Hopsewee Plantation - Tea Room

Hopsewee Plantation, S.C.

What have I been thinking? They serve a proper afternoon tea at Hopsewee Plantation and I've never been there?  I remember trying once but the gate was closed and sometimes they have special events so best give a call before you head up the coast towards Georgetown. I made it in yesterday and dodged flocks of  mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds to get these pictures and it was worth it. Seriously. Take bug spray.

I didn't take the formal house tour but enjoyed lunch in the tea shop (below). Check out the menus here. I'd like to go back with enough time to explore the property.

Travel Tuesdays - Drinking Local

Drinking Assam Tea in Assam, India

I had lunch recently in the Single Smile Cafe in Summerville and picked out a bag of Organic Assam Tea from their wonderful selection. I boasted that I had enjoyed Assam Tea in Assam (above). Reflecting back, I have sipped Darjeeling in Darjeeling, Assam in Assam, Kenyan tea in Kenya, Cocoa tea in Peru and Charleston Tea Plantation Tea  on Johns Island.

More photos from the Assam trip in this album. *Travel Tuesdays will feature photos taken out of Charleston and the Lowcountry.  Join me for Travel Tuesday field trips!

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Tea Plantations in Kaziranga, Assam

Drinking Assam Tea in Summerville, S.C.

Finally a big enough Teapot!

J's Tea-rific Teapot Museum, Elloree, S.C.

I came across the Teapot Museum by happy accident and was blown away to realize I just missed the grand opening ceremony earlier this week. I didn't expect to come across a giant blue teapot in a parking lot behind main street shops in tiny Elloree, S.C. and now I see it has already made it onto the Roadside America directory. 

I am most upset to have missed soprano Deborah Saverance of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus performing  tea-themed selections at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

ELLOREE — It’s tea time. Julian and Sybil Boland will hold the grand opening of their “tea-rific” museum Saturday, June 9, at the rear of Boland’s Pharmacy on Cleveland Street in Elloree. There, a larger-than-life custom-built teapot will welcome visitors to J’s Tea-rific Teapot Museum.
Julian Boland said the unique 20-foot blue entryway is complete with a spout, handle and lid.
The Bolands have been collecting teapots for at least 20 years. Some of the pots in their collection were purchased by the couple, others were given as gifts, and some have endured long journeys from overseas. Boland said he doesn’t know just how many teapots he and his wife have, but it’s likely in the tens of thousands. He said the teapot museum has been “years in the making,” and credits his wife with arranging, cleaning, collecting and displaying the pots.
Each teapot has a specific place in the museum. For example, Boland hired a carpenter to construct a shelving display in the form of Noah’s ark — and on that display are dozens of teapots depicting the Biblical story.
The ark shelving display is also home to dozens of animal-shaped teapots, keeping in true form the Old Testament story where God instructs Noah and his family to gather two of each animal and place them in an ark to avoid impending flood waters. In the form of teapots, there are dozens of animals aboard the ark. And the museum is flooded with teapots.

Read more: http://thetandd.com/news/tea-rific-teapot-museum-to-open-in-elloree/article_4c066670-b1f1-11e1-8758-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1ykjbKhVS

Fresh tea, straight from the spout!