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Of Tea and Trips
Friday, March 28th, 2008 08:52 amThe Husbandly One and I were chatting last night during one of those brief interludes between, "I'm hungry," "I can't find my homework," and "Do I have any clean bright shirts? It's picture day tomorrow!" And we were going over our trip and some of the highlights... and the lows.
Alex, honey, I think I know why you don't like ice tea.
During our entire time up in D.C. we never, ever, ever had a decent glass of ice tea. Ever.
The first time was our first night, in the hotel's cafe, and the grown-ups ordered ice tea while the kids ordered soft drinks. And the waiter kind of looked at us like we were insane, but we figured at the time it was because of our accents, and because we had ordered burgers rather than the chi-chi frou-frou stuff on the menu that we knew our kids wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Then he brought out our drinks, and THO and I sweetened the tea, because when we asked if it was sweetened, he gave us a look of horror and said, "Oh, no!"
So, I sweeten it and take a sip... and immediately grimace. THO says, "What is it?"
"This must have been stewing a while in the urn," I said, hastily adding more sugar. And more. And more. Then I gave up, and when the waiter dubiously asked me if I wanted a refill, I asked for water instead. Which seemed to relieve him a great deal.
THO didn't like his tea, either, and even asked for lemon, which just made it worse.
And do you know, no matter where we went, IT DIDN'T IMPROVE!!
At another restaurant, after meeting the same look of puzzlement from our server, he came back with my glass and said, "You're lucky, we just finished brewing it!"
I thought with relief, "At last, a fresh glass of ice tea!"
I sweetened it, and tasted, so expectant.
Apparently, they like drinking swill.
EURGH!!!! It was NASTY!!!!
It was the same, everywhere we went. Swill, swill, swill! And do you know, they had the nerve to try to correct us when we ordered it (which we stopped doing. After the fourth time, it was soft drinks for the rest of the trip, or water)?? THO asked for "ice tea," and the waiter helpfully said, "You mean ice-D tea, sir?"
He glared and said, "No, I mean ICE tea!"
"It's ice-D tea, sir."
I said, "Honey, we're Southern. We invented it. It's ICE tea. Tea with ICE in it. It isn't ICED. The glass isn't frosted, there is no sugared confection smeared across it like a cake. Cakes are iced, tea is not. Ice tea, and ice water. Got it, hon?" I said this, or course, in my sweet lil' ol' Gulf Coast lilt, with a honey-sweet smile on my face... and death in my eyes.
When we got back to Texas, and past the Traffic Jam of Doom, we stopped in Waco to eat and ordered ice tea with our meal, and sighed with relief when it wasn't SWILL!!!
The waiter stared at us. "Y'all all right?"
We smiled. "This is the first decent ice tea we've had in a week!" THO said happily.
"Golly!" said the waiter. "That's awful! Well, when you're done with that, you just let me know and I'll fill y'all right up!"
Ahhhhhh... Texas....
*salutes you all with a glass of Cranberry Pomegranate ice tea*
Alex, honey, I think I know why you don't like ice tea.
During our entire time up in D.C. we never, ever, ever had a decent glass of ice tea. Ever.
The first time was our first night, in the hotel's cafe, and the grown-ups ordered ice tea while the kids ordered soft drinks. And the waiter kind of looked at us like we were insane, but we figured at the time it was because of our accents, and because we had ordered burgers rather than the chi-chi frou-frou stuff on the menu that we knew our kids wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Then he brought out our drinks, and THO and I sweetened the tea, because when we asked if it was sweetened, he gave us a look of horror and said, "Oh, no!"
So, I sweeten it and take a sip... and immediately grimace. THO says, "What is it?"
"This must have been stewing a while in the urn," I said, hastily adding more sugar. And more. And more. Then I gave up, and when the waiter dubiously asked me if I wanted a refill, I asked for water instead. Which seemed to relieve him a great deal.
THO didn't like his tea, either, and even asked for lemon, which just made it worse.
And do you know, no matter where we went, IT DIDN'T IMPROVE!!
At another restaurant, after meeting the same look of puzzlement from our server, he came back with my glass and said, "You're lucky, we just finished brewing it!"
I thought with relief, "At last, a fresh glass of ice tea!"
I sweetened it, and tasted, so expectant.
Apparently, they like drinking swill.
EURGH!!!! It was NASTY!!!!
It was the same, everywhere we went. Swill, swill, swill! And do you know, they had the nerve to try to correct us when we ordered it (which we stopped doing. After the fourth time, it was soft drinks for the rest of the trip, or water)?? THO asked for "ice tea," and the waiter helpfully said, "You mean ice-D tea, sir?"
He glared and said, "No, I mean ICE tea!"
"It's ice-D tea, sir."
I said, "Honey, we're Southern. We invented it. It's ICE tea. Tea with ICE in it. It isn't ICED. The glass isn't frosted, there is no sugared confection smeared across it like a cake. Cakes are iced, tea is not. Ice tea, and ice water. Got it, hon?" I said this, or course, in my sweet lil' ol' Gulf Coast lilt, with a honey-sweet smile on my face... and death in my eyes.
When we got back to Texas, and past the Traffic Jam of Doom, we stopped in Waco to eat and ordered ice tea with our meal, and sighed with relief when it wasn't SWILL!!!
The waiter stared at us. "Y'all all right?"
We smiled. "This is the first decent ice tea we've had in a week!" THO said happily.
"Golly!" said the waiter. "That's awful! Well, when you're done with that, you just let me know and I'll fill y'all right up!"
Ahhhhhh... Texas....
*salutes you all with a glass of Cranberry Pomegranate ice tea*
