My First Visit To A Tea Room

First things first.  I've been having a little trouble with the new Blogger lately.  I'm assuming it's Google Blogger, but it could be my browser.  At any rate, I've had trouble pulling up several of your blogs that I normally read, and last week, I wasn't able to make some basic changes to my sidebar.  Very, very frustrating; but let's move on to more pleasant things.    

  I had the most delightful experience last Friday when I enjoyed afternoon tea at "A Southern Cup" tea room.  My mom and I had taken a two-day trip to Hendersonville, North Carolina, and this was the highlight of our trip.  We have both wanted to have the true "tea experience" for some time now, and it did not disappoint.  I can't say enough nice things about this tea room and the owner, Kym Brown.  

I found this picture of Kym on "A Southern Cup" Facebook page.  Doesn't she have a pretty smile?  I blurred out the other faces, but I was glad to find this picture of Kym since I forgot to take any pictures of her or my mom while we were there.  Kym was the definition of hospitality, and my mom and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her.  And the best part -- I felt like I had found a kindred spirit!  She's from the south like me, she loves England (like me!)  Kym has been to England, too, but she saw much more of the country than I did.  She likes Susan Branch's books, as do I, and amazingly enough, she has Scottish Terriers, as well.   

  Can you see the little black Scottie in the doorway of this cottage teapot?  When I spotted this, I was smitten.  I asked Kym if it was for sale, and she politely said "no" because she has Scotties at home.  She then proceeded to show me a picture of hers on her cellphone (one wheaten color and one black).  Of course, I had to show her our little wild man, Duncan.  😁    

    

Kym gave us this brochure to take with us.  I don't have a picture of the tea selection, but there were many to choose from.  White teas, black teas, green teas, Oolongs, Breakfast Teas, and Earl Grey's, to name a few.  My mom and I both chose the Miss Earline Grey tea, and it was delicious.  I think it, and many of the other varieties, were her own special blends.    

We had the Sugarbakers Afternoon Tea, and we loved it!  Unfortunately, we were so eager to dig in, I forgot to take any pictures of the full plate, so I'll just have to tell you what was there before we gobbled it down.  ;)  

    
The three white "spoons" held clotted cream, lemon curd, and raspberry jam.  I may or may not be addicted to lemon curd now.  😋  The bottom tier of the tea tray with grapes originally held our sandwiches and scones.  I can't tell you how delicious they were.  There were egg sandwiches, thin sliced cucumber and cream cheese, and the best chicken salad I've ever put in my mouth.  The chicken salad was on small croissants -- so, so good.  The scones were buttermilk scones, and they were awesome.  Lightly sweet and tender; I must learn to make these.  The desserts were cream puffs, macarons, and pecan cheesecake.  I'm getting hungry again just writing about this.  I'll leave you with some pictures of this charming shop and tea room.  

  

My mom and I fell in love with these curtain valances.  Kym's friend sewed vintage lace and embroidered handkerchiefs over top of the original white, cutwork valances.  She added buttons here and there, as well.  This is such a clever idea!!  

 

 Cute sign -- 😉  

This is a beautiful china pattern by Home Laughlin.  

I would love to have walked around in this other room, but there were ladies in there having their tea.  

Love this teacup chandelier!  

Thank you Kym, for being such a friendly and knowledgeable hostess and for allowing me to write about your tea room.  Many thanks to my mom for treating me to this lovely day out!  If you live near the Hendersonville/Flat Rock area of North Carolina, or in the northern area of South Carolina or Georgia, I highly recommend you pay a visit to "A Southern Cup."  That's not just my opinion, as Kym's tea room has many glowing reviews on Trip Advisor, Yelp, etc.  You can find "A Southern Cup" on Facebook, too.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I always appreciate your visits here, and I hope you're enjoying some nice fall weather.  The leaves are slowly starting to change here -- yippee!!  My favorite time of the year.  Have a good week, my friends.