Titantic Tea at The Stegmaier Mansion and Jimmy Carter's Visit

The Frederick Stegmaier Mansion


As many of you may have read in my previous post, our area was honored with a visit from President Jimmy Carter and the First Lady, Rosalyn Carter last week.

They were in town for a local auction where they donated over 100+ personal items to be auctioned off and all proceeds would go to the Historic Restoration of buildings in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. Since the auction was held in our local town of Plains, it was entitled "Plains helping Plains".

The President and First Lady were given several options of where they could stay overnight and they chose The Frederick Stegmaier Mansion in Wilkes Barre, Pa. Owner Joe Matteo told me they chose the Stegmaier Mansion because President Carter said "this is what we want to do in Plains". So it was only fitting that the President and First Lady stay in a completely Restored Gilded Mansion.

Below are pics taken from our local newspaper showing the Carter's with the staff of the Frederick Stegmaier Mansion.


President Jimmy Carter, First Lady Rosalyn Carter and owner Joe Matteo


The wait staff with President Carter, Rosalyn Carter and Chef Jody Klocko ( next to Rosalyn Carter) who studied under the Carter's Chef while they were in the White House.


Chef Jody Klocko serving President Carter

To read the article in our local newspaper about owner Joe Matteo's comments on a Former President staying in his beloved mansion, Please Click HERE

I think you will enjoy the article especially when you read that Rosalyn Carter took Joe Matteo by the hand and asked if she could hold onto him as he took them through the mansion!!

Below is the newspaper photo of the Amelia Suite. This is where the First couple spent the night!

These are some of my pics of the Amelia Suite...



This is looking into the Bathroom....

This is looking into the wonderful Sitting Room off of the Bedroom of the Suite...


The magnificent Stained Glass Windows in the Sitting Room.......

The sofa in the Sitting Room...
Picture yourself cuddled up with a good book as sunlight streams through those stained glass windows......

I have always wanted to stay in this suite and now for sure I do because I want to sleep in the bed that they slept in. I mentioned this to Joe Matteo , when we attended the Titanic Tea on Sat. at the mansion and he said that it was the first thing that he did after they left!!! LOL!!

We are so very happy for our friend, Joe Matteo, who has painstakingly restored this mansion to it's former glory!!
Joe also mentioned that the Carter's were so impressed that they plan a return visit in a few months!!

Way to go , JOE!!


On Saturday, my friend, Anne Marie and I had the pleasure of visiting the mansion again for a Titantic Tea.
We were greeted at the door by our dear friend, Lisa Lewis, Victoriana Lady, who is the Tour Guide and Hostess for the Mansion and were given our Boarding Pass!

Joe Matteo also greeted us with a hug and a kiss as we congratulated him on having the Carter's stay at the mansion!

We were assured that even though it was pouring buckets outside and the wind was blowing everything around in it's path, that we would not sink! LOL!!

We were seated in the Dining Room of the mansion this time. It was crowded so I didn't get to take many pics of the room then but I will show you some of my pics taken on my other visits to the mansion.

Amazing stained glass windows.....

Silver Service.....


Stunning lamp shade that I would love to have in my home.....


The mantle on the fireplace....

We started out with picking our flavored Tea Bags.......


Then came the first course....


And it was so yummy....


Then the salad....


Most of the dishes were in French and there is no way I could tell you exactly what they were but they were taken from actual menu's from the Titanic and recreated!

Our soup was a farmer's soup with vegetables...


Sandwiches were a rubin sandwich, chicken salad, egg salad and a corned beef sandwich. These , as you can see, were not your ordinary Tea Sandwiches and they literally melted in your mouth!


Then came dessert......
The ice cream was fantastic!


The chocolate on the side was mixed with a bit of parsley and sprinkled with gold dust!!!


And then more dessert, which we took home because we were so full!!

As each course was served, owner Joe Matteo would come and tell us the names of everything and what it was and how it was served on the Titanic.


Lisa Lewis, Victoriana Lady, also came around. This is when she is reading exerpts from actual survivors from a book in her own collection that was published in 1912.

Can I tell you a secret??? Do you see the pretty embroidered placemats on the table???
You can click on the pic to enlarge.
They are actually pillow covers from the Dollar Store!! I know because I bought the same ones and I flipped them over and sure enough, there was the zipper. No one else would have known and what a great idea from Joe Matteo in tablescaping!!!

I just want to point out the reflection of the magnificent ceiling in the huge mirror on the wall where the fireplace is!!!
And the chandy!!

Here is Lisa showing us momento's from her visit to the Titanic Exhibit in New York City a few years ago. Lisa dressed for the Exhibit in one of her authentic ( no reproductions) Edwardian dresses. They allowed visitors to have their picture taken with the Titanic in the background. Lisa said that by the time she made it through the Exhibit, the management had asked for her permission to post her pic in the exhibit!! The only other person that attained that honor was Matthew Broderick!!

Here is our friend, Sue who came in period dress. All from the Salvation Army!! Way to go, Sue!!


Chef Jody Klocko had created a Presidential Seal out of chocolate for President Carter.

Unfortunately, my pics of it came out blurry but I wanted to show you it anyway so you can get a glimpse of this masterpiece!


It was displayed on the Baby Grand Piano in the Ladies Parlor.


Well, I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to the Titanic Tea at The Stegmaier Mansion.

They are holding more Titanic Tea's, a Mother/Daughter Tea and a Magic Tea in the future. They are also hosting several more " Last Dinner on the Titanic " events because of the extreme popularity causing sellouts of this event.
For more info , please visit www.stegmaiermansion.com

And to visit Victoriana Lady Lisa Lewis's blog, please click HERE
to see more pics of Titanic events at the Stegmaier Mansion!

Also, you can see Lisa Lewis on the TV show Oddities on Saturday, April 23 @ 10:00pm on The Science Channel. Lisa's segment is on Victorian Mourning Traditions.

I am linking up to these great parties:

Amaze Me Monday

Tea Cup Tuesday

Tea Time Tuesday

Tea Pots and Tea Things Tuesday
Table top Tuesday

WOW Us Wednesday


Thanks for stopping by today and every day that you take the time to do so!

Hugs,
Debbie