Tea with TeaRisa at Miss Susan's

Let me introduce you to TeaRisa. You'll find her enjoying her tea on our front porch, and she invites you to join her at Miss Susan's for a "Cuppa."

This is our official Tidewater Inn Scarecrow for Madison's first Annual "Sea Shop Scare(crow)" event, a month-long scarecrow contest which culminates in a Sea Shop Scare(crow) Soiree (party!) on October 28th.

TeaRisa was the creative idea of Kathy, one of our housekeepers. As we tossed around the many ideas for our potential scarecrow she suggested a lady having tea because the Tidewater Inn was originally built by Susan J. Hart in the 1920's to be her Tea Room. The rest of us came on board and ran with the idea, and Miss TeaRisa was born.

Come on by to say "hello" and to see Miss TeaRisa throughout October, and be sure to come to Madison to see all of the other 65 or more scarecrows that are all around town, along Rte 1, Wall Street and Rte 79 up to Bradley Road. Prizes for the best scarecrow, determined by popular vote (so come cast your vote for us!), in the categories of SEA, SHOP, SCARE, or Best All Around, will be awarded at the Soiree, 5-8pm, Thursday, October 28th in downtown Madison in the New Alliance Bank courtyard. Come for the fun, the food, and the special "spooky sales."

The Colors of Autumn

Look! Look!
I've been out and about leaf-peeping along the shoreline, and the colors are just now coming into their glory. Here's a bit of a taste of what you'll see here this week.

In case you're wondering, I have found that the shoreline's colors traditionally peak at the end of October into early November ... a bit after you'd expect ... and this year they are right on schedule.

Take a couple of days or a whole weekend and come and "play hooky" along the CT shoreline. Come see the colors for yourself.

We've had guests from around the world and as far away in our USA as Alaska this last week, and I've been having my fun as an innkeeper creating driving tours and leaf peeping adventures. Just ask when you come and I'll gladly share them with you, or even create a custom one just for you.

Right on schedule the Indian Summer weather has also arrived, bringing warm sweater-weather days and refreshingly cool nights. It's a Connecticut Shoreline Autumn at its best!

Madison Wine Shop Annouces ...

Madison Wine Shop Announces

Wine and Dine Overnight Package with the Tidewater Inn of Madison, Friday November 5th, 2010

Do you need a little pampering! On Friday November 5th at 6:30pm the festivities will begin! Join us for a French wine and Dine experience like no other! Victoria Kolyvas of the Tidewater Inn will welcome you with warm hospitality as you are shown to your magnificently appointed period room. At 6:3opm the living room will bustle with French wine and Hors d'oeuvres. Rick Lewis and Patricia Roberts from the Madison Wine Shop will introduce you to Alain Blanchon, one of their French wine importers who's wines we will be tasting!

Then settle in for a wonderful repast, seven courses especially paired with 7 wines. This is a limited event. Only 16 people can attend, which lends itself to highly personalized service and experience! Packages start at $340.00 per couple, which includes the Wine Dinner, accommodations, and breakfast the following morning!

Our latest addition to Madison is the fantastic French restaurant, Bar Bouchon, and their extraordinary Chef David Borselle from the Union League Cafe in New Haven. David will create a gastronomic dream to scintilate the palate and to enhance the wines paired! Fawn Nebinger from Madison Cheese, etc. has chosen scrumptious cheeses from varying regions throughout France.

We hope you can join us! This event always sells out quickly! Please call Viki at 203-245-8457 for reservations or email at escape@thetidewater.com.

What Fun Choosing the Wines! - November 2010 Wine Dinner

Our November Wine Dinner Getaway is coming up, and this time I was invited to be a part of the "choosing of the wines!" What fun. I was so excited, looking forward to it all. The experience did not disappoint.

Rick Lewis, from the Madison Wine Shop chooses the wines for our Wine Dinner Getaways. I like it that way. The way I see it, I'm the novice who enjoys wine, and he's the man with all the experience and knowledge and passion about wines, so I should sit back, watch and listen.

When it came time to make the plans for our upcoming November 5th Wine Dinner Getaway Rick surprised me with an interesting twist. "What would you think if we featured all French Wines?" My response was something to the effect of "Great! If that's what you'd like to do, I'm all for it. What wines are you going to introduce us to this time?"

Rick has invited Alain Blanchon, an importer of fine French wines, to join us for the wine dinner. He and Rick will together introduce the wines, course by course. A few weeks ago I was invited to meet M. Blanchon at the Madison Wine Shop. Alain Blanchon brought a selection of wines from which I expected that Rick would choose the six that we would serve.

What actually happened was this: Rick, Pat and Mike, from the Madison Wine Shop, another wine rep who happened to be in the shop at the time, and I gathered around the shop's tasting area for a private tasting. Alain Blanchon set out an array of many wines ... I lost count. How will we choose from all of these, I wondered. There are so many!

Alain and Rick guided us all through the process. Alain grouped the wines, mostly in threes. We would taste each group, and a selection would be made from the group. Course by course we tasted, commented, and selected. They even asked me what I liked and didn't like. (Wow! You're asking me? Thank you for the opportunity to be here and to learn from you. I did not feel worthy to offer an opinion. Yet I was encouraged to comment every time.)

For the first time, I have now had a tasting preview of the chosen wines for our wine dinner, and I can tell you, one and all, that those who will be here are in for an amazing treat. Among one group of wines two were equally as appealing. We didn't want to give up either one. Rick then decided to leave the choice to the wine dinner participants. "We will offer a side-by-side comparison tasting for that course," he said.

One of the wines that Rick and Alain chose right at the beginning was a total surprise to me with regards to where it was going to be served in the sequence of courses of the wine dinner. - Another lesson for me to learn. - I can't wait to taste it paired with the food.

The last surprise of the wines that will be served is one that we did not taste because of its scarcity. It is a wine that Rick is featuring from his "opportunity of a lifetime, unloading the loft" series. There are only 6 bottles, and one will be opened for tasting at the wine dinner. That leaves only 5, and no others available of that vintage. Alain and Rick were so excited about it, that the ancipation has me thinking about it often ... and smiling ...

As we tasted and selected, course by course, I asked Alain and Rick for their guidance for food choices. Based on their suggestions a menu was planned and I set out to arrange for some fine French cuisine to compliment these specially selected wines. Are you curious? ... sorry, but no more previews. You'll have to either come to the wine dinner yourself or wait for a future blog entry when I post the wines and the food pairings for you to enjoy vicariously. As for me, I'm looking forward to November 5th.