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Sunday, February 7, 2016

Tuesday Cuppa Tea...Valentine's Day Tea Flashback Port Gamble Tea Room

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! A week hindered by back issues again limiting my time online...sigh....and it's Super Bowl Sunday, if you have been living under a rock, but for me...


Violet always says it so well....from Pinterest...my sentiments exactly...my only complaint about this graphic...wish they'd spelled it right!!




So...I decided to post a flashback to a trip for Valentine's Day and our anniversary, which is February 16th,  we took to a local tea room on February 14th, 2013.  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 it easier 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 2013, 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! She actually is relocating to our home town here in Sequim...nice!




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! The Valentine cookies below are a photo from Pinterest...



I hope you have a wonderful week, and hope to be back to my posting normally in a few days...but I am so glad you joined me! I will be joining these linky parties...

Here is the linky for your tea related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and can find you to visit! Thanks so much for joining me for tea!



15 comments:

  1. Dear Ruth:
    What a great post. There is nothing wrong with reposting - it looks brand new to us! I always loved that teaset from THT but do remember those tiny, almost demitasse cups. I still think that is a darling tea room though. I enjoyed your post! I will link tomorrow as I did one more post before things got packed up. All the stuff in my post is now in Missouri! See you tomorrow to link!

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  2. Hi Ruth! Such a lovely place for an anniversary celebration. I am glad you reposted it. Loved the Victorian house!
    Have a wonderful week and a Happy Anniversary!
    Gina

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  3. Hi Ruth,
    First of all, I hope your back issues clear up soon, and that you'll be feeling much better soon. I enjoyed reading about your repost of the special anniversary tea with your sweetheart. What a delightful tea room you visited and the food looks so wonderful. Thanks so much for hosting and I hope you have a relaxing week, taking care of yourself.

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  4. What a charming tea room! The food looks wonderful and such a lovely way to celebrate such a special occasion! I enjoyed the repost! Thanks for sharing and enjoy your day.


    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  5. Sorry to hear about your back troubles, Ruth. I hope that your back pain eases up soon so that you can enjoy your anniversary with your hubby. Your 2013 anniversary tea looks wonderful! Thank you for hosting and have a lovely Valentine week!

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  6. Hope your back is feeling better, Ruth! And I enjoyed visiting Port Gamble with such an excellent tour guide!

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  7. Hi Ruth! What a great tearoom! I enjoyed your repost. I hope you have a great anniversary. I really liked the super bowl picture by the way--thanks for sharing it :)

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  8. Dear Ruth,
    I'm looking forward to visit your blog, love to your link party participate. What a beautiful tea room for a very special anniversary. Happy anniversary ! Thank you for sharing.
    Also thank you for visiting my blog, greetings from Germany

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  9. What a lovely little visit and the tea set is so cute! Thanks for hosting and have a lovely Valentine weekend!

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  10. HI Ruth,
    Sorry I am late again to link up but I had a fever and aches earlier and now feel a bit better. Oh I want my hubby to take me to the Port Gamble Teahouse for this Valentine's Day. The china is so pretty and the food looks delish. Raspberry Truffle?! Mmmm. Thank you for hosting Tuesday Cuppa Tea! Have a Wonderful week! Karen

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  11. thank you for sharing this special memorable tea time! Oh how I adore going to tea houses, such a shame there are so few left. : - (

    Thank you for hosting, sorry I have been so remiss. Not my intention, but I am finding that I am falling off so many of my favorite "followed" bloggers that it is out of sight, out of mind with my choppy hit-or-miss blog reading. Please forgive me. I hope I slowly can fix the missing ones as time goes by!

    Have a wonderful week of love! ♥♥♥

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  12. Dear Ruth...I haven't stopped by your delightful blog in oh! Too long!
    Happy wedding anniversary to you and your husband...what a special occasion to celebrate so close to Valentine's! Such a beautiful tea room you visited and so elegant too...and the tea set is just gorgeous, even if the cups are a little on the ''thimble'' size! I am glad you had a special time together...wonderful memories I am sure!
    With love and blessings to you - hope your back is feeling better now!

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  13. Ruth, those are my sentiments exactly (and my only complaint!), too! What a lovely tearoom, inside and out. I'd definitely give it a try if I visit the area. My sixth "blogiversary" is coming up, posting it tomorrow, but that's not nearly as wonderful as yours -- Happy anniversary to you and your honey!

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  14. Ruth, I hope you don't mind my coming back and adding a second link. Thought someone might be wanting to make a pretty pink cake (without artificial coloring) this weekend.

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  15. Thank you for sharing your special tea moment! Thank your for hosting, have a wonderful week and happy valentine's day.

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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! :)