On a morning errand, we finally stopped at The Whistle Stop of Denham Springs. It was a quick stop, but we were glad we did. Come visit this lovely little place with us.

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Hi, Again, Dear Readers:

Welcome to August, the “Dog Days Of Summer.” Call it what you want, but all three dogs are inside during the day. It’s just way too hot for them outside right now. We’re expecting at least one day next week of 100F temps. Stay hydrated and cool much as you can.

I know, it’s a bit early for a new blog post, but. . .I have something delicious to report.

Have you ever passed by a place and said to yourself, “I’m going to stop in there one of these days?” Do you pass by that place often enough to where you keep saying that, but you never do? Well, we did and finally visited. We are now wondering why we never did before.

Going to Denham Springs

Whenever James says he’s going to that area, to me, it’s just “Baton Rouge.” Denham Springs is more a suburban part around Baton Rouge, but is not in Baton Rouge. I’m not from this area, either, but he is.

On Thursday, we had an errand at the local machine shop before James went to work. After getting some more of that wonderful Bananas Foster coffee last week, I asked if we could return for another round. Unfortunately, the machine shop visit took longer than we’d planned and we were running out of time. That other coffee chain was a bit out of the way. When James got back, we had to do some dog wrangling before he made it out the door to get to work on time.

I didn’t mind missing the stop, so told James, “never mind, we’ll try again later, let’s just go home.” But he made a left turn at the light on Highway 16, and then another left turn into this friendly little place.

He pulled into The Whistle Stop.

We’ve passed by this little coffee place in Denham Springs so many times.

The Denham Springs Antique District

This area is one with antique shops and other small businesses that have been there for a long time, just like The Whistle Stop. Everything has been there much longer than I’ve been here.

Apparently, The Whistle Stop’s owners have recently changed, and they’re now owned by a young family with ties to the area.

As we were leaving, I think we said “hello” to the husband. James appeared to be the only male customer, and there was a man out back getting supplies out of a vehicle wearing a shirt with the shop’s name on the back. We didn’t ask.

It’s not lost on me that this Whistle Stop is somewhat reminiscent of the one from the film Fried Green Tomatoes, based on the book Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Café.

The Whistle Stop is located next to railroad tracks. It’s also a reminder of another coffee house I used to visit a long time ago.

Happy Customers

I’ve told James for many years that we needed to stop in “that little coffee shop over there.” Next time, right? Never seemed to happen. But of course, coffee shops aren’t his thing, until they are.

And there were quite a few happy customers enjoying their morning while we bought a takeout order. Didn’t take long, and we were back on the road.

On the way home, we became happy customers, too. (Keep reading.)

When I got to my desk, I looked up The Whistle Stop and found the website, Yelp page (unclaimed by the business but plenty of good comments), and 290 Google reviews. I’ll be adding mine soon, too.

Making The Stop

The Whistle Stop is a classic old-style neighborhood place. This is the front door:

Isn’t it cute? Although we didn’t spend much time there, it did seem rather small. That didn’t stop plenty of people from having breakfast or just coffee and pastry at 10:00 am. It was also very busy. I just wanted some hot java for the ride back.

James is of the opinion that coffee shops are not for him because he doesn’t drink coffee. But he is learning that coffee shops aren’t always just for coffee, either. Although the big chain with a green logo does not have Coca-Cola, regional chains and independent places do. So does The Whistle Stop, and he was happy about that.

Then he wanted something else for the road trip back to the Casa de Rurale.

The Most Heavenly Cookies

There were three types of cookies on cake stands under glass covers on the counter when we walked through the front door. The very nice lady at the register told us what each one was.

James decided he wanted the cookies with chocolate chunks, macadamia nuts, and shredded coconut. They were quite large, and he requested two—one for now and one for later, since he was going to work in the afternoon.

Hmmm. . .”that sounds pretty tasty,” I said. Then he asked for three. The nice lady packed them up in a little white paper bag for us. She rang everything up along with my delicious hot coffee and James’ icy cold Coke. After scanning their QR code to get on their email list, we left. It was an hour-long drive back, so we couldn’t hang around. I didn’t even see the whole place.

The Angels Descend From Heaven

Once we got back on the road, I started nibbling my cookie. It was big, heavy, and almost a full meal. And that’s when it happened.

The first bite was just incredibly delicious. Sweet, heavy, soft, chewy. So many flavors that just announce themselves at once.

Then I took the second bite. It was heavenly. I looked over and said to James, “I’m having a religious experience.”

He thought that was pretty funny until he took a bite of his, while he was driving. Thankfully, he did not experience rapture or anything else overly spiritual and continued driving without incident. But he understood.

James said he wouldn’t blame me if I ate the second cookie. I told him I’d split it with him, and he agreed. I broke it in half and we began experiencing additional enlightenment.

The cookies didn’t make it out of Livingston Parish. I don’t even think they made it out of Denham Springs. They were that good.

Later, he said, “I’m pretty sure those cookies were not gluten-free or anything like that.” No, probably not. But they were definitely worth the splurge on a fine Thursday morning.

An Unexpected Return Visit

Yesterday’s trip to the machine shop wasn’t completed. James didn’t have all the “oil rings” needed to complete a motor project. So, we got up much earlier this morning and went back to the machine shop to get them. The machine shop wasn’t yet open, so we again stopped at Whistle Stop.

That was the good news. The bad news is that those incredible cookies were gone. I guess everyone wanted a religious experience yesterday. Instead, we had breakfast, with coffee (me) and chocolate milk (James.)

For me, it was this delicious bacon/egg/cheese wrap with provolone, mushrooms and jalapeno peppers.

I thought they were bell peppers until I felt that heat. (A quick sip of chocolate milk helped.) James went with the safer and equally delicious bacon/egg/cheese biscuit.

Not his usual breakfast out, and he really enjoyed it, too. I told James he was off the hook for dinner out for a while.

Whistle Stop is an hour ride one way, so it’s not our usual hangout. We stopped there first and then drove to the machine shop five miles away. We made it home with plenty of time for dog wrangling and for James to get to work on time.

There Used To Be A Place. . . .

A long time ago, in a place far, far away (Metairie, Louisiana) was a similar establishment called Coffee Cottage. Much like The Whistle Stop, it too was in the most wonderful little old-style house, located on Metairie Road near the intersection of North Labarre Road.

The house was a short drive from my little college-days apartment of the early- and mid-1990’s. Always friendly and welcoming, I loved going there. Took my friends there too, and my then-fiancé and I went there on occasional date nights. Even when we moved to Houston two years after the wedding, we tried to make sure to drop Coffee Cottage by when we were in town.

Post-divorce, while I was working for Boeing in Houston, I made the occasional NOLA weekend trips on my own. One weekend, I stopped there before I returned to Houston. It was the first time I had Bananas Foster coffee. When I went back to work on Monday, I told everybody in the office about that cuppa for two days. I’m sure they got tired of hearing about Bananas Foster coffee, but I never forgot it. There was also a second location over in Harahan, near where The E-Man lived.

In 2004, owner and chef John Caluda lost the lease on the little house property, and it was intended to be demolished for a bank. Coffee Cottage’s last day was December 24. The E Man told me about the closure, knowing I was visiting for the holidays. I was one of the final Coffee Cottage customers, driving in from Houston in the cold weather. That was the year Houston and New Orleans had snowfall and a “white Christmas.”

The next year (2005) was Hurricane Katrina. I’m not sure what’s there now, if the house is gone or what. Somewhere, packed in a box, I have some pictures of the place during its heyday. John Caluda transitioned into Cottage Catering and people still enjoy his delicious food.

The Whistle Stop reminded me so much of the old Coffee Cottage. Now I want to dig up those pictures from the closet and look at them again, ex and all.

We’ll Be Back

James isn’t always ready to try something new, but occasionally, he will. This time, it was mostly because we were close, and it turned out good. The second visit this morning was even better.

Maybe next time we can hang out inside for a few minutes and enjoy ourselves a little. I told James that if we ever wanted to have lunch or dinner somewhere different, Whistle Stop would be a great place to do that.

The Whistle Stop is located at 180 E Railroad Ave, Denham Springs, LA 70726, and their number is (225) 271-8801. They’re open Tuesday through Friday, 7:00 am to 8:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, and are closed Sunday and Monday. Check out their menu before you go. They also do catering and sell larger containers of gumbo and soup:

More to come soon. Meantime,

Happy Dining!