Yet not even we who take care of the Dog were prepared for the events of last Sunday.

On that dreary afternoon, an unassuming fellow from nearby Concord showed up on the Summit doorstep with a cardboard box full of…you guessed it… 11 freckled dogs that he was giving away.  For free.  Born from a Fox Terrier mom and a Boxer dad, these six-week-old pups wore black and white spots and hundreds of black freckles:  Freckled dogs being gifted a mere meter away from the door to our own Freckled Dog Pub.  And to top it all off, the dogs shared the exact same birthday: January 3.

Within just a few hours, the man in the brown coat had discovered what we already knew: Summit customers love the freckled dog. Nine of the 11 pups were picked, leaving just two freckled doggies shivering in the chilly wind of the early evening.

That’s when I walked up.

Before I go any further, I want to make one thing clear. Although I am as much a freckled-dog-lover as the next guy, the last thing I need is a six-week-old puppy. I have a working wife, a 15-month-old son, a 3-year-old daughter, a 6-year-old dog (with freckles), 2 ½ jobs, a messy house, and a mild case of insomnia.

But this dog’s face was so freakin’ cute. I had to at least snap a picture to send my wife and kids.

Big mistake.

Five minutes later (this is no exaggeration), I spotted my wife walking down Main St. pushing a double jogging stroller and smuggling something inside her coat. No she didn’t…

…Yes she did.

Welcome to the family, Levon. You are a heckuva cute dog, you are a rascal, you have kept me awake for five nights running, you have pooped on my carpet, and you have made our home a circus.

Now I have a freckled dog (Otis), a Freckled Dog (Pub), and a freckled puppy.

Time for one of those world-class brews.

It’s Valentine’s Day, which seems to be more divisive than our country’s political landscape. To recognize or to ignore? To celebrate or to bemoan? At Summit, we recognize, we celebrate, we embrace February 14. Chocolate and roses were so 20th century; coffee is the new flavor of love.

Some three years ago, one couple found Summit to be such a special place that the soon-to-be-husband proposed to his soon-to-be-wife via our daily trivia. (While I wasn’t here, my hope is that she received her $0.10 discount when she correctly answered “yes.”) And we know Dave has met a girlfriend or two by pouring a heart on top of a latte.

Five years ago, I met my wife (she wasn’t my wife when I met her, just to be clear) when I handed her a mug of Kilimanjaro Blend over the counter. “You’re Brian, right?” she asked. The friendship and subsequent courtship blossomed from one cup of black coffee to the next. There’s little that says “I love you” like sitting behind Summit on a Sunday morning, cup of coffee in hand. Three years later when we married in Richmond, Virginia, we gave each guest a two-ounce bag of coffee. Kilimanjaro Blend, to bring things full circle.

So on this Tuesday, when I wake up and brew some Kilimanjaro at home for Tyler before heading north to do the same for the town of Davidson, know that nothing quite says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like a cup of Summit coffee.

Go ahead, chocolate. Top that.

Following our debut running event in November, which drew 220 runners, we’re coming back this year with four races. Starting with the Leprechaun Loop 8K on the evening March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), the 2012 Summit Twilight Racing Series again will feature post-race live music festivals. The other events will be held on June 15, August 31 and November 16.

We’re also excited to partner with Levine Children’s Hospital as the beneficiary of the March 17 event. These races give us the opportunity to give back, and we can’t wait to start raising money for Levine Children’s Hospital.

Haven’t registered yet? What are you waiting for! We have several fun surprises and exciting announcements in store for the St. Patrick’s Day race, so click here to get on board: http://www.queencitytiming.com/search/event.aspx?event=f76a6fe1-0e16-4b12-9d6b-6a31fce9e57f.aspx

I know two sides of Andrew Lovedale: the basketball player and the philanthropist. I’m sure there are more and better ways to identify Andrew, but here’s what I know.

I know No. 41, the 6′ 8″ forward from Nigeria whose energy and skill were integral to Davidson College’s run in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. I know Andrew Lovedale, the physically gifted crowd favorite who was perfect from the field as the Wildcats crushed Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen.

I also know the Andrew Lovedale that cares more about giving back to those in need than giving it to his opponents. In 2009, Andrew launched Kicks From ‘Cats, a shoe-drive fundraiser for his home country that amassed more than 10,500 pairs of shoes and $15,000 in its inaugural run. The following year after his graduation from Davidson, Andrew established Access to Success (A2S) to continue the successful Kicks From ‘Cats venture.

Now in its fourth year, Kicks From ‘Cats returns to Davidson this weekend and will make a stop at The Freckled Dog Pub on Friday night. From 4:00-7:00, join former Davidson basketball players Can Civi and Ben Allison, our “guest bartenders,” and raise your glass for a good cause. Proceeds from a few specific drinks will benefit A2S, while bartenders will donate their tips to the foundation and a suggested $5 donation at the door will go straight to Kicks From ‘Cats.

We also will have a bin on Friday evening to collect shoes that you are willing to donate. For more information, please visit http://a2sfoundation.org/Access_2_Success/Home.html

In 1999, I spent 6 months in the Himalayas. I studied in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, climbed sacred mountains and lived with Tibetan refugees. I was in hot pursuit of capital T Truth, and I found more of it in those 6 months than in my other 32 ½ years combined. Amid that pursuit, however, I happened upon another truth: the beer in the Himalayas is awful. Awful. Until…

One evening, I was leaving a dinner with some other Americans as a bicycle rickshaw passed us by. On the back of the rickshaw, I saw – unmistakably – a Guinness Logo.

Of all my time in the wisdom and beauty of the Himalayas, this was my big AHA moment. But I was only 3 months into my time in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Hindi was still, well … Hindi. So the other scribbles on the advertisement were lost on me.

So I ran. It was a knee jerk reaction, but I hadn’t had a good beer in a long time. I sprinted down the street  after the rickshaw and signaled the driver to stop. I finagled him to the back of his rickshaw and pointed enthusiastically to his sign. “Where is Guinness? Where is Guinness?” After a lot of head shaking, head nodding and hand gestures, the driver finally told me to “Get in!” And I did.

What ensued was a true Kathmandu Odyssey. My trusty bicycle rickshaw driver pedaled up, down and around the Kathmandu Valley trying to find my Guinness. Throughout our journey, we would pull over to the side of the road so my driver could seek the council of some friends. There was a lot of finger pointing, arguing, shouting; it is not hyperbole to say that this pursuit of Guinness lasted for hours. Yet after many hilly miles, we found it.

It turns out that Guinness had begun brewing beer in Nepal just that month! There was only one bar in the whole valley that had the first batch of beer, and we found it! I cannot aptly describe how beautiful it looked and how good it tasted -  made all the more incredible by the excitement of the effort. I even got my driver to come in and have one with me.

The cool thing about Guinness is that, even when it is brewed elsewhere on the globe, a certain percentage of each brew must come from the original brewery in Dublin, Ireland. That’s seriously cool.

The pursuit of Guinness was, and still is, a worthy pursuit. I am pleased to announce that the Freckled Dog Pub is now a destination for this pursuit. Summit will serve its first Guinness tonight. Sure it will be in a draught can, but part of the beverage will be straight from the Dublin brewery.

Guinness: It’s Good for you. So is the Freckled Dog Pub.

How many times have you been in a bar, restaurant, or coffee shop and heard a live rendition of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl?” How about “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond? Or Oasis’s “Wonderwall?”

Me too.

I have nothing against these songs or the people that play them. Hell, I’ll sing along. But this just isn’t what we’re about at Summit. Since we started having live music three nights a week in 2003, we’ve been all about original music. You might hear a few cover tunes thrown in the mix, but the musicians that we hire are here to perform their own compositions, and we’ve tried to cultivate a crowd that comes to listen.

The Summit Songwriters Showcase, founded and hosted by Rob McHale, epitomizes this commitment to the craft. On the third Thursday of every month, Rob McHale – with regular help from the Mikes – assembles three talented songsters for a songwriters-in-the-round. Through the event, Summit has hosted a diverse group of supremely gifted singer-songwriters. If you haven’t made it out, you need to.

In 2011 alone, the showcase featured the following musicians:


The Cloers, 
Magdalena Daley, 
Mike Davis
, Haley Dreis, 
Lindy Dobbins
, Don Eidman
, Paul Finnican
, Eric Guthrie, Chuck Johnson, 
Billy Jones, 
Jamie Kay
, Rusty Knox, 
Lucinda Lucas
, Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards, 
Angelo Melendez, 
Ang Medlin, 
Hannah Miller
, Jackie Moseley
, Mike Nolan
, Shantell Ogden
, Lea Pritchard
, Steve Pelland, Marie Reid
, Sara Scott
, Steve Simpson
, Rick Spreitzer
, Adam Whiting
, and Chas Willimon.

Wow.

We learned two things during that scene, however, that stick with us: 1) Tom Hanks grows a great beard, and 2) “I just felt like running.”

At the core of all runners is the simple desire to go. Two hours before sunrise and two hours after sunset, in the rain and in the snow, for one mile and for ten, we just feel like running.

This Thursday night, a group of us will gather in front of Summit at 5:30pm for the third straight week for a group run. The first week brought six runners, and the second week more than a dozen. We split into three different groups — some of us runners, some of us not — and explored the town of Davidson on foot. One group ran three miles, another ran four, while a handful of us ran just over six.

Summit and the Davidson Area Running Team (DART — get it?) are teaming for these Thursday night runs. We gather on Main St., head out into the night for a nice group run, and meet back for some good beer and friendly banter at Summit. Last week’s run brought four women, eight men, one boy and two babies.

What does this week have in store? We’ll find out tomorrow night. I hope to see you there.

While I was working behind the counter at Summit this Tuesday, a customer left behind her gift card to pay for the next person’s order, whatever it may be. She quietly took her seat, wanting not even a “thank you” for her good deed. Soon thereafter, a gentleman walked through the front door to his free large cup of The Rad Blend.

Wednesday morning, as fate may have it, these two arrived at Summit in the same order as they had the previous day. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing the anonymous act of kindness that linked these two customers. Tuesday’s random beneficiary then elected to become Wednesday’s random giver. He left $3 to pay for the next large coffee, offered to a gentleman some 10 minutes later who left me a $3 tip to continue the chain.

I start my shift behind the counter this Thursday at 11:00am. No matter who my first customer is, or what he/she orders, it’s on me. Who am I to stop such a good string of kindness? After all, I wore a Livestrong bracelet, too.

“Where’s Becky?” “Where’s Becky?” “Where’s Becky?”

I fielded that question at least a half dozen times this morning,

Today is the one day a week that Becky doesn’t open the store. Each of the other six days this week, and on six days each week, Becky wakes up before all of us to get the coffee brewing and get the town going. It’s not quite the same on the rare mornings when Becky isn’t here. It’s not that the other baristas aren’t equally extraordinary, and we believe the Summit experience is just as good on these days as any other. It’s just not the same.

I love that customers are perplexed when they don’t see Becky in the morning. For them, Becky is inseparable from Summit Coffee. They have this reaction because they see Becky at Summit all the time, but they also have this reaction because Becky is a part of Summit. And, man, are we lucky.

Customers remind me about this on regular occasions. “Tim, do you realize how lucky you are to have Becky here?” “Becky is the best.” “You have a real treasure in Becky.” I am always quick to affirm these commendations and to assure our customers that I am indeed aware of how lucky we are.

I have always said that the baristas are the single most important part of the company. They define us; they are our brand.  I am thrilled to have Becky shaping the definition of Summit Coffee. She is one of a very special group of baristas, and they all deserve a lot of credit and a lot of my gratitude.

I knew when I first interviewed Becky that she would be perfect for Summit. I called her repeatedly while she was still living in Raleigh to find out when she was moving down and when she could start. Luckily for us, a few months later, she was behind the bar.

Becky has made us a better coffee shop each day that she has been here. She is everything that we want Summit to be. Becky is serious about her work but she makes the work place fun every day. She has personality in bundles. She is warm and caring, and she has formed meaningful relationships with so many of our customers. Becky loves her work, and it shows. In addition to managing the shop she has also served as a winger for the Summit soccer team (Barista United!), and she also spent the New Years weekend painting the shop. These are just a few of the ways in which Becky has left an indelible mark on Summit.

She is also tireless, and she can’t stand the idea of having two days off in a row!

So, don’t worry Davidson. Becky will be back tomorrow before sun up. Luckily.

When I was living in Oxford, England two summers ago, my wife Beth and I got in the habit of meeting at 5:00 each day in one of the MANY local pubs. We loved the ritual of it, we loved the character of the cozy, historic establishments, we loved the good beer, and we loved the community feel of the places.

It occurred to me that the pubs felt a little bit like Summit.

Thus began the brainstorm that has led to the creation of The Freckled Dog in the Summit upstairs space. The Dog will open for business on Fridays from 5 to 9, beginning on January 5. We hope to initiate a Friday ritual of gathering with good friends for good conversations over a good drink.

The beer menu will not disappoint. Plenty of the finest brews from the Motherland will anchor a menu that also includes some unique American microbrews and a few craft beers from Belgium.

For the time being, the pub is CASH ONLY. Sorry for the hassle; try to plan ahead.