A taste of the Edenton Tea Party

So reader Susan B. in North Carolina sent an email that she was sending me "a little something" in the mail. To my surprise, her "little something" was a box containing several individually wrapped gifts. I was intrigued!

Inside, there were some wonderful treats that were right up my alley. Green tea Chapstick (and I was almost out of lip balm) and green tea mints are certainly welcome gifts!

And I was tickled when I realized this postcard was an image from the famous Edenton Tea Party, the historic event in Edenton, N.C., where one Penelope Barker and her friends famously opposed the Tea Act by boycotting tea and refusing to “conform to ye pernicious Custom of Drinking Tea.”

Then I realized this card contained a beautiful, clear photo of the Edenton teapot historical marker that I'd not seen before. When I turned the card over, I learned that Susan took the photo! Inside, she included a few articles she thought I would enjoy, and I did, including one that says African violets benefit from a drink of chamomile tea. I will be trying that!

And when I opened the last gift (I saved the biggest to unwrap last), it was this fabulous cookbook,  Take Tea at the Barker House, which I didn't even know existed. And you know what occurred to me? In just five years, it will be the 250th anniversary of the Edenton Tea Party, so I hope the good people of Edenton are even now planning a mega celebration. Wouldn't that be a great time to have a gathering of tea lovers come to town? I may have to start making a few inquiries now!