High tea in Spokane

Sweet Hubby and I have just returned from a few days in Spokane, WA, where we had gone to see a new short play of mine in a festival.  (My play won the judges award, yay!)  Besides enjoying the festival performances, we also made good use of our time, exploring some of the best Spokane has to offer.

We stayed in a hotel near the festival theater, and also across a river and through a beautiful, big park from downtown.  We spent time in the park, including taking skyrides along the river, and seeing the Garbage Goat (a sculpture) and the Red Wagon, which is, indeed, an oversized red wagon with the handle made into a slide.  We visited the Historic Davenport Hotel, a hundred year old hotel which has been restored to its former grandeur.  While at the hotel, SH noticed they serve High Tea on Sundays, and surprised me by suggesting we attend.  That experience became a cornerstone of this vacation.

After we were seated at our table (white tablecloth, of course), we were given time to sniff our way through a flight of the teas that were offered, each of which was described in a menu with the detail and poetry usually found in descriptions of wines.  I chose the Davenport Peach Berry ("Sweet ripe peaches, bold and  bright berries with delicate white leaves brew a stunning cup, slightly sweet and lightly caffeinated."), while SH had the Davenport Cherry Blossom Blend ("A vibrant blend of dark, yet delicate and robust cherries, rose hips, rose petals and blackberry leaf for a caffeine free cup of beauty and tradition.")  Mine was hands down the best cut of tea I've ever tasted.  Sugar cubes were offered but not needed.  I'm not really much of a hot tea drinker, but I loved loved loved this tea, which was served in a little glass pot, to be poured through a strainer.  Each place setting included a triple timer, with 1, 3, and 5 minute capsules of different colored sands so that one could brew the tea to exactly one's taste.  Superb.

We were also, naturally, served a tower of both sweet and savory bites: the traditional cucumber/watercress sandwiches with the crusts cut off, small eclairs filled with huckleberry cream, coriander chicken salad on white bread, scones accompanied by Devonshire cream, lemon curd, and cherry marmalade, and other delights.  Altogether it was a delightful afternoon, elegant but not the least bit stuffy.

Our entire time in Spokane was lovely, including as it did a chance to see 3 performances of my play and hear the robust audience response, as well as to reconnect with some of the members of the local theater community, several of whom greeted me as either a long-lost friend or a well-respected colleague, even though I'd only been there once before, in 2019 when a different play of mine was part of this yearly festival.  I'm so glad to have been able to attend, and gladder still that SH was there to share this glorious experience.