Tag Archives: New Hampshire

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Resort hopping Part 3… The Eagle Mountain House.

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Last on our list of resorts that day was an old and well known establishment.

 

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New England is full of quirky places like this.

 

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With a nice big porch…

 

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And a nice big view…

 

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It was a pleasant spot to end the day.

 

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Charming…

 

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Cozy…

 

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And full of antiques….

 

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It was instantly welcoming.

 

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I can’t say it any better than that.

 

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The bar.

 

 

Oh, stuff it Dorothy.

You know us better by now.

 

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But amusing sign aside…

 

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The mushroom risotto cake appetizer left a lot to be desired, as did the cranberry gin fizz.

A definite meh.

 

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We only stayed for one round and then headed into the gift shop… where I saw a wine tag that made me laugh.

 

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As well as…

Are you ready for this?

A bucket of ducks!

 

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Christ on a cracker….enough with the rubber ducks.

This was getting creepy.

 

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Bidding farewell to the hotel, and the ducks….

 

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It took all I could do to convince the husband he could not go rummage in the establishment’s old slate roofed barn.

 

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The mere thought of not being able to gather up all the unloved tools and rusted treasures that must be stored in there? Practically ruined his night…

 

 

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White Mountains trip… Day 7. The beginning of the end.

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On the 7th and final full day of our trip, the husband woke up and said no more hiking, climbing and jumping rocks.

Or rather his back did…

 

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So we did what any (not so) able bodied tourists would do…

We had a long lazy breakfast…

 

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And resort hopped the day away.

 

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Our first stop was a brand new place perched at the bottom of Mount Washington.

 

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While it didn’t look like much from the front, the views out back were wide open.

 

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With a large deck…

 

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Ample seating, and a fire pit to take it all in.

 

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Inside there was a nice dining room..

 

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Filled with old photos…

 

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And history of the area.

 

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But it was the lounge and bar that drew our attention.

(You’re shocked, I know.)

 

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It had my kind of moose head mounted over the mantle…

 

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And a wall of windows…

 

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That made for a damn near perfect spot to drink.

 

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So we drank.

 

 

(You’re surprised, I know.)

 

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My Thyme In Mumbai please…

 

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Yes, I believe that tasted like another one.

 

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The bartender/waitress was a hoot and had us sample a new hard cider by North Country called Squashed. I’m not a fan of all that pumpkin spiced crap but this was heavenly. Light, crisp with delicate undertones… I was hooked. Until I researched it and realized you could only buy it by visiting their tasting room.

Future road trip itinerary – check!

Thinking it might be a good idea to have some food to soak up the alcohol, I opted for a crab cake that was the size of a large saucer and pure crab. It was sublime.

 

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Tomato bisque for the husband.

 

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Which was small, but delightfully rich and creamy.

 

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Bacon wrapped pan seared sea scallops for him…

 

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Grilled chicken club wrap for me.

Good bye diet.

 

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We soaked in the wall of windows a little longer…

 

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Then headed out….

 

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To resort #2.

(You’re welcome food people. Breakfast and lunch!)

 

 

 

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Diana’s Baths Part 5… rocks, foliage and zombie toes.

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Okay… I lied. When we discovered the cairn garden I thought we were at the top, but it turns out we weren’t.

 

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Yes ladies and gentlemen….

 

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There will be more rocks.

 

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And trees.

 

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And trees that hug rocks.

 

 

 

But I promise you…

 

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This time we had found the top.

 

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But standing there, it really does make you wonder where all the water comes from.

 

 

 

The pools are shallow and yet the water keeps flowing… and flowing… and flowing.

Flowing so much in fact..

 

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You knew that was coming, right?

Add another christened outhouse to the list.

Done with the Baths, we back headed down.

 

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Through some lovely paths…

 

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Where sometimes you just have to look up.

 

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And soak in the splendor of autumn.

Naturally, when you look up…. you’re apt to trip over something you would have seen if you were looking down.

Like I did.

 

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Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees a half buried zombie toe here.

 

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And here.

Overgrown toenails et al.

It’s enough to make a girl shiver…

And crave a fortifying alcoholic beverage.

 

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Which I found here.

 

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At the Black Cap Grille, one of our favorite spots in North Conway.

 

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Happily fortified with cocktails and a yummy grilled Caesar salad (If you’ve never eaten it this way? Start now)

And some succulent crab cakes…

 

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We called it a day.

 

 

 

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Diana’s Baths Part 4…. in which the husband builds a cairn.

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At the top of Diana’s Baths we found a cairn garden.

 

 

Cairns…

 

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Everywhere you looked.

 

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Small cairns, big cairns.

 

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Precariously balanced cairns…

 

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Even one slightly Zen cairn…

 

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Although technically not, as it’s singular.

 

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But I liked it all the same.

Cairn:

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Diana’s Baths Part 3

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After a few hours of happily poking around, we were nearing the top.

 

 

 

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A few more rocks.

 

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A little more tip toeing through the tree roots…

 

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And there we were.

 

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The top.

 

 

Quiet pools…

 

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The husband, back on the wrong side…

 

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And some big rocks.

 

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Did that rock just wink at me?

 

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Cheeky things, those rocks…

 

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We enjoyed the view and the feeling of accomplishment.

And then…

 

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We saw something a little farther up…

 

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That made us realize we weren’t quite finished with Diana’s Baths yet.

Cairns!

 

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Sorry.. no.

Not that kind.

 

 

 

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Diana’s Baths Part 2.

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What?

 

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You thought we were done with the rocks?

 

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Uh, no.

 

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There were stacked rocks…

Rocks with roots…

 

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Rocks with husbands…

 

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Videos of rocks…

 

 

 

And rocks with bloggers taking selfies.

 

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Baby got rocks!

 

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There were big rocks.

 

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Rocks with water.

 

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And rocks with husbands who had to climb on the opposite side from their wives because they thought it was a better path….

 

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Then couldn’t figure out how to get back across…

 

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And had to turn around and go back the way the wife did.

 

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I love those kinds of rocks.

 

 

And no matter how high we climbed?

 

 

 

There were always more rocks!

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White Mountains trip Day 5… Diana’s Baths

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Doing our good deed and making a donation, we entered .

 

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Took a leisurely stroll…

 

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Down into the woods…

 

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Past some type of fairy installation….

 

 

And a tree who clearly loves his rock….

 

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Across a bridge…

 

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Alongside a stream…

 

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And found the bottom of the Baths.

 

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Not usually the best part of a bath but…

 

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These are a different type of bath entirely.

 

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Not much is left of the old sawmill.

 

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But if you look carefully…

 

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You can find it.

 

 

 

We happily spent the whole afternoon exploring this place.

 

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Hiking the trails and climbing the rocks …

 

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And there were plenty of rocks to climb.

 

 

 

The water levels in the autumn are quite low…

 

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And it gently cascades down a section here…

 

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And there.

 

 

 

But in the spring it’s dangerously high from the snow melt.

 

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(Required selfie)

 

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In the summer the pools fill, and it’s a favorite spot to beat the heat.

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Cathedral Ledge Part 2.

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Mountain views.

 

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Valley views.

 

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Vibrant autumn color.

 

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And love locks… Cathedral ledge has it all.

 

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Even lovers with a sense of humor.

 

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It was glorious… and that was only the front half.

 

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Walking along the sides, we made friends.

 

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Took 100 more pictures….

 

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And simply marveled at the beauty of nature.

 

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Even the husband was quiet.

 

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Honestly, there’s only so many times you can say wow.

 

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It really was a special spot.

 

 

This way?

 

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Beautiful.

 

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That way?

Fabulous.

 

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Gaze in wonder.

Take picture.

Repeat.

 

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There were rocks!

 

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And trees!

 

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And they made me realize how blessed I am to live in a truly wonderful part of the world.

 

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We made one final lap along the fence line…

 

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And strolled a few final steps across those marvelous rocks…

 

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I tried again…. unsuccessfully… to get a double selfie where the husband actually looks at the camera.

 

 

But no matter.

 

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We took one last look and bid goodbye to a place I’d revisit in a heartbeat next time we’re in the area.

 

 

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White Mountains trip Day 5. Cathedral Ledge.

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Are you ready for a deluge of photos?

 

 

Good, then you’re in the right place…

Because this was probably the most scenic spot we found on our trip.

 

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Pulling into the park, the ledge loomed ahead.

 

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We drove up a long, winding, foliage bracketed road…

And a short walk from the parking lot at the top?

 

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Wow.

 

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I’m going to run out of words to describe the view pretty quickly.

 

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Breath taking. Splendid. Dazzling. Jaw dropping. Stunning…

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See?

Speechless..

 

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And look at the rocks!

 

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And the trees!

 

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And the even bigger rocks…

 

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With people climbing up them.

 

 

I was one happy camper.

Even when I saw I couldn’t use the mountaineers as target practice.

 

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It was glorious.

 

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Every where you turned…

 

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Magnificent views.

 

 

 

Made me feel like I was on top of the world.

 

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More to come.

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White Mountain trip Day 3… Random scenery.

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No, the vacation series isn’t over yet, I just thought I’d give you a few days break.

 

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Leaving the Sculptured Rocks geological site, we drove through the Cockermouth Forest.

Yes. I swear….

We did.

 

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I’m reasoning that Cocker Spaniels are bird retrieval dogs, and therefor have tender mouths.

Yes.

That’s my explanation… and I’m sticking to it.

 

 

We headed back to our resort through Franconia Notch which was starkly devoid of leaves.

 

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And went through the town of Carroll, where moose are clearly being held prisoner.

 

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The Mount Washington valley still had snow..

 

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And loomed majestic.

 

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Back in the Bethel/Newry area, we regained the foliage.

 

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And headed for beer.

 

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Sunday River brewery is a large restaurant and pub that seemed to be packed with locals and tourists alike every night. We did a flight, and weren’t overly impressed with the quality…. so I switched to an Apple Smash, which was a wonderful concoction whose list of ingredients I don’t recall. But there were copious amounts of apple Crown Royal…

And isn’t that really all you need to know?

 

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Seeing that I love soft bar pretzels and the husband doesn’t, I ordered some for my appetizer.

 

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Holy Mother of God! Served with warm blue cheese beer sauce, they were absolutely the best I’ve ever had. I instantly forgave them their lousy beer and planned on filling a dump truck with these and riding off into the sunset.

 

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Husband had a tasty salad..

 

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And we both had the baked haddock, which sadly was dry and uninteresting.

Back at our resort for the night, we opted for the stairs instead of the elevator and were bombarded by yet another section of hideous carpet.

 

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Christ, if that doesn’t give you nightmares…

Nothing will.