The Year of Travel

Back in January, Jess and I talked about what 2025 was going to look like for AVTeaCo. We decided that some of the biggest things we needed to do was go out and meet people. With our staff in place here at the Millvale Flagship store, that meant I could actually leave and get out there. So that is exactly what I've been doing!

First was our first 4 day show in Kittanning, PA. Not far but still out of the radius of people who can make it into the shop. Not knowing much about the area except that it is where my infamous family member was taken to back in the 1700's by the natives, I wasn't sure how we would be received. I'm here to tell you it was some of the best days of my summer. The people were so kind and we actually had someone come and say, "I came down just to meet you." One of the things I realized standing there for four days is that there are many rural areas like Kittanning where it is hard to find good tea.

Just a few weeks later I was traveling to Boston for the Northeast Tea Festival. My friend Alyce and I loaded up her car with tea and booth stuff and drove for two days. We got to Boston and headed straight to the Boston Tea Museum followed by an industry night. The next day we spent the day working our booth at the VERY FIRST Northeast Tea Festival. It was so successful, there was a line 3 blocks long for hours of people trying to get in. The place was packed. The next day Alyce and I drove to Salem and did an afternoon tea with people from Modern Prairie at the most darling tea house. That weekend I realized that tea culture IS ALIVE. I also was super inspired by the tea house who was offering afternoon tea for small groups in a setting I think I can do here.

The next trip was with Modern Prairie to Utah. Now you may ask, Why Utah? I sure did. Well it turns out there is this big quilting festival called the Garden of Quilts. Modern Prairie has a line of fabrics with Riley Blake (who puts on the Garden of Quilts). As part of the experience, Modern Prairie asked us to put on two tea parties with co-founder Melissa Gilbert. What a dream it was to work with her and be part of such a fantastic event. The founder of Riley Blake joined us for one of our teas as well. Being a big lover of the fiber arts, I was in heaven. I even found a Mr. Rogers Panel being sold to support a non profit similar to Be Our Neighbor. OF COURSE I came home with one of them! What I realized being in Utah, where people don't really drink tea, is that while there are people in the world who know about tea. There is a need for knowledge in the basic building blocks of tea.

My last travel for the year is in just a few days where I'm heading to Greensboro with Modern Prairie. Down there I will be supporting my fellow Prairian who is author Laura Carney. She wrote the book My Father's List and is being honored at the Greensboro Library as part of One City One Book. I'll be hosting a scone and tea party and giving a talk about teas from some of the places Laura visited when writing the book.

As we head into the last season of 2025, I'm looking forward to what 2026 has in store for AVTeaCo!!! 2025 has been a fun adventure for sure!