The Madison Tea Room & Garden

Yesterday I met my friend Maureen (a/k/a tea blogger ParTea Lady) at the Madison Tea Room & Garden in Madison, Ga. It's about 85 miles from my house and was a very easy, pleasant drive. (Newnan friends: You take 85 North to 285-East and then I-20 East to Madison. You avoid downtown Atlanta traffic and when you get off the interstate, you're just a few miles from lovely downtown Madison and the tea room.)

So many tea rooms have closed in recent years that I was quite thrilled to learn of this one when I saw the ad in Tea Time magazine. When Maureen agreed to meet me there (it's a bit closer for her), I was so happy. And here we are at the tea room!

The hats are courtesy of the Madison Tea Room, which has lots of gorgeous ones you are encouraged to try on for photographs.

Maureen and I had made the earliest reservations for tea, and since we arrived first it was nice to be able to flit around a bit and check out this gorgeous tea room! I am very drawn to light, and the pretty white furnishings, tablecloths, and natural light on a sunny (and 67-degree!) day were just wonderful.

The decor at this tearoom was an early indication that this place would be a class act. The teacups, by the way, are for sale if you happen to want one you see or use!

And since several of us have Christmas teacups featuring this pattern, I thought you'd enjoy seeing these being used in Madison.

Whole tables of them for some Red Hatters who came in later! (Jealous!)

But enough of that, you're wondering what we had to eat, right?

Well, here are the savories!

Maureen "styled" her plate of savories, so I did the same. From top, clockwise, are chicken salad and turkey tea sandwiches, a mini-quiche, and cucumber and then egg salad tea sandwiches. The mini-quiche was my favorite of the savories, I think, but everything was good and very fresh-tasting.

Our scones were cranberry scones, and they were quite good. Very light, fresh and fruity. Good scones = good tea experience in my book!

Oh, and speaking of tea, here's the friendly proprietress, Kathi, pouring some of the "house blend" of tea, which was a currant-flavored black tea. Guests are encouraged to try it, but other teas are available for those who prefer something else. Maureen and I both liked the currant tea and sipped lots of it, because our server did a great job of keeping our cups topped off with tea. As a result we got to enjoy lots of "catching up" during the course of our teatime.

And the sweets? Well, I was running out of room for them (despite having skipped breakfast), but I did my best to eat the cream puff, lemon bar, brownie bite and a super light and moist cake topped with a fluffy white frosting dusted with coconut. I managed to eat at least some of everything--all delicious! I definitely recommend tea at the Madison Tea Room, and the $16.95 price was a good value. Tomorrow: The Madison Tea Room's gift shop and what I came home with!