Southern Tea Time Getaway - Day 1

As you've noticed, I've been missing from my blog for several days.  The long-awaited, long-planned Southern Tea Time Getaway to Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina finally happened.  It was originally planned for last September, but hurricane Irma occurred at the same time as our travel dates, and she went everywhere we were planning to go, so I had to cancel the tour.

We [my hubby, girlfriend, Lori, and me] departed from Warren, MI on Tuesday, May 15th at 8:00 a.m. and drove south 34 miles to Southgate, MI where we picked up five other ladies who were part of our group.   

My hubby was loading the van in the photo below.  He was chauffeur, valet, photographer, and whatever else we needed him to be on this trip.

Then we headed south another 118 miles to Lima, Ohio where we picked up the last four ladies in our group at 11:30 a.m.

The Mercedes 15-passenger, high-top van [below] was our means of transportation for the 2,313 miles we traveled during our 10-day trip.

Once their luggage was loaded we were on the road again.  Judy, one of the ladies in our group, owned a tearoom Flowers and Friends for ten years, and asked if she could bring some homemade treats to share on the van.  Of course, I said yes.  Turns out she treated us to a tea party on wheels!

She made bags of Candied Chex Mix with Pecans for each of us.  Below was Jerry's and my makeshift place setting sitting on top of a cooler in between our front seats.  Aren't those adorable paper products?  Our tea was Oolong, and pictured is a Parmesan scone, which she served with a Pesto spread, or home canned Peach Preserves.

We had Cucumber Dill Triangles [which I didn't get a picture of], followed by Cinnie Minnie Apple Pies, and Pecan Pie Squares.  Yum!

Lastly, fancy 'tour bus' tea cookies.  It was my first time to enjoy a tea party while traveling in a van, and it was a great beginning to our tea trip.  Thanks so much, Judy!

109 miles down the road we had 1:30 p.m. reservations at The Tea Parlor in Liberty Township, Ohio.  I knew I would definitely have to go on a diet by the end of this tour!  Sue Schechter has been operating her tearoom out of her home for 13 years, and we were fortunate to get in because she closed down the next day for a month long vacation to England, Scotland and Ireland.

There were 11 ladies in our group.  Judy was missing from the picture below, but she's in the next one.  

The tearoom is in a spacious country setting.

Everything on the property told us a tea lover lived there!

Susan was ready and waiting for us.  We loved the evergreen garland draped around her living room window with miniature teacups and teapots dangling from it.  Two tables were set up for us.

Her sweet little grandson was there with his mommy enjoying a birthday tea in his honor.  She's training him right!

A tea menu was on each plate, and I ordered Southern Pecan Pie black tea.  It was flavored with pecans, walnuts, and white chocolate.

The teapot said: "Be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord."  Romans 12:116

Sue referred to this tea as a "Taste of the Tropics" full tea.  

Top tier:  Fresh Fruit and assorted Cheeses and Crackers. Middle tier twelve o'clock position:  Curry Cheese Pita, open-faced Cucumber Sandwiches,  Sesame Chicken Salad Sandwich; and Ham Pineapple Sandwich.  There was also a Sweet Pepper Savory that was served separately, but I didn't get a photo of it.

Bottom tier:  Tropical Crumbles, Coconut Macaroons, and Matcha White Chocolate Bread. Cream and Mango scones were served last with mock Devonshire Cream, Lemon Curd and Jam.  

Susan [the owner] took this photo of our group and gave each one of us a wallet-size copy before we left.  What a nice thing to do!

 Susan and Me.  Her website is www.theteaparlor.net 

With two teas under our belts on the first day, we all piled back into the van bound for Williamsburg, KY [208 miles farther] where we spent our first night at the Cumberland Inn.

To be continued...

100 Purses 100 Years

Last Saturday, [1/20] my girlfriend, Linda, coordinated an outing for six ladies to Toledo, Ohio to attend a handbag exhibit at St. Paul Lutheran Church's HeART Gallery.  I was one of the lucky ladies!

The church was established in 1857 and the current building was built in 1868.  

100 purses were displayed in chronological order spanning 100 years, and tracing the changing roles of women from 1880's to 1980's.  I took pictures to share with you. The majority of the purses were to accompany elegant attire until they neared the 1980's, and then they became more casual and modern.  The purses were displayed in lovely vignettes.

Here's to women's purses [handbags] over the years!  

It was an interesting exhibit.  There are 88 purses pictured, so somehow I missed taking pictures of 12 purses.  

I'm certain during my adulthood I've either given away, thrown away, or sold in garage sales 100 purses.  Do you save your purses for posterity, or get rid of them after they go out-of-style or are no longer used?  

I don't consider myself someone who has a lot of purses, and I don't collect them unless they're tea-themed, then I have a hard time resisting.  For fun I counted my purses and found I currently have 36, one of which was my mother's that she carried at my wedding.  Do you have a lot of purses or collect certain kinds?  I'm not swayed by designer purses with big price tags, and I prefer small or medium size purses.

I remembered my tea and blogging friend, Nancy Reppert, writing a post on her blog about a handbag program at her tearoom, Sweet Remembrances in Mechanicsburg, PA.  The 2014 program was called, "It's in the Bag, Handbags, that is!"  If you would like to see the post, click here.  When I was at Nancy's Halloween Tea in 2016, another attendee [who was a purse collector] offered to buy my friend Linda's pumpkin purse for $200 and she sold it.

On December 5th my tea and blogging friend, Angela McRae, asked the question on Facebook, "What do you call the woman's accessory?  a] Purse  b] Pocketbook  c] Handbag and she received 87 responses.  What do you call it?

Whenever I think of purses, I think of Queen Elizabeth II who is never seen without one whether indoors or outdoors.  She always carries it on her left arm unless she's conveying a secret message to those with her, then she switches it to her right arm.

I decided there surely must be handbag teapots, so I Googled it and sure enough there are! Here's two of many.

Purses are such a fascinating subject, and now my mind is swirling about a program of my own, along with things found inside them!   Three books are in my Amazon cart right now about the fashion accessory.  Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pastries are even made in the shape of purses.

Following the exhibit we attended a lovely tea in the church parlor.  Tomorrow's post...