A WASPy Day

Jill’s blog is called: “Am I Waspy”? While I think this is a good question for Jill to ask herself, I have never had to ask myself this question. Clearly I am not a WASP. I am not White or Anglo-Saxon or Protestant. Nor do I have particularly WASPy tendencies: I do not like decorating or sewing or dressing up for a meal. I like cooking but setting tables and making flower arrangements is not for me. But this past Saturday, I had the closest thing to a WASPy day that I have ever had.

As I said before, Gregg’s parents came to Lancaster this weekend. Saturday was their guys’ day – and Gregg, his dad and his brother all went to Philly for the day. They were scheduled back around midnight after watching the Phillies game. So, what were his mom and I to do?

Not to be outdone, we decided to have a special day too. I had made reservations at this place: the House of Clarendon. It was to be an English High Tea. It turned out to exceed expectations. The tea they served was an English Breakfast from Piccadilly. It had a subtle aroma, a gentle mellow taste and was perfect with just a splash of milk. The food accompanying the tea was also perfect. As we all know, English tea is accompanied by finger foods. This place serves 7 savories and 7 sweets – all bite-sized – with the tea. I thought that 14 bite-sized pieces of food cannot possibly be filling. I was so wrong!!! Thank goodness, we did not have time to get breakfast before we went for tea at noon. The savories included spinach and cream cheese pinwheels, a chicken tartlet, sausage rolls, stuffed phyllo etc. At the end of this, I was already starting to feel satiated. But the 7 sweets put me over the edge. They included mini éclairs, scones with apricot, lemon and raspberry puffs and even a mint tea in a chocolate cup – and you are supposed to eat the cup after drinking the tea. All the food and the tea was served piece by piece and we just sat and relaxed and talked for two hours. This, combined with the fact that you have to dress up a little to go to this place, made me feel very WASPy. But we had a great time.

After this tea, Gregg’s mom and I decided to take a nap. Unfortunately, I had not counted on Giggs being super-hyper after being left alone all day. So, my nap was rather short!!! Then, in the evening, we got up, got dressed all over again and went to the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster to watch a play – Brigadoon. I had never heard of it but it is a romantic play about a guy who falls in love with a woman who lives in an enchanted village in Scotland. The village appears to the outside world every 100 years and so when he decides not to stay with her, he is forgoing her forever. The question is: is he (and she) doomed to live with his decision forever or can they see each other again in spite of the enchantment. I will not spoil the ending for those who do not know it. Anyway, suffice it to say, that unlike the rest of the audience, I was torn. Everyone wanted them to get back together – I thought however that while second chances are good, maybe living with the consequences of one’s actions is a necessary lesson. But the acting and dancing and singing were really good and again, we had a very good time. It felt good to be dressed up, at a play, doing something cultural instead of sprawling in PJs in front of the TV at home.

After the play, we did do something un-WASPy – go home and pig out on pizza and Chinese food. But on the whole, it was a really nice day – and to me, the WASPiest things I have done so far.