Tea Party at Belmont Mansion

This past weekend I went with my sewing friend Juliana to a tea party at Belmont Mansion in Nashville.

It's the largest house museum in Tennessee, and the historic home of Adelicia Hayes Franklin Acklen Cheatham.

Adelicia Hayes married a rich old businessman (Franklin) who was 28 years her senior.  She became a very wealthy young widow just 7 years later, and then married a lawyer (Acklen) who tripled the value of her fortune.  He died while managing their winter home in Louisiana in the midst of the Civil War.  She then married her third and final husband, a mental health doctor (Cheatham), at age 50.  She died at age 70 during a shopping trip in New York City. 

The lavish antebellum home is impressive.

The elaborate grounds are just as impressive.

 

I love the circular rose garden, full of countless varieties of roses in a rainbow of colors.

The menu included hot tea, chicken curry tea sandwiches, cucumber tea sandwiches, petit fours, scones with jam, lemon cookies, fresh fruit, boursin cheese spread with gourmet crackers, and biscotti.

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It was such a wonderful day that I didn't want to end.  I met the nicest ladies at the table, and we discussed forming a tea party club to tour the different tea rooms in the area.