The great thing about coffeneuring is that it gets you biking to new places. Coffeeneuring #1 sent me to Buzz Bakery and their delicious red velvet cupcakes. Coffeeneuring #2 was a trip to hipsterville aka Big Bear in Bloomingdale.
For my third coffeeneuring adventure, I decided to visit Union Market. This wholesale market in Northeast DC (formerly known as the Florida Avenue Market) has been reinvented as an artisanal shopping experience.
To get there, Google Maps sent me across the city via M Street. I thought the route was crazy, but I played along.
![Logan Circle to Union Market, the crazy Google way. the Google Maps route to Union Market](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/10390892754_5914bf5b6c_z.jpg)
The Google sent me down M Street through Shaw, across Mad Max-style New York Avenue and through NoMa streets torn up from construction. After going under the railroad tracks, I just followed the hipsters up to the market.
Union Market is home to more than a dozen different restaurants and retail shops, including Peregrine Coffee, Dolcezza Gelato, Co Co. Sala and TaKorean. It’s sort of “city in a box” where you can shop for all your luxury treats in one location.
![Union Market Union Market](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2844/10391043926_42f717f5a3_z.jpg)
![Union Market sign Union Market sign in black and white](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/10390974795_d3165eab80_z.jpg)
![Pickles cure everything Pickles cure everything](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2816/10391002765_db05146c9a_z.jpg)
![Salt and Sundry Salt and Sundry](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2830/10390948885_9c86e6c37e_z.jpg)
![Coco Sala chocolate Coco Sala chocolate](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/10390958435_2560a4d022_z.jpg)
![Cappuccino at Union Market Cappuccino at Union Market](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7387/10386374623_c4459b6580_z.jpg)
What’s funny about Union Market is that it’s a luxury enclave within a still-functioning wholesale market that sprawls over several blocks of Northeast DC. The rest of the market looks a little bleak:
![The other side of Union Market. Northeast DC can be a bit bleak](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3667/10391117943_45d79984ff_z.jpg)
I ran into one of my favorite local photographers, pablo.raw, at the market. He disappeared into this industrial landscape to look for interesting alleys.
With my trip to Union Market completed, I disregarded the Google. Instead, I went south to the Capitol, with the first hints of fall creeping into Washington.
![biking toward the Capitol biking toward the Capitol](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3692/10390920634_f308fd47fa_z.jpg)
Another coffeeneuring adventure completed!
Wow, this made me miss DC. What a gorgeous city in the fall. It’s nice to see that Union Market has some outdoor seating now, too!