One of my favorite assignment in high school was to perform a Shakespearean monologue. While most selected Romeo and Juliet, I chose lines from Anthony and Cleopatra, a tragedy not well suited for a freshman high school student (I look at it now, married with kids, and think...it's not really suitable for anyone!!!).
What can I say except...that was me!
The result of my performance?
I gained the notice of my drama teacher (important for earning future roles), the boys in the class looked at me differently, and the girls treated me with some deference...well, for about 2 weeks that is. And don't you know, I remember (with not a little amusement and a bit of pride) a fellow classmate saying, "It's like you were...were...sexy or something! ~That was Toshia...she told you like it was...like it or not :?)
Who'da thought it? Little "Allie", whom a college professor declared the quintessencial 'Jane Eyre', could be SEXY! Still makes me laugh!
Fast forward some 20 years and, excepting for a couple of very special people, I've all but dropped the name "Allie", my "sexy" stage days are far behind me, and I find myself in a marvelous little tea shop in Virginia Beach, VA, called Quintin's Tea Emporium.
Coming in from a lovely day at the beach, bright and shinning, where everything screams "OCEAN! and "SUN" the store can seem somewhat out of sinc with the town's tourist scene. The storefront dressings, which I barely noticed in my excitement to get to the teas inside, should have warned me, prepared me for a complete environmental and atmospheric change.
From the banner and shields on the wall displaying the black lion of England to the gray washed interior and sturdy wood beams announcing a solid heartiness more in keeping with a ski resort town than the beach, it announced it's British heritage with all the understated pride of the royal family themselves...well Queen Elizabeth at any rate.
In truth, I was, well, a little disappointed.
Used to the flashy, crisp lines of overfull inventory tea shops, I hadn't been in such a shop before. I looked around a moment, smiling, striving to hide my altered excitement, before I discovered the reason for their limited display.
I came full circle...and fell in love! For there, behind the cash register, was the reason for the shop's existence. From my mid height (short person here) to the top ceiling shelf, and stretched almost as wide as the store is deep, were oodles of clear glass canisters of tea, glorious tea! There were Green teas, Herbal Tisanes, Olongs and Whites, but most deliciously of all, Black teas!
I stepped closer. Did I dare believe my eyes? Had I at last found a true TEA shop. I stopped, hesitating. I questioned...Oh the wondrous answer! "NO, those are just the samples of the teas!" Pshaw! They wouldn't put their teas in a clear canister, exposed to the light!
Of course from there, like-minded conversation followed and eventually landed on the various types of teas that might tempt me.
And so we come to it.
The black tea surreptitiously called "Antony and Cleopatra!"
A tea that artfully combines the husky overtones of a Russian tea with the sweet companion of a China black. Much too strong for a simple morning tea, it is the perfect compliment to any luncheon from rich, creamy salads of festive occasions, to a simple favorite staple of mine, PB&J!
A delightful drink with its tea pressed into a heart-shaped disk, bringing an added touch of elegance to any bridal shower/luncheon or simply the reminder of days long past with the hope of continued discovery ever before me!
In closing and in honor of this grand tea called Antony and Cleopatra at Quintin's Teas and the grand Bard himself, I'd like to leave a select portion of my own "Glory Days" that began with a simple monologue from that self same play...
"Nay, pray you, seek no color for your going,
But bid farewell and go. When you sued staying,
Then was the time for words. No going then!
Eternity was in our lips and eyes,
Bliss in our brows’ bent, none our parts so poor
But was a race of heaven. They are so still,"
** Note worthy**
The above was my first impression of a relatively young tea shop at the time. Since then, Quintin's Tea Emporium has increased their selection of delightful, authentic teaware with items you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the US (Do YOU know of another place to get the same raw sugar the Queen of England herself uses?). But thankfully, through the years and too few visits I'm able to make to the east coast, I have witnessed Quintin's remaining faithful to their true love and reason for being in the first place: TEA! For that I will return time and again, all the while gleaning ideas for gifts of my own and gift giving from their ever expanding inventory!
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