The Jefferson

“Strikingly original in design, with not a single square foot of defect to mar the harmony..” This was written of the Jefferson hotel in Richmond, Virginia over 100 years ago. It was my pleasure to join my sister for tea at this famous hotel which is an integral part of the social and cultural history of Richmond.
  

  These beautiful marble columns and attention to detail held us in awe as we walked around the main floor.



We overlooked this dining area set for a private party later in the day.



The tea tables were set in the lobby and each one had fresh white linens and a silver tea strainer. The menu is pictured.



Linda and I both chose Ginger Peach tea to enjoy. "



Our tea tray consisted of finger sandwiches..chicken salad, watercress and tomato, cucumber and cheese and rolls with Virginia ham and cheese. The second tier held chocolate chip and cranberry scones and lemon tea breads. On the dessert tier were chocolate covered strawberries, linzer tarts, chocolate mousse tarts, and other small tarts. There was Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves to add to the pleasure.


Behind Linda there was an extremely large breakfront with many antique dishes inside.

  

The waitress was very attentive to our needs and volunteered to take our picture together.



After our tea we took a walking tour of the hotel. In the library of the restaurant there was a famous painting called “The Soap Bubbles”.



This photo shows the elaborate ceilings in the large downstairs room. The craftmanship in the details amazed us.





The hotel has its own floral shop with a gift shop also.


In the lobby was a magnificent Carrara marble statue of Thomas Jefferson the hero of the builder, Lewis Ginter. It is thought that nearly $2 million was spent to build the original hotel, and that between $5 and $10 million was spent on all aspects of the project. The Jefferson is a Five Diamond award winner.

Tablescape Thursday

It’s that time again…time to visit Susan at Between naps on the Porch. There you can find links to many tablescapes done by bloggers all over the country. I haven’t made a tablescape in awhile so I was happy when I found these napkins at Marshall’s. I put an old scarf down the middle of the table and added stones and pears. There are three plates…a white, a blue, and a transparent blue on top. On the end of the table is a horse statue and an urn of contorta branches. I hope you enjoy the tablescape.

Sadie’s favorite game

I LOVE A PARADE

Time to celebrate! Bradford today celebrated its 150th year of the discovery of oil. Our town was once the largest producer of oil in the US and had a huge population. Drillers came from all around to find that precious high grade crude oil that only our region possessed. As they came so did prosperity. Many hotels, rooming houses, and businesses came with it. I can only imagine our town in its heyday. Here are some pictures from the parade.

  The Zippo car

 
  And the parade wouldn’t be complete without……….our own resident clown…Hollywood Helen! 

Afterward she stuck around to yell and cheer each unit on.

some happy summer day

Have you ever had a day when you were just contented? It was one of those days. Some warm feelings were left over from last night when my husband and I celebrated my friend Jamie’s birthday at one of our favorite restaurants, the Nickel Inn. This rustic inn sits far out in the country and our table faced a wall of windows where we could see the rose breasted grossbeaks and canaries eating at the feeders. It was a delicious dinner with good friends. Gary’s barbershop group joined us and they broke into song several times during the night and even serenaded nearby tables. At the table next to ours was a 92 year old man who joined the group when they sang at his table. It turned out that he was a former barbershopper and was so happy to walk around with them in the restaurant as they went from table to table and sang for the diners.
     Today those feelings were still with me as I decided that this was to be a day when I just didn’t do things that usually occupy my time ...housework. Instead I sat on the porch swing and read a good book, played with Sadie, and made unstuffed pepper soup for dinner using the fresh peppers and onion that Don’s friend Bill had given him.
  I took a few pictures of the back yard and of the beautiful zinnias that I bought at the lake yesterday. 
 

THE LENHART HOTEL BEMUS POINT, NY

SUMMER CASUAL

 
Today the Red Hat Kinzua Kuties visited the Lenhart Hotel in Bemus Point NY. This old hotel is only open in the summer and has a lovely view of Chautauqua Lake from the rocking chairs on the front porch. We had lunch inside and then toured the hotel. Our guide was fourth generation to operate this hotel. In the lake’s heyday, there were many steamboats and large hotels all over the lake.


Sip and enjoy the water views at the Lamplighter

BY RICK STANLEY

Special to The News

July 17, 2009, 7:03 AM / 0 comments

BEMUS POINT—On most occasions, a trip to the tavern or nightspot is primarily for the beverages and the company of fellow revelers. But sometimes, the visit can be to soak up the ambience.

A stop at the Lamplighter Cocktail Lounge in the summer is definitely of the latter variety. The Lamplighter is located on the first floor of the historic Hotel Lenhart overlooking Bemus Bay on Chautauqua Lake.

“It’s really a romantic bar,” says Walter, the bartender, who is whipping up a round of drinks that includes two signature Lenhart Rockers at $5 apiece and two Bud Light Limes at $3 each. “A lot of people just like to come in, grab a table by the window and just look out at the lake.”

While the grand, wooden hotel was built in 1880 as one of the stops for the steamships that plied Chautauqua Lake, the Lamplighter didn’t open until 1960, says John Lenhart Johnston Jr., owner and operator of the hotel who sometimes works the bar himself. The space where the Lamplighter is located is a renovated billiards room. The hotel’s bar used to be on the other side of the building, which is now a guest room, Johnston says. He then displays a weathered liquor license from 1911.

The bar features about 25 bottled beer varieties and the standard array of mixed drinks. It also features the Lenhart Rocker, which is a potent concoction of vodka and other spirits, and the Dark ’n’ Stormy, which mixes rum and ginger beer.

Couples sauntered in and out of the Lamplighter, ordering drinks and then bringing them out to the locally famous porch where you can just sit, sip and watch the sunset while rocking in the hotel’s colorful chairs.

The Lamplighter, “which really hasn’t changed much since 1960,” Johnston says, is an intimate little place. It has about a dozen tables and an oak bar decorated with a cherry inlay of Chautauqua Lake to which patrons can belly up. There are no televisions or video games, just soft music playing, which, on this visit, was Billie Holiday.

The walls feature intricate woodcuttings done by Cecil Rhodes, a longtime Bemus Point artisan. One work features a steamship, the City of Cincinnati, which used to make the rounds on Chautauqua Lake. There’s also a tiger musky on the wall—the “fighting fish of Chautauqua Lake,” says bartender Walter. Also on display are several model ships built by Johnston’s father.

Behind the bar is a vintage sign that says: “Street girls bringing sailors into hotel must pay for room in advance.”

It all makes for a pleasant, secluded ambience that is worth drinking up.

We’re havin’ a heat wave!

It’s 86…I know to some of you in the south that doesn’t seem very hot…but for Bradford it’s over the top. We are shut up in our house with fans going and shades drawn. You have to remember that most houses in this town do not have air conditioning. We have a window conditioner, but just for one day, is it worth the trouble of getting it out. Especially when the weather report says that it will be in the 60’s by the end of the week. It will cool down tonight I’m sure.
   I’m back from the weekend visiting my son and grandsons and I had a great time. Scott and I did some school shopping. It was so much fun to buy him clothes. He loved everything and looks so handsome in them. Dan was busy working (15 hours on Sat) so he didn’t get to shop with me, but I bought him 2 sets of sheets and a comforter for his college bed. He will be off to Penn State on Saturday.
   It was fun being with the family. I love it! Too hot to sit at the computer and put pics up today. sorry

using photscape

I love, love, love my fellow bloggers!! Thank you Pat from Back Porch Musing for sharing this wonderful photo editing program…photoscape. I downloaded it (for free) and played with it for an hour this afternoon. Here are the results.





Aren’t these fantastic!

WHEW! I DID ALL THAT?

What energy! What stamina! Was that me? Yesterday I had a burst of energy that I haven’t had in awhile. Here is what I got accomplished in just one day…thoroughly cleaned my main bathroom, swept under my bed and behind my dressers chasing all the dustbunnies away, worked in the attic bringing things down that we want to sell, dubbed some vhs tapes to dvds, cleaned the kitchen. I went from one thing to another and had a good sense of accomplishment. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t exercise in the morning..that really tires me out..or that I didn’t eat carbs…but whatever I felt good. I had so much energy that I couldn’t go to sleep last night. I fell asleep and woke back up and couldn’t go back to sleep. My mind was in a whirl. I felt like I had a shot of vitamin B12. wow! I haven’t felt like that in a long, long time. I am so happy now that my knee isn’t hurting.
    Don went to dr again yesterday. He has had bronchitis for over 4 months. He got some major meds this time and I think they are starting to help. He said, “I feel better”. He hasn’t felt good in such a long time.

I know it’s too soon for fall, but a fellow blogger posted this and I admired it so. I hope she doesn’t mind me using it in this post.  Thanks, Pat, from Back Porch Musings!

Dish-a-holic

I’ve got the dish disease and I have it bad. Is there a support group for this? I bought two more salad plates at Marshall’s when we were in Buffalo. I couldn’t resist..they had birds on them and fit into my garden room so well. Today I created a tablescape using them.
 
The table is set for two (since I only bought two plates and uses the brocade placemats that my sister Linda bought me for Christmas. My white plates…such a bargain at a yard sale, and bamboo silverware from Big Lots make a summer setting.

At the end of the table is an urn filled with contorta branches trimmed from Linda’s tree.

The napkins were from the pottery in Knoxville and the napkin ring nests are from Michael’s.

Here are the plates …aren’t they lovely? A robin and an oriel.


 

If you’d like to see more tablescapes be sure to visit Between naps on the porch every Thursday. Susan sponsors links to other dishaholics out there. There seem to be a lot of us.