A Message from Ruth at Antiques And Teacups

Welcome to the blog of Antiques And Teacups! Let's share a cup of tea and talk about the things we love...like teacups, antiques, collectibles, visiting England, antiquing and learning about victoriana and quirky gadgets. Fun!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Valentine's Tea Lover's Lunch At Port Gamble Tea Room

For Valentine's Day yesterday, my honey drove the 40+ miles to the Tea Room at Port Gamble, Washington.





Port Gamble is just across the Hood Canal floating Bridge which crosses...Hood Canal! The bridge does open for shipping and pleasure craft so we were relieved we had padded in extra time in case we got caught approaching the bridge during an opening...which we did.  Here is open and when we got caught for 40 minutes. Sigh...the joy of living on a peninsula...







To make iteasier for folks living in the immediate area, there are morning and evening no-opening times for commuting and school schedules. At other times, you never know. There are websites and traffic cams all over and you can receive bridge opening texts, emails or phone calls. We don't cross it enough to bother with that,  just leave extra time.



We were a bit early so we browsed the Port Gamble General Store, which also has a restaurant that was packed. The menu looked so good, we intend to drive over again soon and have lunch there. 




This is a lovely old Victorian home, empty now, across the street from the tea room. Lovely stained glass windows and gingerbread porch. 

This is an historical marker explaining who the town was named for, and below is the post office, that has operated continuously from the 1920s when mail was still arriving by ship.



We had a marine layer come in...better known as fog...so it was a grey Valentine's Day. Inside the tea room, everything was lovely, and there was a classical guitarist playing.  We first had our choice of about 50 varieties of tea categorized into black, green, white, herbal and decafeinated. I had my favorite, the Margaret Hope Darjeeling and my honey had English Breakfast.




This is the teaset they use throughout the tea room. My only criticism...the cups are very small...only about 3 ounces so you are refilling OFTEN!  I had hoped to copy the pretty flier that had the Valentine's menu and graphics, but it won't allow me to copy! Rats!!!  But I was able to get it off the email reservation acknowledgement:


VALENTINES LUNCHEON
Thursday, February 14th, 12:30 Seating
  
LIVE MUSIC BY:
Gerald Braude
Solo Acoustic Guitarist

Appetizer Plate
Gingered Cream Cheese Grapes,
Balsamic-Herb Strawberries,
Baby Hearts of Romaine with Chicken
  
Salad & Soup
Baby Mixed Greens w/Apple, Pear, Pecans and Feta,
w/Sweet Onion Dressing
Roasted Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda

Sandwiches
Asparagus and Prosciutto
Pear and Stilton
Ham and Apricot Preserves

Dessert
Chocolate Covered Strawberry
Chocolate Mousse
Raspberry Truffle

Includes your Tea, Coffee or Coke Product



And here is the photo of the appetizers...which I didn't remember to photograph until I'd eaten all the balsamic strawberries surrounding the panna cotta!!

Ah well...better late than never. And then we had soup and salad...which I forgot to photograph...I'm sorry, I'm hopeless! We get so busy talking, that we just forget.! You see, our 39th wedding anniversary is on Saturday, Feb. 16th, so this was sort of an anniversary celebration and we were doing a lot of reminiscing...




Then the towers arrived...with sandwiches, scones and sweets. We ended going home with half of it in a box, along with our huge chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate raspberry truffles. Here is the truffle case you have to pass to get out!!!



This is the owner Janis Kelley. What a sweetie! She is always such a joy, so welcoming and so gracious. She occasionally spontaneously serenades the patrons! Lovely!




So we had a wonderful Lover's Lunch for Valentine's Day and our 39th anniversary. Lovely! I would reccommend the Tea Room to anyone passing the area, which is a charming little town. There is a great quilt shop there that we haven't visited as I am not a quilter, but have heard raves about locally. Have a great weekend...we'll still be celebrating our anniversary!



14 comments:

  1. What a lovely tea room to celebrate Valentine's Day and your 39th Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations, and many more!
    ~ Phyllis

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  2. A pretty tea room and awesome looking lunch. My hubby will go to a tea room with me but would rather be elsewhere.
    Judith

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  3. What a lovely celebration for Valentine's Day and your anniversary. I agree with you, a 3 oz. tea cup is too small, but they were pretty. Thanks for tha answer about the teacups on my blog.

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  4. What a terrific Valentine's Day celebration you shared! I really enjoyed reading our story. Thanks for sharing the lovely photos too and enjoy your weekend!

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  5. Ruth, this sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary and Valentine's Day or just about any day. What a lovely tea house! The town sounds very quaint too and I enjoy seeing the photos. Have a lovely weekend. Pam

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  6. God Bless you and have a great pink day...come on over to My Sweet Prairie Home ...I love company!

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  7. Dear Ruth,
    What a special day. Looks like a wonderful place for tea and the menu sound terrific. Everything looked like it was presented beautifully. How sweet of your hubby to indulge you.
    Happy Anniversary and may you have many more happy ones.
    Ruthie from: Lady B's

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  8. I love reading about your wonderful experiences. Thank you so much. Happy Anniversary!

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  9. This is just a wonderful way to spend Valentine's Day for your Anniversary.(It was mine too...lol) The china is just so pretty. Happy Pink Saturday.
    Bear Hugs,
    Carol

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  10. A big shout out HAPPY ANNIVERSARY , and thanks so much for sharing your wonderful day with us love it. My kind of weather there:):)hope the rest of your weekend is grrrreat..

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  11. Happy Anniversary! I just love Port Gamble and your lovely post just made me miss the peninsula SO MUCH! Jim and I just love the area and haven't been up since December...sigh.
    Love,
    Linda

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  12. A wonderful way to celebrate Valentine's Day and your wedding anniversary! Congratulations! So happy for you!
    Nancy

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  13. Oh what a blessing - how awesome- I loved this post, so informative!

    Thanks for sharing with all of us, makes it feel as though we came with you!

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Thanks for visiting and we love to hear from you! We read every comment. If my husband's health permits, I love to visit andreply. Have a wonderful day and a cuppa tea always at hand! :)

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