in search of tea

Another Saturday, another day to fill with the kids while Rob’s writing. Hmm, what to do, what to do.

I’ve been wanting to go to a certain tea shop for a while now. My favorite tea company, Harney & Sons, just happens to be headquartered a couple hours away. It has been on my list of things to do with Rob on some day or weekend getaway, preferably in the autumn, when the drive out there would be absolutely gorgeous. Since the chances of us actually making this trip before 2026 are slim, I decided to just go ahead and go … to a tea shop … with 2 small children.

As the 3 of us were climbing into the car, Elliot asked where we were going. “Um, um, um” -  I was trying to come up with something other than “tea shop” when Elliot volunteered, “Are we going to see a pirate ship?”

“Yes! That’s what we’re doing! Seeing a pirate ship!” I’d figure out later how to explain the absence of a pirate ship at the tea shop. Elliot was very excited and talked about the pirate ship for the duration of the car ride.

After an hour and a half, we arrived at a beautiful little town with a lovely main street full of antique shops, etc. We went to this fun little diner for lunch.

As I was paying, I asked the waitress where the tea shop was. “What tea shop?” She’d never heard of it. Great! We’d just driven all this way, and I must’ve put in the wrong town for directions. We were in Millbrook, and the tea shop was in Millerton. What a waste!

I spotted a park at the end of the street, so we headed over there so the kids could burn off some energy before the long trip back home.

Would you believe that this little park just happened to have a pirate ship?? What are the chances??

In other happy news, turns out I had stopped driving at the end of page 1 of my directions. On page 2 were the final few steps to get to Millerton, home of our great tea destination. (yes, we are in the dark ages and have no gps; I am cheap and won’t let Rob buy one; Mapquest is perfectly fine…most of the time)

I thoroughly enjoyed the 10 minutes I had in there, racing around grabbing tins of tea while restraining a wildly overtired Sophie, who desperately wanted to pick up every cup and teapot in the place.

Seriously, I loved that place. And I will be back, one day, with a husband and no kids. :)