Tea for 2x2

Yesterday the four of us scavenger hunters went to a holiday tea party at Gore Place, the 19th century home of one of Massachusetts' early governors. (And before you ask, yes, I asked, and they were only distantly related to Al Gore.)

While we were waiting to be seated (there was a children's tea with Santa immediately prior), they funneled us into the gift shop. (Oh clever, clever people!) I found traditional Christmas crackers on sale, and immediately thought they would be a perfect addition to the box I am sending out to my family. What fun for the kids!

We were then ushered in for tea. We were struck by the very grand, high ceilings but noticed that the lines of the room and ceiling lacked the architectural ornamentation that you might expect to see in an old European mansion: all the detail was in the elaborate French wallpaper! The paper in that first room was stripe in salmony pink (with grapes and leaves) and teal (with either corn stalks or acanthus). Imagine a whole room filled with this going from chair rail all the way up over 15 feet the ceiling! As Tim Gunn would say, "that's a lot of look!" You can see it in the background of several photos here. Lovely, eh? Of course, by candle light in the evening it would have been a lot more subtle. ;)

Tea soon arrived (perfectly brewed English breakfast-style tea), followed by blueberry scones with clotted cream, an array of finger sandwiches, and miniature frangipane tarts, lemon squares, raspberry thumbprint cookies, pumpkin bread, and other little bites of yum. I don't know what 19th century ladies and gentlemen would have eaten at an afternoon tea, but this menu did seem designed for modern tastes and obviously with modern resources. (It would have taken some good magic to get fresh berries in December back then.)

Well, old or new, the tea was delicious. In fact, our 'menfolk' agreed that the scones were the best they had ever tasted, and Sara successfully petitioned her father (with much urging from the peanut gallery, ahem) to procure an additional scone from another table. ;)

After tea, several costumed tour guides led us through the rest of the house, introducing each room and its furnishings and purpose, and presenting Jane Austen quotes of interest. Lovely! I was left, as always, with a sense of just how very much has changed since then - so much we take for granted that they could not even imagine - and yet, how much still endures...