On November 9, 2013, members of Delta Pi Delta Alumnae Chapter met at Brambles English Tea Room and Gift Shop on Fifth Avenue in the heart of Naples, Florida. The owners of the tea room, Christopher and Heather Burgess, are British and strive to keep their offerings as authentically British as possible. Since we were meeting to share Afternoon Tea in the British manner, many members got into the spirit of things by wearing hats, something that you don’t often see in Southwest Florida. Afternoon Tea included a selection of finger sandwiches and baked scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Sebastian, our waiter, kept the tea coming, and it was the best tea ever. Heather gave the group a brief presentation on the history of tea, which was more controversial than you might expect. Tea became the drink of the aristocracy in England, but taxes were so high that tea smuggling became profitable. When the East India Company tried exporting tea to America, it was also heavily taxed, and we all know what happened in Boston because of that! We were also treated to a visit by Genevieve Grace, Tiffany’s five-week-old baby daughter. Although most of us have not worn a hat in many, many years, it was a lot of fun seeing our members in hats, and there’s really nothing that completes an outfit quite like the perfect hat.
Brambles “sandwich” board sign on Fifth Avenue in Naples, Florida
Five on Fifth--Linda, Nancy, Betty, Lyndal and Becky on Fifth Avenue
Brambles is on a short passageway off Fifth Avenue, a very upscale street in Naples.
Nancy, Linda, Pat and Betty under the Brambles awning
Christopher and Heather Burgess in front of a huge selection of tins of tea
Brambles entry and gift shop
All manner of china sets with teapots, of course
Gifts in the shop
Jane looked as if she had just arrived from London
New member Kris, Lyndal, Linda and Darlene
Shirley in a “fascinator” hat--cute and it doesn’t ruin your hairstyle.
Ann, Esther, Esther’s daughter Pam, Donna and Alice
Alice and Phyllis
Pam and Esther
Brenda and Tiffany
Everything old is new again.
Amy is wearing her mother’s hat, which her mother wore to Amy’s wedding 50 years ago.
Rosemary, Caroline, Amy and Barbara
Sasha’s guest, Alycia, Sebastian pouring tea and Donna
Denny and Phyllis
Sharon and Sasha
Linda, Sandy and Kris
Darlene and Teddy
Allison and her guest, Chris
Scottie, looking very jaunty in her porkpie hat
Heather telling us about the history of tea
Elaine
Phyllis and Brenda
Dee and Denny
Sasha, Brenda and Tiffany
Birthday girl Carolyn
Tiffany and Genevieve Grace
In Memoriam - June 22, 2013
Edna Verrone
Edna became an Alumni Initiate of Alpha Chi Omega in 2008 and served as Corresponding Secretary of Delta Pi Delta.
We will miss her.
