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Only opened in
September 2004, this delightful tea room seems to have been in place forever.
Although located in a tiny mall and on a very busy highway, upon entering you are transported into a serene, relaxing
environment.
The
décor is cozy, clean, and comfortable. Wicker chairs sit side by side, flanking the bay window. When you enter, you pass through a small
picket fence. The tables were covered with calico squares over a white
tablecloth. There are two rooms for tea, with five tables in each one.
The tea room offers special teas, lunch,
à la carte, or take home specials.
My
daughter Jessica and I opted for the Making Memories Tea, which included a pot of tea, fruit cup, assorted tea sandwiches, savories,
assorted tea desserts, and scones.
 For my tea, I chose
Assam Fancy, described as coming from North India,
high grown, excellent with milk, and a malty flavor. Jess chose Keemun,
described as ebony leaves producing a tasty flavor. They were both excellent choices. The tea was decanted, which is the only way to serve
tea to alleviate any bitterness.
The chilled fruit cup was a refreshing start to the tea on a warm
Washington day. Following this were the tea sandwiches, abundant in numbers. Crab salad
filled a phyllo cup, cucumber with dilled cream cheese was served on white bread, egg salad with chives on white, ham
salad on pumpernickel, and chicken salad with red grapes and chives
was served on whole wheat bread. Also with the sandwiches was a tiny quiche
Lorraine, and spinach wrapped in dough.
Next on the three-tier plate
were the scones. Four in all, two were made with dates, and the other two with currants. These were served with
lemon curd, Devonshire cream, and strawberry jam.
Desserts were
plentiful: Lemon squares, chocolate mousse, lemon-blueberry cheesecake, a seven-layer bar, fresh strawberries,
mini cream puff, coconut macaroon with chocolate, and an orange and chocolate
coconut-based morsel.
In talking with the proprietors, Elsie
Camp and Judy Heidal, we learned that they are life-long friends. On one of their 50th birthday celebrations
they went to a tea room and said, "We could do this." They had been looking to do something together and this was it. With experience in
event planning they forged ahead.
They have done a wonderful
job with both decorating and food preparation. On the menu they tell us their mission
statement: to offer an experience in "taking tea" that will relax the mind, refresh the body,
and renew the spirit. They did accomplish that. And for us, memories were made as well.
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