lambscapearchitect: three for tea

My niece, Hannah, is visiting us this week so in between all the regular summer outings (pool, mall, beach) we decided to do something extra special. We left Harriet at home and headed to the big city for Afternoon Tea at the Drake Hotel. We had such a fantastic time. It appealed to each of us, a 4 year old, a 13 year old, and...me. It would be great for grandmas and aunts too and every age in between.

The Drake Hotel is one of the oldest most beautiful hotels in the city. Afternoon tea takes place in the Palm Court which is a lovely room with a fountain in the center topped with an enormous flower arrangement. I had been to afternoon tea a couple times before, years ago, with girlfriends and my mom but it was so fun seeing it through Eloise and Hannah's eyes.

We each chose our tea variety. Everyone gets their own pot and there is cream and sugar cubes with little silver tongs which was very exciting for Eloise. Next comes the three tiered tray of delicious treats. Scones and breads on the top, tea sandwiches on the middle tier, and pastries on the bottom. These were served with preserves, lemon curd, and English Double Devon cream. I really was a little surprised at how delicious everything was, and we were stuffed! The girls got a kick out of being extra fancy and proper. For those of you that know Eloise, it should come as no surprise that she thought it would be super fun to talk in British accents the whole time. Well, it was fun. Me and Hannah did it for a little bit but you know Eloise was committed to her character and kept it up the whole time.

There was a beautiful harpist playing right by the fountain. Hannah and Eloise requested "anything from Mary Poppins" and were treated to Chim chiminey. At one point they had to go check out the very fancy Powder Room and came back with a full report of the decor, details, and how "every stall had its own sink!!". I mean we can't be fancy all the time, we had to have some potty talk at the table.

This is definitely something that was not on the "free things to do in Chicago" list but it was very fun for a special occasion. We will definitely go again. Oh, and did I mention that the American Girl Store is a mere block and a half away. I saved that for a surprise after tea. Heads exploded.