I was recently in South Carolina visiting some old college friends, and one of the awesome things we did as real-life adults was have a tea party. To celebrate my friends' upcoming nuptials, her family invited us to Laura's Tea Room in Ridgeway, South Carolina. Being a tea party sort of girl, I was thrilled. Here's what it was like, and why I highly recommend this place.

Enter the shop downstairs, and it's full of any tea you could imagine, tea sets galore and a thousand other lovely things to see and buy. Tea is being served upstairs, and the first step is to pick out a vintage hat. On the second floor, there is a table full of tea cups with spoons and saucers. It must have been an effort to collect all these beauties. Pick your favorite cup and you're ready!

The tables are set beautifully and there are two menus: One showing what's being served today and one devoted entirely to their extensive tea selections. We are served strawberry basil iced tea and a hot tea called Lemon Chiffon. We are also allowed to choose a second hot tea for each of our two tables. We chose Pineapple Lychee Hibiscus and Ginger Peach. These powerful teas were great, but neither came close to the Lemon Chiffon, which was heavenly.

The first course was a lemon poppyseed scone served with devonshire cream and lemon curd, as well as a chilled strawberry soup. The soup was very like a thin strawberry yogurt, and I was into it. The scone was great alone, but along with devonshire cream was amazing.

The second course was pasta watermelon salad, which included a creamy sweet sauce, mixed greens, blueberries, and feta cheese crumbles. I could have eaten that for days, and if i had the recipe for that sauce, people would never see me again because I would be too busy eating nothing but pasta watermelon salad all day every day.

Then came the third course, a three-tiered tray full of savories and sweets. Mini quiche, tomato and pimento cheese, cucumber sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, and french macaroons covered each tray. I ate everything, disliked nothing and loved the savories best. The classic cucumber sandwich and the tomato and pimento cheese were possibly my favorites, although it's difficult to choose.

After a few hours, I was full and very, very happy. I do love a good tea party, and this one was chock full of wonderful food, my new favorite teas and some lovely people. The service at Laura's Tea Room was fantastic, they took great care of us. Everyone had great conversation and loved the food. I loved the strawberry basil iced tea and lemon chiffon tea so much, that before I left the building, I bought some. I'll keep my fingers crossed I can make them taste just the same at home.

If you're ever in the Columbia, South Carolina area, pop over to Laura's in historic Ridgeway. It's worth it! Enjoy some pictures from my tea party adventure!