Experience 6: Afternoon Tea at the Williamsburg Inn

To celebrate my 40th birthday, my friend Rose took me on a daytrip to Colonial Williamsburg. The highlight of the trip was visiting the beautiful Williamsburg Inn for afternoon tea. I have had tea in a variety of settings, but there was something about experiencing this most civilized ritual in a country inn that made it a special treat.

Though I’ve been to Colonial Williamsburg many times, I’ve never been to the inn. Built by John D. Rockefeller in 1937, the inn fits in nicely with the historical setting and has hosted many famous people, including Queen Elizabeth who stayed there first in 1957 and again during her visit to Virginia in May to celebrate the 400th birthday of Jamestown. It seems especially appropriate to have tea in the same place the Queen visited (though I’m guessing she probably took tea in her suite and not in the public rooms).

We were seated in the Terrace Room and began our tea with a glass of champagne, toasting friendship and birthdays. Then we chose our tea from the extensive menu and I picked the inn's special Williamsburg tea. It was a rich black tea (my favorite) that was absolutely perfect. I like my tea sweet and there is something about the satisfying plop of sugar cubes into a teacup that makes me smile. We sipped our first cup of tea while waiting for our scrumptious accompaniments.

Like most afternoon teas, the Williamsburg Inn offers three courses: finger sandwiches, scones and petite desserts. The sandwiches were an issue because Rose is a vegetarian and I don’t eat eggs, but we muddled through. I enjoyed the ham sandwiches and tea wouldn’t be complete without cucumber sandwiches. Rose was limited to the egg salad and cucumber and we both passed on the salmon.

The scones are my favorite tea course and these didn’t disappoint. In fact, we asked for more! They were served with the obligatory clotted cream, lemon curd, orange marmalade and a “mystery” jam that the server believed was raspberry, but I’m convinced was passion fruit or some other equally sweet jam. In any case, the scones (raisin and plain) were perfect with just clotted cream, though I did try each of the other toppings.

Surprisingly, dessert is my least favorite course. Maybe it’s because by the time I get to dessert I’m already full of scones and tea, or it could be because the petite desserts are about presentation rather than taste. Our dessert course included miniature cakes, fruit tarts and cookies. They were all beautiful, but my favorite of the desserts was the macadamia cookie dipped in chocolate.


Sipping tea while the harpist serenaded me with “Happy Birthday” contributed to the decadent experience, as did the lush arrangements of flowers that filled the rooms of the public spaces. Tea and roses, the combination of scents is heavenly. I enjoyed two pots of my fragrant tea and a couple hours’ of friendly conversation. There is just something about afternoon tea that is so special; it makes me feel happy and feminine and hopeful, as if anything is possible and all my dreams can come true.

If you have time for tea, you have a very nice life.



Do It Yourself

Going to afternoon tea? The experience is similar—and memorable—whether you’re in London, England or Williamsburg, Virginia.

--Make your reservations well in advance of the date you would like to have tea. I had wanted to have tea on my birthday when I was in London, but because I waited until the week prior to our trip to make a reservation, they were booked. (It was also a Bank Holiday, which I didn’t know until we got there.)

--If you have dietary restrictions (vegetarian, food allergies, etc.), ask about substituting alternatives at the time you make your reservations.

--Tea is a fabulous experience for everyone, including older children. Many places that offer afternoon tea also offer a children’s menu (including peanut butter and jelly finger sandwiches!).

--If your pot of tea comes with a strainer, don’t forget to use it! Loose tea leaves in your cup of tea make for a not-so-pleasant experience (though I suppose you can read your fortune in them afterward).

--If you've never tried clotted cream, don't be thrown by the name. This is what heaven tastes like.

--Take your time and enjoy the experience.

Experience 4: A Couple's Massage

For Christmas, Jay and I got a gift certificate for a couple’s massage from our friend Rose. So, now that school is over (and before Jay leaves for six months in Rhode Island, courtesy of the tourism department of the U.S. Navy), I figured it was time to indulge. This was actually a case of two first experiences: the first time I’ve had a couple’s massage and the first time I’ve had a male massage therapist. To be honest, I think I prefer my massages solo, but I may never go back to a female massage therapist.

We had a 3:30 appointment at Therapeutic Body Kneads in Ghent, so we had lunch at No Frill Bar and Grill, went for a walk around Ghent and then stopped at Starbucks. I’d probably skip the walk and the coffee next time. I was hot and sticky and buzzing on caffeine by the time we arrived for our appointment, things which aren’t conducive to lying on a massage table for an hour. It took a good thirty minutes of my massage time before I could feel myself relax, but those last thirty minutes were blissful—except for the fact that I was in desperate need of a bathroom by the time our hour was up.

I’m not one of those people who likes to talk to my massage therapist. I know some people prefer the conversation, but I want peace and quiet while I’m getting massaged. My massage therapist, Jeff, picked up on this pretty quick and other than asking me if I was too warm (I was) or if he was using too much pressure (he wasn’t), he stayed silent. This was the only problem with the couple’s massage: it is disconcerting to be drifting off into a Zen-like peace only to hear the other massage therapist talking to Jay. It didn’t happen often, but every time it did, it jolted me right out of my peaceful meditative state.

At the beginning, Jeff told me to let him know if he was using too much pressure and didn’t bat an eye when I said, without thinking, “You can’t do it too hard.” I carry a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders—both physical, from hauling around a messenger bag loaded down with a laptop and books, and emotional, though I’ve never understood the relationship between emotions and knots the size of Texas in my back. In any case, Jeff worked me over and at one point, for about thirty seconds, I reconsidered my comment that he couldn’t do it too hard. The moment passed. I would have been happy to have him work on my shoulders for the entire hour, but the full-body massage was pleasant enough and he made a second pass on my shoulders toward the end. I was impressed with his foot massage—I have ticklish feet and hate having anything cracked, but he spent some time on my feet and I never once giggled or winced.

This was a more therapeutic than relaxing massage, so I woke up with some (expected) pain in my shoulders the next day. It’s gone now, along with the painful knots and tension, and I’m seriously considering scheduling another appointment with Jeff in a month or two, when I know the effects of being a writer will have returned. As for the couple’s part—Jay didn’t seem to enjoy his massage quite as much as I did (possibly because he wasn’t having any pain at the time), but we both felt more relaxed when we left. Other than the fact we were both in the same room at the same time, it wasn’t a very interactive experience, so maybe I’m not fully understanding the purpose of the couple’s massage. Or maybe I just don’t like groups.



Do It Yourself

If you’re going to get a massage, couple’s or otherwise…

--Make sure you let your massage therapist know there is a particular area you would like them to focus on. They will likely ask, but think about it before you go. The all-over massage is lovely, but it’s so much better if you can get extra attention on those trouble spots.

--If you get a couple’s massage, make sure you know what your partner’s preference is regarding a male or female massage therapist. Neither of us had a preference, so I got Jeff and Jay got a female therapist.

--If you eat before you go, eat light. I’d also avoid walking around in 90+ temperatures and drinking a lot of caffeine.

--If you haven’t gotten a massage before because you think it’s too expensive, reconsider. A good massage can do wonders for your body and your mind and that’s priceless.

--Don’t forget to tip!