Great Neighborhood Coffee Shops: M.E. Swing in Alexandria, Virginia

Finding a great coffee shop is like meeting your new best friend. You know in those first few minutes that this is the start of something beautiful, and you're not about to let it go. My latest experience with this? Alexandria, Virginia's M.E. Swing. Located just north of Del Ray's Mount Vernon Avenue on Monroe Avenue, this spot oozes cool.

It's a light-filled space that comes complete with garage door windows, vintage soda boxes and worn furniture. I feel just as much in love with the tiny details as I did the coffee itself. I saw many a freelancer typing away at their computers here. Like many neat places, the little details made all the difference. I loved the wooden doors separating the counter from the rest of the space. That old school scale. The newspaper reams. I only spent a few hours in the shop, but I'm sure there's even more to be discovered. And that's the beauty of spaces like this one. Visitors can always look forward to discovering a new detail, whether it be their second or hundredth. I'll raise a glass (of java, of course) to that.