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Miss
Emily's Cherished Moments Tea and Scrapbook James
Bay Tea Room
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How it all Started
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I suppose that to begin a journey you must know where you
started. Robin, born and raised an English lad, came to this
country as a young boy. His family bringing with them the
beloved tradition of tea time. Tea seemed to be the constant
in a changing world during the 60's and 70's as Robin grew to a
young man. As time and love would have it, Linda soon swept
this young mans heart away in the early 70's.
It wasn't long before Linda discovered the soothing affect of sitting down for a cup of tea, something that she was not used to. Linda's Grandmother had unexpectedly passed away and Linda was having a difficult time dealing with the sorrow. Robin's mother brought her under her gentle wing and poured a cup of tea. The broken spirit was soothed and the memory made, of the soul soothing effects of tea time. Through the years and a growing family, tea was almost forgotten. Accept for the times at Nana's house where hot tea and fresh scones were served, which delighted the Hart children. It wasn't until the winter of 2004 that Robin and Linda rediscovered their English roots. Linda had decided to give a tea for 39 ladies, a large endeavor for someone who had not done so before. The tea was a smashing success and with Robin's encouragement, Linda discovered that this was her passion Needing to learn and seek guidance, Linda sought out information on the internet, local Tea Rooms and any other source she could find, to include attending the World Tea Expo. It was at this time that Robin and Linda discovered the joy of searching out information first hand from Tea Room owners and enjoying tea in many different establishments. It is that journey that we wish to share with you. We have
discovered that there is joy and adventure in Tea Travels. Tea
Rooms vary greatly from one town to another and each one fills a
certain customers expectancies of what a Tea Room is. We found
enjoyment in each place that we have visited and wish to share with
you those good times around many varied cups of tea |
Tea RoomsMiss Emily's - Paradise, Ca Linda and her family had their first Tea Room experience at Miss Emily's. They had hat's and more food than you could imagine. A wonderful time was had by all. Unfortunately, Miss Emily's has since closed HighsocieTea
- 131 California Ave., Reno, NV -
775-329-8327 Afternoon
to Remember - 452 Main Street,
Newcastle, Ca - 916-663-6358 While on our travels we like to keep informed on any Tea Rooms that may be on our way, or even out of our way. We were heading home from a wonderful few days at Green Gables in Monterey, when we discovered on Teamap.com that there was a Tea Room in Newcastle. Well, since Robin was born in Newcastle, England, it just seemed like we had to visit the sister city of Newcastle, Ca. It definitely was not on our way, but was a wonderful drive and tea. Afternoon to Remember was not much to look at on the outside, but they had really put their all in on the inside. Lots of retail and fruffy stuff. Wonderful food, kind and friendly service. We had a good time and really learned from the experience. Belle's
Tea Cottage - 1635 Marvel Way Reno, NV
- (775) 826-3006 Rose
Mountain Manor - 233 Plutes Way,
Colfax, CA - 866-444-ROSE On Claire's
recommendation (from Belle's) we took a short trip to a charming
B&B in Colfax, Ca. I wasn't sure what could be in Colfax,
but buried in the trees is a cozy B&B with tons of charm.
Barbara runs it by herself, quite a task. We arrived when
things were slow and Barbara sat a chatted with us for awhile.
We got the full tour and the full story of Rose Mountain
Manor. The food was excellent and rooms were very inviting, we
hated to leave. Barbara was also very encouraging to us on our
endeavor and looked forward to hearing news of our project. A
real out of the way place, but well worth the trip. Windsor
Tea Room - 334 Mason Street, San
Francisco, CA - 415-283-4TEA While visiting with one of our boys in Mill Valley, we decided to take the Ferry over to Fisherman's Warf from Sausalito. What a fabulous trip. We recommend it to all. Upon arrive at the Warf we hailed a Cab to take us to the King George Hotel, home of the Windsor Tea Room. Yes, it is a bit fancy and expensive, but the cab ride was worth every penny spent that day. I have never been on a ride at Disneyland that had me hanging on more than that cab ride. Very, very exciting. The Windsor Tea Room in located inside the Hotel and is not over done. Very peaceful and elegant. We definitely enjoyed our time. Treasured
Tea Time, 3214 Riverside Boulevard,
Sacramento, CA 916-930-9401
Touch
of Britain - 5712 Watt Avenue, North
Highlands, CA - (916) 344-8472 If I thought the cab ride in Frisco was exciting, I wasn't prepared for our adventure at a Touch of Britain. At first look, it is more of a British food store than a tea room. We sat at ordered lunch of typical British style food, Beef Pasties. The food was good and the service was interesting. We met Lillian (I believe that was her name), who, with another woman ran the business. They were quite the opposite from each other. Lillian, outspoken and forward, while the other quiet and reserved. We mentioned to Lillian our plans for a tea room and began on a verbal journey that lasted quite some time. Lillian had a wonderful British accent and talked a mile a minute with ideas, warnings, and information on what to sell. By the time we left we had purchased several things we didn't need and all we could say was WOW! If it is British food you are looking for, and not the tea experience, check out a Touch of Britain.
Tea
Era's - 73 Main St, Sutter Creek, CA -
209-267-0333 We had been trying to get out to Sutter Creek for quite some time and finally made it. What a magnificent place. The Tea Room was everything it had been built up to be and the owners Fran and Christie were wonderful. The old home that they use is very vintage and decorated nicely and there are some great gifts and things to buy. The food was just right, with the open offer for more if we weren't full. We were thrilled with the area and are looking forward to going back. Fran was very encouraging and packed us some scones for the road. What a great place. You must go to this one. 08/014/06 - We have been to Tea Era two more times since the first seating and are still enchanted by the place. We have had some wonderful conversations (always learning) with the owners, Fran and Christy (sp). They have really got their act together and are looking to expand. We are looking forward to going back to see what they have done Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
My
Enchanted Cottage & Tea Room 214
W. Ridgecrest Blvd., Ridgecrest, CA 760-375-2407
On this weekend we had a marathon of tea. Starting out in a part of Sacramento (Orangevale) with the Elegant Garden. This is an elaborate Tea House. I say house because it is divided into two sides. One side serves meals (we ate there awhile back, very nice) the other side serves elegant tea. The richness of the surrounding was a delight and was very suitable for the men in your life to feel very comfortable. We enjoyed out time there. This tea room is more formal (not in dress but personal service) in that it is lacking some of the warmth of a small tea room with the owners wandering about making you feel welcome. Regardless, it is well worth the side trip to enjoy a cupa.
We stopped at this small tea room on the way home. It took a little bit of looking to locate, but it is charming. We didn't actually have tea because they are reservations only, but did have a nice chat with one of the owners. This Tea Room is also mixed with a scrapbook store, yet, they have separated the two well. The Tea Room was decorated nicely and I'm sure that a great cup of tea is served. We will call ahead next time and let you know.
Earl
Grey Manor, 916 2nd Street, Historic Old Sacramento,
CA (916) 447-4TEA Ok, this was one to visit. We actually stumbled across this Tea Room. We had an afternoon to enjoy and was walking around Old Sacramento and there is was. This Tea Room has something for everybody. A tea bar, casual seating, a tent if you feel nomadic, or perhaps a Japanese Tea Ceremony.....they have it. Linda and Maxine have put a lot of thought and charm into their Tea Room and it really shows. We where treated very elegantly and enjoyed our English style tea time. This Tea Room has various themes throughout, bit our description would be Art Deco. We had a fabulous time and enjoyed meeting Linda and Maxine. To top of the tea time, we unexpectedly ran into some old friends and had a good visit. You really should make time for this Tea Room. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Lovejoys Tea Room, 1351 Church Street, San Francisco, CA (415)-648-5895 Traveling to San Francisco is not
one of my favorite things to do. However, we needed to get
some passports taken care of very quickly. So according to our
style, we scouted around for a Tea Room to alleviate the boredom in
between times. We found a very nice Tea Room on the corner of
Church and Clipper. It did involve another exciting cab ride
but we made it there alive. What a nice place! It is
decorated with couches and casual seating, as well as table and
chairs. We sat in the casual seating this time and enjoyed our
tea and sandwiches. They have many selections of tea
sandwiches that you can choose from, not take what you get like most
Tea Rooms. We had a Pear and Silton cheese sandwich. I
wasn't prepared to like pear on my sandwich, but it was
wonderful. Great service with constant refills on our
pot of tea, excellent employees made us feel very welcome. It
would probably be good to call ahead, they were busy.
CANADA / ALASKA TEA TRAVELS In September of 2006 we set off on our Alaskan Cruise. Not only were we seeking relaxation away from the stress of getting a Tea Room ready, but we were searching for Tea Rooms on our trip. We found several! Some were charming, some were in need of help. Let's get started. Our cruise was departing from Vancouver, so we decided to spend a couple of days ahead of time in Victoria. What a fabulous city! We enjoyed every minute of it and found some wonderful Tea Rooms. #1. James Bay Tea Room: This was our first tea experience out of the U.S.A., and we were disappointed. James Bay Tea Room is not what we expect in a Tea Room. It had a typical British menu, which we felt was their main focus, not the tea. The building was decorated with many British photos and artifacts, but that couldn't help the tea, it was a tea bag in a small pot (Lipton or Red Rose I presume). Their focus was definitely cafe food, not tea. However, we did enjoy being together and made the best of it. #2. Empress Hotel: This is the place you hear so much about. Either people are so astounded and repulsed by the cost, they tell you it's not worth it, or they will be so amazed they will tell you not to miss it. It was definitely lavish and expensive, but we figured it's only once, right. The hotel is magnificent and the tea room very plush. We initially were seated in "Casual" style seating which made it hard to get next to the table unless you perched on the edge of your seat. This was tough on Linda's back so they were kind enough to seat us at a table. Much more comfortable. The service was top notch and the food very good. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and tried to overlook the $120.00 price tag for Afternoon Tea for two. What the heck, only once in a lifetime. If you can stomach the price, we do recommend that you also experience the Empress Hotel. #3. Blethering Place: Unfortunately we tried another Tea Room that was more of a cafe than a Tea Room. The Blethering Place had a cute name and intrigued us, but it really was just a cafe that you could order a cup of tepid tea. We don't recommend it for a tea experience, but it did have a good selection of British food. #4. Buchart Gardens: Little did we know that we had saved the best for last. No trip to Victoria would be complete without a visit to the incredible Buchart Gardens. We discovered that they served Afternoon Tea, so we signed up. Now this was an elegant tea. From the service to the ambiance to the food, the Buchart Gardens was superb. We had the option of inside or out. We chose inside and were seated next to the window overlooking Mrs. Buchart's private garden. The thing that really stood out for us was the elegance of the experience. We felt special and were treated that way by the staff. If you are ever in Victoria, you may pass up the Empress because of the cost, but don't miss the Tea at Buchart Gardens. By the way, it was half the cost of the Empress Hotel and twice as nice. #5. Tea-Licious: Our first stop on the cruise was in Sitka, Alaska. We found a nice place to have a cup of tea. It was a combination gift store (like most places we stopped) coffee shop and tea room. In spite of all that, she fixed a good cop of tea and you did have some choices of what tea you would like. We found out that they used to serve a full tea, but the volume of tourists going through was overwhelming, so they backed of to a simpler menu. With five cruise ships in port I can see why. So, we sat, in-between showers and shopping and had a wonderful tea break. #6. Celebrity Cruise Line: When we found out that our cruise ship was having an elegant Afternoon Tea, we signed up. We were really looking forward to it. The presentation was outstanding. You entered at the top of the stairs, overlooking the delectable presentation below, then escorted to your seat. It was very nice. However, they really missed the mark when it came to the tea. They brought a box around with some tea bags in and you could choose. Even though the setting was elegant, the tea was served in a Denny's style, one cup little metal tea pot. It was sad because they really had the potential for a superb tea. It was a great time to share with others at the table though, so that made it a very special time.
Something
Cherished, 615 W. 2nd Street, Antioch, CA
94509, (925)-755-4TEA It has been quite some time since we stepped out of our normal tea tasting locations. With our remodel taking most of our time we haven't gotten out farther than our favorite spot in Reno, Belle's Tea Cottage. However, we had a trip scheduled to the bay area and decided to take a side trip to Antioch. We found Something Cherished on Tea Map.com and were excited to experience a new tea room. Stephanie was a wonderful host and we had a great time. The food was very nice and was in well supply. We enjoyed the decor of the tea room and our time spent talking with Stephanie. I recommend that you stop by if you are in Antioch.
The
Camellia Tea Room, 828 First Street,
Benicia, California 94510, (707) 746-5293
web
site After our trip to Something Cherished we headed to S.F. for the S.F. Gift Show. During our scrounging through booth after booth (this place is huge) we bumped into the owner of The Camellia Tea Room. After much raving about their tea room we decided that we had to try it out. So...on the way home we took a side trip to Benicia and had a wonderful tea. The ceiling is absolutely beautiful with an ornate wallpaper. The tea room was decorated very nicely with more of a calming effect than busy, like some tea rooms. Service was good and food tasty. A nice place to stop if you are in Benicia.
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