High Tea For The Platinum Jubilee

Totally by coincidence, in perfect timing with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, last Thursday I had my very first High Tea experience in Niagara on the Lake at the Prince of Wales hotel .

Rewind back to 2020, there was some point where we were allowed out of our houses and able to go out and eat!  I was scrolling Instagram and saw that my friend Teresa Paul from Hides and Hand had posted a story that she was having High Tea in NOTL.

I quickly texted her, “Hey, I want to do that with you!”  She responded in a nanosecond with “Let’s Book it” and we set a date!

The date came closer and I was getting more and more excited for this experience with my friend whom I had not seen in over two years!  I decided to zip over to Winners and buy a dress for the occasion and text Teresa all about it!  She was IN for wearing a dress too and we were all set to be fancy High Tea ladies.

Teresa offered to pick me up and drive – what a treat!  She pulled up in a convertible!  OMG and off we went, top up for now, we didn’t want to ruin our hair, of course.

We talked and talked the whole way there, two years of catching up to fit into one afternoon.  How wonderful it was to have Teresa all to myself.  We talked about life, how we’ve changed, what we learned about ourselves over the last two years and, of course, our favourite topic, BUSINESS!

When we arrived at our destination we took it all in with great pleasure and delight.  The Drawing Room at the Prince of Wales was filled with the smell of fresh roses.  There was a pink rose on each table and gorgeous arrangements throughout.  We were transported in time to the Victorian era.  Ornate glass chandeliers hung from every corner and the tiny little tables for two felt like we were oversized characters in a fairy tale!  Teresa is 6 feet tall and so was I in my heels. Our legs managed to fit nicely under the table and then we giggled as we observed our big European hands lifting tiny tea cups to our lips.  The tea was delicious, we ordered the “Heavenly Cream” Black Tea and then out came the traditional afternoon tea served with a selection of delicious Cheeses.  Blue Cheese, Cheddar and Gouda.

We ate our plates of cheese in unison and shared our “mmmmmm’s with each other.  Then came the tree of sweets and sandwiches – what a display! We started with the scones with cream and jam and nearly fell off our chairs when we tried the “Ginger Cream”, our taste buds have never been happier!  Feeling stuffed after the scones, the rest came home in To-Go boxes and we actually got nudged to wrap up our visit by the very particular uptight hostess.  We really got a kick out of her. I suppose after reveling in a three hour high tea experience, we had overstayed our welcome.  If anyone was going to pull off that marathon, it was us.

After a lovely jaunt through town to visit the shops, we were homeward bound with scrunchies and clips in our hair as the top came down off Teresa’s convertible.  Teresa turned up the Roxy Music, one of my all time favourite bands and we sang along with great enthusiasm, relishing in the magic of a more than perfect day.

Teresa is a newer friend and fellow business owner, she is truly one of the most special people I know.  She’s felt like family all along and I feel so blessed to have her in my life.  She really cares about people and it translates in all aspects of her life.

Adventure really is the zest for life!  Who will you be calling on to have an adventure with this summer?

Monica XO