JOSH HANSEN
KINGSTON, ONTARIO

I head down a set of dark wooden stairs to the dining room at Green Woods Inn for breakfast, where total strangers make conversation over eggs Benedict with a delightful homemade sauce and sautéed mushrooms.

Nigel Dearsley, a wiry Englishman with thin grey hair and a salt and pepper moustache, enters the room with a jar of tea leaves for me to sniff. We chatted last night about tea and my complete lack of expertise in the field. Thinking I had nothing to lose, except for that quick jolt of energy delivered only by caffeine, I decided to try a loose leaf tea from the Inn’s extensive collection. An English teahouse in rural Kingston: what are the odds?

So here I am, sniffing jars of tea. They all smell nice. But the Candy Ginger Peach - a flavoured Rooibos tisane - catches my nose. There’s something soothing and calming about sipping on a cup of tea. Coffee you drink. You taste tea. But I cave when Nigel re-emerges at meal’s end with a pot of coffee. The conversation shifts from nuclear power to politics and their shared relationship. I usher to Nigel to fill my now empty cup. With a quick, satirical remark like only the English can do, he jokes about me giving in to coffee.

The comment goes virtually unnoticed. Tea simply won’t work for this conversation.

Like most other buildings around Kingston, Green Woods has ties to a former Canadian Prime Minister. Surprisingly, his name isn’t John A. McDonald, rather William Lyon Mackenzie. Mackenzie’s brother-in law, George Baxter, built the house for his son and his wife in 1850. Numerous additions, including a large white veranda that stretches over the house’s front and other renovations have taken place over the years. Today’s version was finished in 1910 and remains a charming turn of the century farmhouse. It can be easily spotted from on Highway 15 on the north east side of Kingston.

The Inn encompasses the front section of the house with Nigel and Tessa in the rear. Through the main doors a large, a dark wooden staircase leads to the Inn’s four bedrooms on the second floor. Mine is the first door on the left, the Oak Room. Everything looks of mahogany. It’s spectacular. Deep red curtains compliment the rich colour of the room’s rich furniture. The queen size bed to my right eventually gives me the best sleep of my entire trip. Who needs coffee when you sleep on a cloud? No wonder the English drink tea.

A magazine next to the bed gives details on how to order everything from the pillow case to the duvet. The sheet set on its own is almost more than one night’s stay in the room.

No thanks, I say to myself. I can buy a lot of coffee for that price.