Welcome to letter U and to this year’s Theme:

 The Glories of Tea With Stepheny

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The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C. serves afternoon tea in the elegant and modern lobby. The fare here includes traditional teatime accompaniments like chicken salad and cream cheese panna cotta sandwiches, buttermilk scones and sweets, tea cakes and macaroons. I have taken afternoon tea several times and enjoyed the entire experience. It is a ‘grown-up’ place in which to be a lady and gentleman. (My way of saying, please don’t arrive in your red sweatshirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. I watched a woman come up the aisle after an afternoon performance at the Carolina Ballet wearing this get-up. I was knocked off my feet. The dancers had prepared a lifetime to perform that day. Out of respect, she should have bothered a little, don’t you think? You will be seated among art and great pottery and glass, out of respect…..you see what I’m saying?)

The Dale Chihuly Blown-Glass Sculpture -The Centerpiece of the Collection

It was a special occasion when some of my lady friends and I made our first reservations for lunch soon after the Umstead Hotel opened. It had been widely publicized that a significant collection of paintings, sculptures, and pottery had been installed throughout the hotel and grounds. We were especially interested in the hotel’s large collection of pottery. Ben Owen III, a third-generation artist from North Carolina’s distinguished Owen family of potters, is widely represented, as is Mark Hewitt, a potter from England who lives and works in Pittsboro, NC. The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary blends art and nature at every juncture to make this 2010 AAA Five Diamond Award-winning hotel a lovely destination.  There is art from other parts of the world including accent tables designed in Italy. You will enjoy this visual delight. Check availability for tea when making plans. I think you will thank me for this suggestion. Enjoy!

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