Mrs. Bridge's Pantry

Mrs. Bridge's Pantry in Woodstock serves tea, as in full-on British tea with scones and clotted cream and doilies. I've heard it's fabulous. So of course, I went straight for the gift shop.

The shelves are stocked with British foods and themed gifts, which reminded me of Penny Ha'Penny in Wilton's Cannon Crossing. The latter store is much larger, but (depending on where you live, of course) much farther away.

Mrs. Bridge's also sells greeting cards, jewelry, and some beauty products I wished I could afford. One was this Scottish Fine Soaps lip balm; another other was a range of citrus perfumes, which just seemed like a way to taunt bees into stinging you.

Short version: if you have extra money, want a scone, and/or are not afraid of bees, get over to this place right now.

(And while you're there, don't ignore Scranton's Shops next door. Much smaller than the enormous antiques bazaars in Putnam, Scranton's is also more manageable and therefore less likely to make you feel like a child two seconds away from hurling itself on the floor in exhaustion. And it's full of all sorts of things you didn't know you wanted. I came close - I mean, very close - to justifying the purchase of an old wooden butter churn. Because, you know, it's really more practical than it looks! It could be used as a weapon!)