The Rose Garden Tea House

I awoke this morning to howling winds and a torrential downpour and thought, "Yep, if it's raining, it must be coffee crawl day."  Rain is one thing, but PE has been experiencing constant winds of 25-30 mph with 40 mph gusts since Monday, earning it the moniker "The Windy City," putting Chicago to shame.  These winds coupled with the rain made for a chilly autumn morning so I expected only a few crawlers to join me at The Rose Garden Tea House for coffee.  In all, though, we numbered thirteen who braved the elements for a cappuccino, with everyone in good spirits despite the weather.  Today's crawlers included  June Nash, her daughter, Leanne Waller, and her grandson, Luke Waller, Beth Vieira, Prudie Brown, Fran deBeer, Stella and Beryl Dawson and their niece, Jenny Fowler, Margaret Zoetmulder, Colleen LeRoux, and Elize Potgieter.

Though the tea house looked cozy, especially with a cheery fire blazing in the wood-burning stove in the corner, we were met by the staff and manager with a chill that rivaled the temperature outside.  I will chalk up this less-than-warm reception to the staff having to work after an extended holiday weekend which included Easter and two national holidays.  The weather probably didn't help either.

The Rose Garden Tea House is situated at Floradale Nurseries on William Moffett Expressway in the Overbaakens area.  The shop's decor is somewhat like a Japanese tea garden with pale blue-and-white Japanese themed wallpaper and coordinated framed pictures, blue-and-white checked tablecloths, and assorted bamboo bird cages hanging about.  Lucky for me the cages were lightweight and birdless because I hit my head on one of them about six times during our visit.  It's a wonder I'm even coherent right now!  Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to stroll around the gardens and nursery due to the rain.  Note: There will be no Meet the Owner / Meet the Barista pictures this week as we were asked not to take pics or reveal the identity of any staff.

The coffees were very good but it's hard to go wrong with a Masterton's blend.  Fran finally jumped back on the cappuccino bandwagon, Jenny and Stella ordered caffe lattes which presented beautifully (see pic), and three-year-old Luke got a "babycino" (hot frothed milk to which his mom added some sugar!).  After the coffees were served there was some discussion about tomorrow's royal wedding.  Most everyone is planning to watch the nuptuals while donning their own millinery couture.  I will be sporting the white Esprit baseball cap I won at the Splash Festival this past weekend.

A sad farewell goes out to Prudie Brown.  Prudie left for the airport right after the crawl today to head back home.  Thank you, Prudie, for joining us the past few weeks while you were in PE visiting your sister.  We all hope you got home safe and sound.  The next time you're in town please come crawl with us.

Some recent follow-up visits:  Lou and I went to Shelly's (the site of the first coffee crawl!) for Easter brunch.  The food was great!  Shelly was glad to see us and has been reading the PE Coffee Crawl blog to keep up with our adventures.  We also stopped by Cobblestone, on the way home from a Masterton's run, to pick up some of those awesome bagels I wrote about last week.  We will definitely become regulars there!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of this week's crawlers.  You guys are the best and have made this blogging experience a real treat for me!!!

Until next week,

Ellen



Leanne, Luke, Fran




Say, "Cappuccino!"






This Week's Crawlers
Prudie, Stella, Beth, Jenny, June, Leanne, Fran, Beryl, Colleen, Margaret, Elize