Tag Archives: photos

Let’s play.

October 29, 2021 Rivergirl 53 Comments

This one should be fun.

For me it’s an easy choice. The Poconos.

We’d never been… and though we’re long past the heart shaped red velvet mirrored honeymoon beds the area is known for, 6 years ago we decided to take off for the mountains and spend Christmas there.

I booked a week at an amazing place, full of atmosphere. ( Think the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s The Shining, minus Jack, his ax and the twins )

It was old, built of stone, and so huge I couldn’t get a photo of it in one shot.

It was an old resort like you see in the movie Dirty Dancing. Rich people would escape summer in the city and live here for months. It had multiple dining facilities, a spa, a theater, game rooms, multiple bars, a library, a stable and even its own post office… complete with a personal hotel zip code.

The best (read weird) part? We had the entire place to ourselves.

I’m not kidding, we were there for a week and didn’t see another guest until Christmas Day. Talk about eerie.

And while the interior of this grand old dame was impressive…

It was beyond strange being the only inhabitants.

Have you ever eaten dinner by yourself in a dining room that seats 400?

Or breakfast in a room that seats 300?

Trust me, it’s a little creepy.

Thankfully we weren’t murdered in our bed, but in retrospect the odd accommodations turned out to be the highlight of the trip.

For a full week we toured the area and never found anything the least bit scenic. Rows of strip malls, trash lined roads and extremely tacky “family fun resorts”?

There were plenty of those. And in true “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em… we’re going to have a good time if it kills us” fashion… we bar hopped every tacky resort we could find.

Indoor purple waterfall?

Check!

Bizarre robotic decorative Santas?

Check!

Elephant driven sleighs at an African themed resort called Kalahari?

Check!

Giant topiary squirrels?

Yeah, those too.

And while the husband and I manage to have a good time wherever we go?

The Poconos are definitely at the top of our been there, done that, don’t need to do it again list.

So how about you? To what place are you never returning…

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Thanks again Covid 19.

October 21, 2021 Rivergirl 36 Comments

The husband has been trying to talk me into trading in my 2014 Subaru Forester for years now. But I love Ethel, and she only has 64,000 gentle miles, so I keep saying no.

Determined to prove that now is the perfect time to upgrade, I allowed him to drag me to a dealership to check out the 2022 models. There was only one problem.

There aren’t any 2022 models.

We checked 4 dealerships, but due to chip shortages and shipping backlogs the closest they could show me was a 2021 loaner of an entirely different grade.

The husband insisted we test drive it, which we did. And while I admit it was newer and a bit peppier than mine, I was less than thrilled with the new energy conserving process that shuts off the engine every time you idle at a stop light. While the actual shutting down was smooth, the restart was jarring and bound to be annoying over time. They told us we could disable the feature, but it would have to be done every single time we drove as it resets to default.

For $38,000 plus? I said no thanks. But the husband was pushing me to order a new one and wait God knows how many months to get it….

So he dragged me into the salesman’s office and had them appraise Ethel for a trade.

My Ethel.

I understand she’s 7 years old.. but she has low mileage and is loaded (with heated leather seats, back up camera, Nav and panoramic moon roof). My absolutely perfect Ethel… who Kelly Blue Book says has a trade in value of $16,500 and a private sale value of $17,800?

They offered us $10,000.

And that was all it took for my husband to be insulted, leave and stop badgering me to trade my vehicle.

Thank you Covid 19. Your virus induced shortages actually benefitted me this time around.

After that fiasco, it was time for lunch at one of our favorite waterfront restaurants.

A raspberry lime gin Ricky…

And a scrumptious crab cake appetizer later, I was on my way to happy.

Add a Campari Sangria and a fresh panko breaded haddock sandwich… and I was there.

The husband started with clam chowder and moved on to a blood rare filet with grilled asparagus which, while quite satisfying….

Set our wallet back a cool $53.

So yeah, thanks Covid 19 for driving food prices up so high our favorite place for lunch now makes my debit card shudder.

Lovely fall photo inserted just because I can.

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The Devil’s shingle and a foliage finale.

October 20, 2021 Rivergirl 15 Comments

Since we were unable to ride the actual train, we had to check out the little Cog Railway museum while we were there. I won’t drone on about the engineering wonder it was….

But I will draw your attention to this…

I simply can not imagine flying down the mountainside on a small piece of wood.

And trust me, it was small. It’s hard to tell from that picture but look closely and you’ll realize big butt people need not apply.

Although that dog seems to be enjoying the ride.

A few more foliage pics from our drive home.

Bye bye Mountains.

We certainly enjoyed the show.

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The Cog

October 19, 2021 Rivergirl 15 Comments

The final stop on our leaf peeping day trip tour was the Cog Railway on Mount Washington.

This is one of those “must do” tourist things that we’ve never managed to do and since we were in the area, we thought… why not?

The answer to that question was hundreds of other tourists who thought the same thing. The place was packed and there was no space available on the trains for the next 3 days without reservations.

The Cog is a strange beast.

And like no other train ride you’re ever apt to take.

So even though we couldn’t find a seat, we stayed to watch.

With a slowly dying beautiful remnant of summer.

That’s the husband taking a closer look at the bridge.

And this is the Cog.

Beginning it’s climb up the mountain at a breath taking 2.7 mph.

Here’s a shot of the unique rail line.

I won’t bore those who don’t care about trains or history, but if you’re interested you can check this out:

https://www.sentinelsource.com/life_and_style/books/cog-railway-has-a-rich-interesting-and-sometimes-tragic-history/article_35ad4a9a-3e52-5bff-a50e-cfca3c804cd6.html

In this part of the world, it’s pretty famous.

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Mountains, foliage and a little food.

October 18, 2021 Rivergirl 20 Comments

When you exit the Kancamagus Highway…

You find yourself in the town of Woodstock, and when you’re in Woodstock?

You have to visit the Woodstock Inn and Brewery.

Of course if you visit this time of year.. you can expect to search endlessly for a parking spot, be unable to sit outside due to the high crowd volume, and find that the only indoor space available are two stools at the end of the bar.

The brewery is a funky place, filled with all kinds interesting eye candy.

But it was extremely crowded as well as extremely loud, so we decided to have a drink and an appetizer and be on our way.

Pomegranate margarita and some fabulous duck wontons with sweet Thai chili sauce for me.

And a French onion soup so loaded with cheese for the husband I thought he’d never get through it.

After our snack we headed to Franconia Notch…

Where the fall color was a bit past peak but still impressive.

Trees.

Fall leaves.

And mountains.

No narrative required.

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More from the glorious Kanc.

October 17, 2021 Rivergirl 17 Comments

Part two of Mother Nature’s amazing foliage display along the Kancamagus Highway.

No narrative required.

( And if you’ve never experienced autumn in New England? What the hell are you waiting for! )

Now tell me your blood pressure didn’t just drop.

😉

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Liquid Saturday , the finale.

October 15, 2021 Rivergirl 17 Comments

After a beer and hard cider filled morning and early afternoon…. and a less than stellar mid afternoon chowder house lunch with margaritas, I thought we were going home. But my husband realized we were driving up on a friend’s town and gave him a call.

Enter the Bait Shed restaurant and bar in the Pine Point area of Scarborough…

Where our friend was sitting and thoughtfully holding seats for us… complete with waiting cocktails.

I’d never been nor even heard of this place, but a better spot to end the day would be hard to find.

The ocean breeze was cool, the summer tourists were gone. We had good company, potent drinks, hearty laughs and fresh seafood.

They don’t take themselves too seriously at the Bait Shed….

Probably because their establishment really was a bait shed in a previous life.

It’s the type of place Maine locals avoid like the plague during the season and visit frequently once the outta staters have left the state.

It’s the type of place where you’ll get a dirty look if you order an espresso martini, but I saw a bowl of chowder go by and damned if it wasn’t the real thing.

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I love my town.

October 13, 2021 Rivergirl 10 Comments

We live on a river, hence my blog name.

Apparently Maggie lives on the river as well.

There was an outdoor wedding last weekend. If only I’d known they were taking requests.

We have once weekly trash pick up at our house, $2.50 a bag…. But everything else has to go to the recycle barn. Decades ago when it was realized people were throwing out perfectly useable items, an idea was born.

While I don’t shop at the “Gift Store”, my husband has been known to come home with more than he went with.

😬

This is our neighbor across the road. His fields are looking pretty spiffy…. And oh! That fresh ginger.

❤️

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I’ll leaf you to it.

October 11, 2021 Rivergirl 29 Comments

I’m going to post a collection of photos today. I took them this weekend as we were driving the Kancamagus in New Hampshire.

The Kanc is a 36 mile swath of highway cut right through the White Mountains… and this time of year? It’s beyond stunning.

The pictures speak for themselves, so I’ll be quiet and let you enjoy the splendor that is autumn in New England.

A side note – We weren’t the only ones enjoying peak foliage season that day. And in all my years of peeping leaves in this area? I’ve never seen so many people line the roads to gawk. At times traffic was at a dead stop.

All Hail Mother Nature!