High Time for Coffee, Tea or Seed

Just because a place has a motto or a nickname doesn’t mean you can take it at its words. Truth is, you just can’t believe everything you read on a license plate or a “Welcome to” sign.

Take Minnesota, for instance. Can’t be more than 8,000, 9,000 lakes, tops. And when’s the last time anyone hit the state line of Kansas and actually went “Ah-h-h”?

So as you head east on Yorba Linda Boulevard and pass a sign welcoming you to “The land of gracious living,” it’s natural to be a little skeptical. However, it only takes a few blocks to find evidence that the sign has it right.

Yorba Linda is more than prepared to show visitors a graciously good time watching birds and sipping tea. Of course, it helps if you’re a sucker for a good scone and a chance to discuss the nesting habits of the rufous-sided towhee.

For the Birds

The 1922 craftsman-style house at 17611 Yorba Linda Blvd. once was surrounded by acres of avocado and orange trees. Now it’s home to a bountiful supply of paraphernalia for feeding, watering and watching birds.

The front room alone of Wild Birds Unlimited ([714] 985-4928) has dozens of feeders and almost as many birdhouses (decorative and functional), as well as sets of binoculars just waiting to be trained on Orange County’s backyard visitors.

Bob and Gail Pogue, who opened the store three years ago, stand ready to help you find the feeder and seed that will attract the type of bird you want to watch.

Looking to attract goldfinches like those flitting about the feeders outside the store’s back window? Try filling a small tube feeder ($29) with a healthy supply of thistle.

Want to attract a variety of birds? Consider getting a good-size wooden feeder with seed in the middle and suet on the side. A midsize wooden feeder goes for $50, with the mondo model fetching $60.

Wild Birds Unlimited carries 25 to 30 varieties of wooden feeders as well as several blends of seed in sizes from 5 to 50 pounds.

“No one has better seed than we do,” Bob Pogue said. “A lot of places sell seed that’s mostly cereal. You see the birds sweeping it away to get to the good stuff. Our seed is all seed, no fillers.”

And don’t forget that to attract birds, you’ll need water, Pogue advised. His store carries a variety of fountains and bird baths, including one that comes with a thermostat-controlled heater ($50).

In a side room is an entire wall of feeders designed to keep squirrels from getting to the seed. One box has a picture of a squirrel failing to get food and then sliding off the feeder’s rounded roof. Apparently it’s not enough to thwart the little rodent; we’ve got to embarrass him as well.

Ah, but on an adjoining wall is a range of feeders designed especially to sate hungry squirrels, with separate compartments for nuts, veggies and other munchies. Maybe we can all get along.

Wild Birds Unlimited is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sundays. It’s closed Mondays.

Capital Tea

After browsing two floors of bird-related items, get ready to take your gracious afternoon to the next figurative level. Head around the corner to Regina’s Coffee and Tea House (4965-C Valley View Ave., [714] 993-1066).

Owner Paul Chao opened Regina’s two months ago to fill what he saw as a need for a place that serves hot and cold brewed beverages in an atmosphere of European-style sophistication.

“I’m a coffee person, but I hadn’t found a coffeehouse I liked,” Chao said. “I like classical music and artwork on the walls.”

So Chao got his friend, artist and designer Franco (a sure sign of living graciously is being able to go by just one name), to give his place the feel of a European sculpture studio. Chao, an avid gardener, is working on the patio himself, planting bougainvillea and fuchsias, along with other flora.

Opt for lunch and enjoy a choice of wraps, salad and iced tea for $6.75. But don’t pass up the chance for a couple of freshly baked scones before you depart.

More popular on a recent weekday was the traditional English high tea that Regina’s serves from noon to 4 p.m. every day but Monday (reservations required). It features service on silver and china, with a variety of scones, finger sandwiches, curds, Devonshire cream, shepherd’s pie and a towering tray of sinful desserts.

The cost is $17.95 for adults, $9.95 for children 10 and younger. Regina’s boasts that it has 100 kinds of tea, which it serves by the pot any time of day. A two-cup pot is $1.75.

Evenings from 8 to 10 there’s entertainment, from poetry readings to a five-piece Irish band.

Regina’s, named for Chao’s mother, is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.

Youth Is Served

With an array of new and used strollers, high chairs, toys and clothes displayed out front, Kids ‘n’ Things (17570 Yorba Linda Blvd., [714] 524-5562), looks like a conventional children’s consignment shop.

But in the back of their retail space, owners Doreen Moore, Kathy Short and Jill Canales have constructed a tea room for the younger set. The walls are painted like an English garden, and a gate separates it from the rest of the store.

“We all have children,” Canales said, “and we saw a need for a place to hold a special party that wouldn’t be like something at Chuck E. Cheese.”

At the Kids ‘n’ Things Tea Room, children ages 3 1/2 and older can attend a birthday party or other group event that includes tea, scones and pastries, an etiquette lesson, access to a trunk of dress-up clothes, nail painting and a party favor for each guest.

The cost is $18.99 per child, $12.99 per adult.

“Parents love it,” Moore said, “because they can relax while we take care of everything.”

Now that is gracious living at its finest.

Kids ‘n’ Things is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. It’s closed Sunday and Monday.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Take the 57 (Orange) Freeway to Yorba Linda Boulevard and go east.

TASTY ALTERNATIVE: Next to Regina’s is Sharon’s Bakery (4895 Valley View, [714] 996-9510), which features a variety of sandwiches as well as fresh-baked breads and pastries. Recommended: the English muffin bread and the cranberry and orange scones.

WATCH THE ONLINE BIRDY: Don’t want the bother of minding your own bird feeder? Check out the Indiana-based Feeder Cam at the Wild Birds Unlimited Web site: https://www.wbu.com. Do your own chirping and it’s almost like being there.