A five day trip to the Twin Cities

By Susan Douglas
Red Hat Society

In early August, the Les Rouge Rogues Queen La Diva, (Susan Douglas), spent 5 days in Minneapolis area at a Rendez-vous of red hat queens from all over the United States. The Queens gathered for Queen Late Bloomers, (Carol McCrillus’) birthday celebrations in Bloomington and were quickly coined the “Bloomerville Babes“. The ladies adopted pigs as their mascot in honour of Babe in Charlotte’s Web. While cruising down the St. Croix River the 22 ladies donned pig noses for a comical pose, followed by clown noses and diaper name tags, etc. The antics continued as they shopped the gorgeous Stillwater area, and jumped the tour bus trolley to tour the town. The Queens all exchanged gifts with each other, some interesting ones and some beautiful handcrafts as well. Queen La Diva was thrilled to connect with ladies she had previously met from California, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Florida and meet up with others she knew on the internet. The entire time was a Hoot!
Sixteen Les Rouges Rogues red hatters travelled to Kenora, Aug. 8th and 9th, for our 3rd birthday bash. The ladies enjoyed shopping at Helliar’s in Nestor Falls, and taking scenic pictures at the falls as well. It was a beautiful sunny summer day as we picnicked at the gorgeous Rushing River Provincial Park. Arriving in Kenora, we took in the Farmer’s Market before boarding the MS Kenora guide boat for a tour of Lake of the Woods. We developed an appetite for supper at La Ristorante, and later the ladies enjoyed a musical time back at the hotel with Countess of Guitar, Charlene Gustafson, and her enthusiastic band. The ladies played and sang into the late evening hours, and after losing most of the crowd, they reluctantly called it a night.
The next day the ladies hit the shops and spas for beauty treatments, lunched at My Place, and enjoyed high tea and a tour of Mather Wall House, before heading home. We dined in Nester Falls at a lovely log cabin spot. Many comments were made to make this trip an annual event!
The first “Travelling Teapot” party was held at Queen La Diva’s with guest of honour being Lady Snow Belle, (Sheila McIntosh). Other invited guests were Lady Trillium, (Jean Bernst) and her daughter, visiting from Edmonton, Lady Belle (Sydney McIntosh) and Lady Dolly of La Tea Da (Dawn Jarvis).
Once the teapot was christened with fancy imported teas, the ladies dined on fancy sandwiches. “An interesting fact is that tea is the second most consumed drink, after water, in the world. Canada remains one of the leading importers of teas, as the vast majority of Canadians-84 percent-drink tea regularly.”
Dessert followed in the form of fresh white lemon cake with cool whip topping. The afternoon passed quickly with friendly fellowship, picture taking, and concluded with a comical reading by Dawn. Sheila received a lovely gift from the hostess of the month. The Travelling Teapot continued en route to Lady Belle’s home with Lady Dolly of La Tea Da being her guest of honour in Sept.
Our monthly luncheon at the Roadside Restaurant is at noon the first Tues. of each month, with our next one being Oct. 2nd. See you there!