way out the door to park our van, I asked her to see if they had any cinnamon rolls.

When I got back, she said she wanted some milk instead of tea. I asked why? Because milk went better with cinnamon rolls.

I got some regular coffee and we spent a half hour or so just enjoying our visit.

Next post: March 13, 2012