Saturday, March 22, 2014

Berea, KY with the Traveling Tea Friends

Just returned from a trip to Berea, KY to meet with a wonderful group of ladies (fellow tea enthusiasts).  Angela (Tea With Friends blog) and I drove there from the Atlanta area, arriving late afternoon at the historic Boone Tavern Hotel.

IMG_0924

We were met by our hostess Linda (Friendship Tea blog) in our special tea parlor on the second floor.  Most of our group dined at the hotel that evening.  The award winning dining room uses locally grown ingredients, some that are from the Berea College Farm.  I’d been looking forward to trying the spoonbread and it was a delicious start to my meal.

IMG_0871

The hotel uses a hundred year old recipe and this dish is brought to the table piping hot in the baking pan, and dished out by the spoonful.  It’s enjoyed with a pat of butter melting over the top.  It is hard to decline a second helping of this yummy but filling dish, but I’m glad my appetite was intact for PORK CHOPS THE TRICKY WAY - Boneless Pork Loin Chops with a Unique Breading of Tomato and Parmesan served with Cheese Grits, Braised Greens, and Grain Mustard Cream.  The Mayor’s Cup black tea (hand blended by Bruce Richardson, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas) was also very good. 

IMG_0874

After some more visiting in the tea parlor, it was time to retire to my lovely king room.  There were period furnishings and décor, but also the modern comforts of flat screen TV, Keurig coffee machine and Wi-fi. 

IMG_0859

I’ll continue later with day two of our trip, which includes a trip to Danville, KY for a tea tasting with Bruce Richardson at his Elmwood Inn Tea Shop and shopping at some Berea shops and the Kentucky Artisan Center.

IMG_0925

7 comments:

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

The room looks great, all the comforts of home as pointed out. The food looks yummy, although some of it must be traditional southern fare of which I'm not accustomed to.
Since you're all positing about the trip, I'll enjoy the various perspectives of the gathering.

Ginger said...

The food looks great! Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

relevanttealeaf said...

How fun to read your post, Maureen! I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet you. It was a fabulous trip, and I'm looking forward to sorting my photos and start blogging about it after my presentation tomorrow at Meadow Brook Hall.

Joy said...

That sounds like such a wonderful gathering, I will enjoy reading more about it.

Rosemary said...

Fun post! Fun gathering! Nice to meet you, Maureen.

Angela McRae said...

It was such a fun trip! And I'm glad for a photo of our rooms, because I didn't think to take one in mine. Thanks!

Linda Jennings said...

Your photos are lovely! I am glad you took a photo of your room! And, you have a much nicer view of the parlor than I have.
It was so nice to meet you.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...