Henley Regatta

Scones and Pimms anyone?

I have just experienced England. The England we Americans know from our high-school literature classes—-There I was, a spectator in the famous Renoir painting, “Luncheon at the Boating Party”, basking in all things romantic and definitely all things posh.

This evening our family attended the Henley Regatta, quite possibly the largest regatta in the world and certainly the most famous. Not only did we attend the regatta, but we attended as posh members of “Phyllis Court” the members-only club set smack dab on the River Thames. It was unreal.

We got to get all dressed up—-and I mean dressed UP! I got to wear, let me rephrase that—I HAD to wear a hat! I just LOVE that fact. Oooooh, the hats ladies, and I DO mean THE hats! I am, and apparently always have been a true hat person. My grandma and mom, who used to sew all of my clothes as a toddler, would be told off if my dresses did not accompany a hat or bonnet. We have the photos to prove it! If you love hats, the Henley regatta is definitely the place to be if only to gawk at the fabulous head wear. I discovered these trendy items called “fascinators” which are feathery, flowery, dainty and delicate hair pieces that you fasten to your head for a bit of dazzling decoration. That is, if you are not into the whole “hat” thing. They are very 1920’s cabaret-esque and VERY cool. Deva was all over them too!

And get this—you can hire (rent) hats and fascinators for the event! Convenient, since the cost of extravagant head gear can be more than a fair penny.

Quite by chance our family was appropriately donned in our HOPE wear. I fell in love with the royal and orange stripy fabric for the spring/summer 2009 collection because it reminded me so much of our holiday four years ago to Brittany in France. Little did I know that we’d have the opportunity to attend the Henley regatta and little did I know exactly how perfect our attire would be—-Honestly you’d think we’d been born English. Ironically Greg, the true English bloke in our family, looked the least regatta-ready. If I’d have known we would be going, I’d for sure have had the tailors whip up a Mary Poppins-esque, Jolly Holiday blazer for him. I am a firm believer that if you’re going to do it, well you might as well go all the way and do it in style. So yes, I was a bit bummed that Greg didn’t have the red and white Dick Van Dyke striped coat. How ultra fabulous would that have been?

The scene was amazing. Royal and blue striped tents surrounded the venue and the river heaved with boaters. Spectators cheered, glittering champagne in their hands, as the rowers streamed down the river in their race for victory.

Believe it or not, I’m now going to glorify English food. On previous visits I could never understand why I couldn’t get blueberry or cranberry orange scones in England, because let’s face it, it’s hard to find a plain scone in the USA. Why would one want plain when one could have fancy? Well, let me enlighten you with some serious scone data. Eaten properly, with the right and proper crème which is none other than Cornish clotted cream, (and lots of it), and strawberry or raspberry jam, there is really no need for any other special additions. With our traditional scones we of course took tea, fresh berries & cream and cucumber sandwiches. It was incredibly civilized.

After high tea we ventured back towards the river and found pleasant seats in the viewing stands when I spotted several tables below hosting pitchers of a refreshing looking drink. When I found out it was a traditional summer beverage there was no doubt I needed to partake. I was politely informed that the drink is called Pimms and I am happy to report that it is a delightfully fabulous refreshing summertime beverage. The recipe is as follows: 1 part Pimms (note this is alcoholic) 3 parts sparkling lemonade fresh mint, orange, apple and cucumber slices. Fresh strawberries are also tasty. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy!

As it often does here in jolly ‘ole England, the weather suddenly turned for the worse and after ten minutes of pretending I wasn’t freezing a frosty frost, I decided to call it quits with my proper English fairy tale, and honor my California blood. My fleece and flannels were a warm welcome home where I snuggled up with the kids and poured myself yet another cup of warm proper English tea.