New England Vacation Days Two and Three

Every day, a little bit at a time, I'm falling in love with New Hampshire. Before this trip, I've only known New Hampshire for its first in the national presidential primary and its prominent roll every four years in the national election of our president.

Before planning this trip, I knew very little of the natural beauty and friendly people I would encounter here. I also didn't know that, like Texas, they have no state income tax, and, unlike Texas, the have no state sales tax. Awesome!

Yesterday we took the Fall Foliage Special on the Winnipesaukee Railroad. It was a four hour scenic trip from Meredith to Plymouth which included lunch at The Common Man Inn. The train passed Lake Waukewan and Lake Winona and followed along and over the Pemigewasset River from Ashland to Plymouth. On the return trip we stopped at Ashland Station. The station has been restored by local volunteers who were there to greet us in period costume. Ashland is on Squam Lake, better known to movie goers as "On Golden Pond."

The buffet included squash soup, turkey and sage dressing with cranberry sauce, meat lasagna, garlic mashed potatoes, and acorn squash with assorted cookies and brownies for dessert. It was very good. I especially enjoyed the turkey and dressing.

Besides the beautiful foliage, the best part was meeting new people. We met a mother and daughter from Massachusetts, and four very delightful gentlemen from Providence, Rhode Island. They were our dining partners at the restaurant. Two of the men from Rhode Island are retired teachers who now run a theater in Providence. We had the best time discussing Broadway and upcoming shows. I told them not to be surprised if we show up at their theater in a couple of years.

Today we drove across the state to Franconia Notch State Park where we hiked The Flume Gorge. To describe Flume Gorge as breathtaking is an understatement of epic proportions. It's spectacularly beautiful.

Here's what the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation says about Flume Gorge:

The Flume is a natural gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty. The walls of Conway granite rise to a height of 70 to 90 feet and are 12 to 20 feet apart. A trip into the Flume begins and ends at the Flume Visitor's Center. Guests can choose to walk through just the Gorge or do a two mile loop. The walk includes uphill walking and lots of stairs. The boardwalk allows you to look closely at the growth of flowers, ferns and mosses found here. 

Framed by a spectacular vista of Mount Liberty and Mount Flume, the Visitor Center houses the Flume ticket office, information center, cafeteria, gift shop, and the state park system's historic Concord Coach. A 20-minute movie showcasing beautiful Franconia Notch State Park is available for viewing.

The Flume was discovered in 1808 by 93-year-old  “Aunt” Jess Guernsey when she accidently came upon it while fishing. She had trouble convincing her family of the marvelous discovery, but eventually persuaded others to come and see for themselves. At that time, a huge egg-shaped boulder hung suspended between the walls. The rock was 10 feet (3m) high and 12 feet (3.6m) long. A heavy rainstorm in June of 1883 started a landslide that swept the boulder from its place. It has never been found. The same storm deepened the gorge and formed Avalanche Falls.

I'm not going to lie to you, climbing up and down this gorge was challenging for both Grandad and Grams. When you factor in the medical problems that we've both overcome in the past six years, it's nothing short of amazing that we were able to do it. It was a lot of effort and I think we're going to hurt a little tomorrow, but it was so worthwhile. I've never seen anything like it before. It has now been added to the list of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Today was the last day of the 2012 season for Flume Gorge. We got in just under the wire. But, if you can get to New Hampshire next year, I highly recommend a trip to Flume Gorge. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for children ages 5 to 12, and children under 5 are free.

On our itinerary for tomorrow is a trip to Vermont. We're going to visit The Vermont Country Store, look for an apple orchard, and seek out and, hopefully, eat some apple cider donuts.

New England Vacation Days Zero and One

I flew from San Antonio to Boston yesterday to join my husband, who has been hear since Monday. That means I drove from Corpus Christi to San Antonio on Wednesday and spent the night with Katy, Travis, and Our Little Princesses. I got to go with Katy to pick the girls up at school/day care, one of my favorite things to do.  As soon as they saw us coming, they both came running and threw their arms around my knees.

At home, we sat on the floor of the play room and played with all their toys. Then, while I de-boned a chicken for the Arroz con Pollo Katy was making, they played nearby. Truthfully, they played under the table. I could hear them giggling and laughing. It was quite entertaining for me and they thought it was hilarious.

Our Little Princesses under the table laughing.

Katy took me to the airport at 6:15 yesterday morning for my 8 a.m. flight. It was truly above and beyond the call of duty. She dropped me off, went home, got the girls dressed and fed, then dropped them off at school, and got herself to a sales meeting around 8 o'clock.

I walked for what seemed like miles from one gate to another at Chicago's Midway Airport. I grabbed a quick lunch there and made it to my connecting flight on time. I flew Southwest Airlines because we are Rapid Rewards members so my trip was free. One of the things I really like about Southwest is that they are still small and personal in a lot of ways. We were boarded and ready to leave Chicago, but there were five passengers who were late from connecting flights. They actually held the flight about twenty minutes to give them time to make their connections. On other occasions, I have been one of the passengers for whom flights have been delayed. It's a wonderful thing that they help make connections that way. We still arrived within ten minutes of our scheduled arrival time in Boston.

We stayed last night at the Hilton Woburn/Boston. It is where Grandad stays when he travels to Boston on business because it's near the company's training center. Since it's out in the suburbs, it's usually a very nice and quiet hotel. However, last night there was a large group of high school kids from Connecticut staying there. By large, I mean three busloads. Unfortunately, they were largely unsupervised. The adults who were traveling with them had obviously already retired to their rooms. The kids were running up and down the hallways, screaming and laughing, and generally being kids.

The noise level dropped sometime around 11 p.m. and we went to sleep. Then at 12:30 a.m. we were awakened by the fire alarm and screaming teenagers. I opened the door, looked out into the hallway, and went back into the room. A few minutes later we were told to evacuate the building. Temperatures in the 40s, drizzle falling, and all of us in the parking lot in the middle of the night in our pajamas. We were on the fourth floor, so we had to walk down four flights of stairs. Not too bad for either of us, but a very difficult task for a couple of elderly people who could only walk with assistance, who were on the same floor. The fire department came, inspected the building, and let us all go back inside. Surprisingly I was back asleep within just a few minutes.

This morning, we found a note of apology from the hotel explaining that it had not been an actual emergency. Apparently, some of the unsupervised kids pulled the fire alarm.

We woke up this morning to a rainy day. After breakfast, we made our favorite morning stop for coffee at Starbucks.

After that, we drove northwest from Boston into New Hampshire. The fall foliage is beautiful. Since it was raining, we didn't stop anywhere. All of these photos were taken from our moving car.

I do have one question, what is with the New Hampshire State Liquor Stores. We don't have those in Texas, but I do think it's very convenient that you can by your booze and your lottery tickets at the same place right at the state line.

Since we didn't stop along the way, we got to our resort way before check-in time so we drove on into Newport to look for a grocery store and a place to eat lunch. We chose Village Pizza which has a menu including pizza, calzones, burgers, grinders, pasta, and salads. I had a small hamburger and Grandad had a Cheeseburger Grinder. My hamburger came with french fries. The burger had a homemade patty and was topped with mozzarella cheese and fresh lettuce, and tomatoes. The french fries were awesome; perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Grandad said his grinder was very good too. Village Pizza is located at 7 South Main Street, Newport, NH. Somehow I failed to take a picture of Village Pizza, but the view from their front window was lovely.

View from Village Pizza

After we picked up a few groceries, we went to the resort to see if we could check in a little early. They were very welcoming and let us into our condo right away. The resort is beautiful and small. The rooms are spotlessly clean and beautifully appointed. Since it was raining, we watched television for a while. Then we spent a little time in the pool and hot tub this afternoon. I will take some photos sometimes in the next few days.

We came back to the room and I made "deconstructed chicken pot pie" for dinner. It was deconstructed because there is no oven in the condo. I cooked the filling on the stove top. Then I sliced the pie crust into small pieces and browned them in a skillet. It was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

Tomorrow, we have tickets to ride the Fall Foliage Special from Meredith to Plymouth. It's a four-hour round trip train ride with lunch at the Common Man Inn in Plymouth. 

We've already met some nice people here at the resort. A couple from Long Island, New York gave us some recommendations for places to visit in Vermont. Two ladies from Boston also gave us some suggestions for things we should see and do in the area. 

This is one of the vacations I've wanted to take for many years. It's one of the items I'll be checking off my imaginary bucket list. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some good pictures of the foliage tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm hoping for a peaceful night's sleep tonight. 

What trip is on your real or imaginary bucket list?

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