Old Town Manassas Fall Festival

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Old Town Manassas Fall Festival and saw all sorts of interesting vendors.

 

Old Town Manassas is fairly small, but there were quite a few vendors in the streets.  I did take the time to stop into one of my favorite stores--The Things I Love (see here for more about the store and the teas they serve). 

Here is the pretty display outside the window of the store,

 

 

and some of the pretty Halloween goodies for sale inside.

 

 

After I left the Things I Love and wandered a bit further down Center Street, I saw the booth below for Larkin Tea Company, a West Virginia tea company.  



Hello booth!  I obviously went right on in, where I met the owners, Bill and Judy Larkin (serving a customer below), who are both certified tea specialists.  They had cute tea cozies, notecards, tea scented soaps and other products, and...

TEA!  Complete with little sniffer jars--the better to smell the teas first :).  I like being led by my nose.  You can buy tea directly from their website, and they have loads of different types for sale.  I was also given a free sample of tea to try, which I will definitely feature on the blog over the next couple of days--yay new tea for free!

 

The most exciting find for me at this booth was a selection of blooming teas.   They were $2.50 a ball, so I picked up a couple.  I love serving blooming teas at parties--I think it is another form of entertainment.  There were some great sounding ones in this booth (Marigold Fairy Peach, for example), and I noticed when I checked out their website that they sell a sampler pack online.  Unfortunately I didn't get a good closeup, but you can still see one of their flowering teas on display in the glass below.    

 

 

Right outside the booth were teapot and teacup/saucer yard stakes.

 

And here is a close up.

 

(Could that be hydrangea teapot yard art?  I don't think I realized at the time, or I might have given in and bought it.  I really like how they are slightly tilted, all ready to pour).

 

Here are a couple of other pictures from that afternoon:

 

(This 1914 station is beautiful and is one of the most well known buildings in Manassas, a long time train junction station.  The train is a major reason why Manassas was the site of 2 civil war battles).  

(Civil War ladies outside of the Manassas Museum.  The museum had some clothing stations set out on the Museum lawn that allowed children to try on the Victorian clothes for free).

(pony rides with the Museum in the background).

 

I had an enjoyable afternoon in beautiful weather and found tea--a perfect day!