Monday, July 26, 2010

My Town Monday: Tea Time in Julian, CA

Yesterday, my friend Christina, our BFF daughters and I headed about 50 miles northeast to Julian, CA for a tea party. We've been planning this day trip for a while now, but life kept getting in the way. When we set off this morning, we almost couldn't believe we'd managed to pull it off. Our reservation was for 11:30 a.m. And, yes, you definitely want to make a reservation. Here's the phone number: 866-765-0832

Here's an outside shot of the Julian Tea and Cottage Arts, 2124 Third Street, Julian, CA. This house was built in 1898 for Clarence King, the son of one of our famous gold miners, George Valentine King.



Here's the motely crew. Christina and I shared a bottomless pot of Yorkshire Gold tea while the girls sipped on Mango Ceylon black tea. We munched on a variety of finger sandwiches (my fave was the chicken curry), scones with cream and apricot marmelade or lemon curd, shortbread cookies and toffees.


The house is crammed with all kinds of items for sale (kitchen knickknacks, stationery supplies, tea paraphernalia, etc). I bought a box of PG Tips Special Blend tea bags, which I cracked open at breakfast time.

Of course, no trip to Julian is complete without a visit to the Julian Book House at 2230 Main Street. I picked up two mysteries by Rex Stout: TOO MANY COOKS and THE MOUNTAIN CAT MURDERS, pubbed 1938, 1939 respectively. I also picked up the owner's business card. Although primarily a rare and used bookstore, they'll often stock new books by local authors. I'll give him a call this week. Especially because I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES takes place about 35 miles east of the bookstore at the Wild Animal Park.

On the way back home, we stopped at Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel where I picked up a couple of loaves of bread and an apple-peach pie. The latter purchase thrilled Mr. Summy no end.

Click here for links to more My Town Monday posts. (Thanks Clare2e for hosting this week) Also, if you're even marginally thinking about writing a My-Town-Monday post, please do! Fair warning, though, it's addictive! Write your post, then leave a comment here. You'll be linked to.

Happy Monday!

12 comments:

  1. not a huge tea fan, except at night, but that seems worth a trip, any time :)

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  2. Hi Barrie,

    Good choice of day trips. I love Julian and that book store. I hope they carry your book! That would just be so cool. Did you go to the gold mine?

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  3. What a fun outing!
    Did you know what you were looking for at the used bookstore?

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  4. I'll take mine with two cubes of sugar please.

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  5. LaughingWolf: A trip to Julian is a must if you're ever down this way. And instead of the tea house, you could always much on a buffalo burger in one of the restaurants!

    Charles: You would LOVE the book store! It's in a house as well, so you get to wander around from room to room, browsing.

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  6. Teresa, I do love Julian. I didn't go to the gold mine on this trip. There's wasn't time. But that is a fun place to visit. I noticed there's a train ride up there, which I've never experienced.

    Gabe, uh, yes. I knew I was in the mood for a Perry Mason or a Nero Wolfe. ;)

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  7. Travis, they had the CUTEST sugar cubes for sale. Well, they weren't even cubes, but different shapes. And different colors too. On the table, for tea time, they had a sugar bowl covered by a knitted doily. :)

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  8. I don't know that I'd ever go home if I went there...

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  9. Love going to new places to have tea, and this seems like a gem of a place.

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  10. Hey Barbie, you have a nice post today. Your trips are a good choice. I once visit that book store. I think I buy a lot of books in that store. They have a lot of amazing books.

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  11. I stumbled upon your blog then saw your Julian trip. As a child we would visit Julian and I have the best memories from there. Thanks for sharing.
    Tiffany

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Comments are always welcome!