Tea Shops and Antiques

I don’t go into town very often anymore.

Is that weird? I used to drive in every day for work, but since everything has closed down and I’ve moved my entire office to my living room, I’ve been avoiding town. We go in once a week for groceries and such, but my Saturday thrift store marathons are a thing of the past. It’s a long way to drive, I’m busier than I used to be, and, frankly, I like my house.

So why would I leave?

But recently, some of my siblings introduced me to a new shop. The Lewis and Holmes store. Technically, going to this store does not count as going to town, since ‘town’ means somewhere with a gas station and a Walmart and Peyton, my tiny hometown, has neither.

It has a drug store.

And a post office.

That’s about it.

Or so I thought. Just recently, several very cute and very classy little shops have popped up in Peyton.There’s a Mercantile with fabulous raisin pies. And a resale shop called the Barn Out Back. And a Sweet Treats, which I have not gone to yet. I’m assuming it’s a coffee shop.

And then there is the Lewis and Holmes store.

Where I spend all my money.

The Lewis and Holmes store is an antique shop. It’s styled after J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Sherlock Holmes. The owner’s a fan, which instantly made me a fan of her. She sells canes, bowler hats, caps, clothes, pipes, furniture, globes . . . pretty much anything you can think of with that old English style. I love everything there. It’s taken all my willpower to not buy myself a record player. And a pipe. And a $1500 leather bag that is way too expensive for my budget but everything I have always wanted a bag to be.

Fortunately, some of her antiques are cheaper.

But if we’re being honest—because I have a very small house and no room for antiques—I don’t go to her shop for the cool things she sells. They’re fun to look at, but I have another motive.

I go for the tea.

She has her own tea line.

Named after fictional characters.

And guys. It’s the best tea I’ve ever had in my life. I haven’t bought every single kind, but I’m going to soon. I’ve already made up my mind to never buy tea anywhere else. She gives free samples, so every time I go in, I sip on a new kind of tea while I browse through her shop.

So far, I’ve always left with a packet of the tea I sampled. I might fund the existence of this shop all by myself. Just to fuel my tea obsession.

I’m thinking of trying the Moriarty blend next.

I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Do you have a favorite tea shop you frequent? Tell me about it in the comments!