Decline and Fall: The IBB Sinks Still Further

I don't know. I really don't know. Just when I think it can't possibly get any worse at the IBB than it already is, something else happens. Not that I should be surprised given who is running the show over there, but it's beginning to look like the S.S. Titanic at 2.15 in the morning ... about to go under. Today's episode will no doubt finish off the last of the regulars.

The IBB opens at 7.00 am. But at 9.00 am they were closed with out any note of explanation or apology. I stood further up the street watching a couple of regulars and several tourists peer forlornly into the darkened window and then wander away, java-less. Eventually the owner of the frame shop next door to the IBB was seen standing on the street with her cell phone, obviously calling the Queen Bee. "The Manager" finally showed up and opened the IBB on the dot of 10.30, three and a half hours late. How can you not open your store on time?

I spoke with the Festival Director and she's as fed up with the dreadful coffee as everyone else is and with "The Manager." I suggested she try the OCH. That makes ... what, five or six people I know of who are heading elsewhere for their java. It's really sad.