Tea room sees first young visitors

The school-aged children from Little Pintos Preschool and Playhouse enjoyed fresh-baked cookies at tea party recently at Doreen's Victorian Bed and Breakfast and Tea Room.
The school-aged children from Little Pintos Preschool and Playhouse enjoyed fresh-baked cookies at tea party recently at Doreen's Victorian Bed and Breakfast and Tea Room.

CALIFORNIA, Mo. -- Stained glass windows, cloth napkins and tasty brownies made for an interesting field trip last week for the school-aged children at Little Pintos Preschool and Playhouse.

They visited Doreen's Victorian Bed and Breakfast and Tea Room, where they were treated to a child-friendly tea party.

Before they sat down at the neatly-set dining room table, the children climbed the winding front stair case to view the three bedrooms upstairs.

The children, who will enter kindergarten through second grade this fall, were fascinated by the ornate furniture and the access to the bathroom from the hallway, as well as one of the bedrooms.

Once seated, they sampled three different baked goods and drank punch from glassware.

Above them, they were captivated by the chandelier.

One student said, "I like the colors of the rainbow in the windows."

And others were curious about the back stair case.

For day care owner Tabitha Oswald, the field trip was a chance for the children to see something out of the ordinary.

"Most people probably have not had a tea party," she said.

Each day during the summer, Oswald plans an afternoon outing for the older children. It's a priority she's held since opening the business 14 years ago.

"I'm always trying to find new things for them to do," she said.

They've done the traditional visits to parks and the library. But they've also gone behind-the-scenes of places like Cal's Grocery and Pizza Hut.

The new local business, which opened in November, has seating for 26 and a lengthy menu for adult tea parties.

Hoelscher, who has been retired four years after 39 years with Ameren, was not looking to open a business when she saw the for-sale sign in the front yard of the well-maintained, 1894-built home. But she had stayed in a bed and breakfast in Germany the year before and thought it might be fun to operate one.

"Things just fell into place," said Hoelscher, who lives in Holts Summit.