down the rabbit hole

Hello!

Today, I am going to introduce y'all to one of my favourite things to do: go to afternoon tea at Hanover Tavern.

Hanover Tavern is just a ten minute drive from my house, and is located across the street from the county courthouse. It is a beautiful little area with cobblestone sidewalks, centuries-old brick buildings and many, many references to Patrick Henry (who is perhaps Hanover County's most famous resident, known for shouting 'give me liberty or give me death').

Somehow, I had never heard of the tavern's teas until last September, despite the fact that I adore tea. My former English teacher, who I absolutely love, introduced me to the teas. At the time, our class was studying Pride and Prejudice—which is both mine and my teacher's favourite book—and Hanover Tavern was coincidentally having a Jane Austen tea. I, of course, attended (and was the only person from my class to do so).

In addition to afternoon teas, Hanover Tavern also hosts wine tastings, Civil War-themed summer camps and ghost tours.

While the Jane Austen tea was hard to beat, I cannot confidently say that it was my favourite. Over the past year-or-so, I have attended five teas at the tavern.

Pictured above is a French proletariat child from the Marie Antoinette tea. The Marie Antoinette was definitely the most involved. There were protestors outside with pitchforks while the 'bourgeoisie' dined inside. Towards the end of the afternoon, some dissenters walked in with Marie Antoinette's head on a stick! The French Revolution is one of my favourite eras to study, and I find Marie Antoinette immensely fascinating, so I enjoyed every minute of that tea.

One of the historical societies in town is in charge of the teas, so they always have a period theme. The others teas I have attended include Downton Abbey (while I have no seen the show, it is my mother's favourite, and she had a blast) and Charles Dickens (always at Christmastime).

The Hanover Tavern Foundation has an eye for details. Featured above are some close-ups of displays. If I recall correctly, all four are from the Marie Antoinette tea.

What is afternoon tea without some good food and drink?

At Hanover Tavern, afternoon tea consists of three courses: savouries, scones and desserts. The menu changes tea from tea, in order to fit the theme.

Here's the Alice in Wonderland Tea menu:

First course: savouries

Break and Butterfly

Shaved ham, cucumber and tarragon butter on white

The Mad Hatter

Turkey and arugula with aioli on Pumpernickel

The Gryphon

Blackberry chicken salad on wheat

While the savoury course isn't always vegetarian-friendly, I have no problem taking off the meat. Even without it, the food is still scrumptious!

Second course: scones

Cheshire Cat

Cheese with mustard seeds

Pink Flamingo

Raspberry lemonade

Wildflower

Rose, poppyseed pound cake

The scones are served with raspberry jam, lemons, clotted cream and butter.

Third course: desserts

Mock Turtle Truffles

Crunchy chocolate bites

Queen of Hearts

Cherry custard tarts

The March Hare

Carrot cake cupcakes

Note the 'eat me' on the cupcake!

Another delightful bonus is that they give away the centrepieces. Someone at each table is chosen to have the honour. At the Alice in Wonderland tea, five people at table had a white napkin, and one special person had a red napkin. Lucky me, I got to take home the red and white roses!

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— Milly xx