Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I brought my walking shoes for the Huntington Gardens walk.
I woke up to quite a ruckus outside the hotel – it sounded like some folks were making quite the commotion. Later, I caught wind of a story on the news about a woman who had been working as a hotel maid for twenty years and was now demanding a $10/hour raise. While I can certainly understand the desire for fair compensation, I have to admit that $30/hour seems like a lot for that kind of work. Still, Mary and I decided to stick to our plans for the day and not let it disrupt our fun.
We checked in at the front desk before entering the gardens. As “Patrons,” we were able to arrive four hours earlier than regular guests, making our walk peaceful. We have been members since the 1990s, a quarter-century!
Let’s go for a walk!
On the way to the Rose Garden, Mary stopped at the Tea Room. We were unable to get reservations, but after peering in the window, Pablo came to the door and asked how he could assist us. We mentioned that we would love to dine with them today but could not secure reservations.
Mary blinked, but unfortunately, one of her eyelashes fell and floated to the ground. I tried to ignore the situation, but I had to rush to catch Pablo before he fell due to his uncontrollable laughter.
After a short break, we were told to come back at 11:00 am, and he promised to accommodate us!
Did you hear you can’t make reservations at the Huntington Library? They’re fully booked!
Today, we walked a total of three miles and took pleasure in the beauty of the gardens.
The visit to the Herb Garden was informative and helped us identify some of our plants.
Thought I’d purchase a tall herb plant from Home Depot last week but actually turned out to be tiny. No big dill.
Whenever possible, we made sure to rest in the shade to escape the scorching heat that reached over 90 degrees!
We spent an hour exploring the Herb and Rose Gardens, both by the Tea Room. After wandering the rows, we rested under a massive pepper tree and chatted with one of the full-time rose gardeners. We even visited the Chinese Gardens before heading back to the Tea Room.
We waited for seven minutes before Pablo opened the door and checked Mary for any loose items that might cause him additional convulsions before inviting us inside.
We ordered the Huntington Tea with seasonal house-made scones, a tea menu, a glass of house bubbles, lobster salad in phyllo with Maldon sea salt and shaved black truffles and a Huntington Bonbon. The items were served on a tall stand.
The experience was thoroughly enjoyable! Champagne always brings happiness with every bubble.
We thoroughly enjoyed the tea, along with a glass of champagne infused with rose petals. The visible rose petals in the champagne made us decide to try this at home.
The champagne infused with roses had the same fragrance as strolling through a rose garden!
We ate the whole thing!
SAVORY:
Cucumber Sandwich with Dill Cream and Peppercress
Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwich
Smoked Salmon with Dill Cream Cheese and Caviar
Strawberry, Saba, Whipped Black Pepper Cream Cheese
Deviled Egg Salad Phyllo Cup
SWEET:
Ginger Cake with Poached Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Mousse
Chocolate Brown Butter Almond Cake
Banoffee Tart with Dulce de Leche, Banana Jam, Caramel Crunch
Buckwheat Financier, Lemon Pistachio Glaze
Seasonal Fruit Tart
Every item was quite tasty!
We had dessert and shared one last glass of rose-infused champagne at a corner table overlooking the herb garden.
Love in the afternoon!
We left the gardens at 2:45 PM and arrived home at 3:30 PM. Scout, The Wonder Dog, was happy to see us in the backyard; no front-yard adventures for him!
We’re going to San Jose for the weekend and Chuck and Lisa will be housesitting and babysitting until August 1st.
