I’m heading up to Whistler, BC for Cornucopia this weekend. There was a (very recent) time when that drive from Vancouver was so long and hair-raising–all those white-knuckle twists and turns–that it was necessary to take a break halfway just to gather your wits.

Now with all the pre-Olympic improvements to Highway 99 you get to Whistler so fast–just a little over an hour–that you don’t really need to stop. But you should, because the Galileo Coffee Company in Britannia Beach is too good to miss.

If you’re looking for a good cup of joe, don’t wait until the Starbucks in Squamish. They roast their own beans at the Galileo–just a 15-minute drive up the Sea-to-Sky beyond Horseshoe Bay–and the results warrant buying a bag to take home.

Opened about three years ago in a 1905 heritage home next door to the venerable “99er” restaurant (the kind of place where all the heads turned when a stranger walked in the front door), the friendly cafe offers great coffee, excellent sandwiches and a postcard-pretty view of Howe Sound.

I recently enjoyed a kick-ass Ruben and a limonata for $7. Good thing too, since I spent a little more than that on some earrings at the amber store across the road…