New Hampshire Inn

New Hampshire Inn

July 2012

          Back in 1983 we did a New Hampshire trip w/ Uncle Bill.  Matt (then 7), enjoyed the motel pool; and there was a little boy who could walk along the bottom!  Matt struck up friends w/ another boy and his nice dog; they buried a dead bird behind the motel (“Here Lies Pidgie”).  A visit to Clark’s Trading Post w/ trained bears, I’m picked to be part of a medicine show.  Franconia Notch and Old Man of the Mountain (now gone!).   

Pretty at a historic site (don't recall now what it was!).

Cannon Mt gondola w/ panoramic views on a perfect clear day.  Pretty walks along streams to waterfalls.  

A drive along scenic Kankamagus Hwy, stops at Sabbaday Falls, a rocky gorge, covered bridge. Views of hang-gliders.  

North Conway RR.  Wildcat Mt gondola to the top (tho too overcast to see much).   

To Lake Winnepesaukee and Castle in the Clouds w/ panoramic views.   

  

Matt enjoys Santa’s Village.  Uncle Bill enjoys a stop to see the many trains at Steamtown.

Our next trip w/ a New Hampshire focus (2012) is triggered by a “Living Social” internet coupon for a Victorian inn in the lake district.  Seemed just the thing for a mid-summer break.  Will Bob Newhart be our innkeeper?

Wednesday, July 18: 

Matt & his boys have been visiting in a very hot (98° yesterday) and dry stretch.  They head off in the AM to a lake and then home to Queens, we follow right after for the 3-hour drive to NH.  Cloudy & muggy, but nice sun & clouds later, cooler PM.  To Bennington, across VT to Brattleboro, past Keene NH and “Moose Crossing” signs.  A stop for gas, and what’s this?  ̶  someone comes to the car window, asks what we want, fills the tank, cleans the windshield!  Must be some new-fangled way to get gas.  

To Bradford and the Candlelite Inn, 

and its lovely grounds. 

Too early for check-in, so we drive along nearby Lake Sunapee, a quick stop for lunch at a nice local spot, then up to Haunting Whisper Vineyard in Danbury.  Nice panoramic views, we buy a couple of tasty varieties: Cayuga white & red raspberry.  

Short drive to a farmer’s market in New London.  Across the way are 2 bears (stuffed) paddling a canoe.  Town offices in a pretty building next door; asked why names around here duplicate Connecticut towns, receptionist swears theirs came first!  

 The big market spreads around a large green w/ gazebo (and tuneful musicians) in the middle.  We’re the first customers for children serving lemonade & cookies.  Nice crafts, produce, flowers; M is intrigued by “worm pee” (fertilizer, not a drink!) offered at one booth. 

Back down to the Inn: built in 1897 as a guest house, “gazebo porch,” pond out back, pretty interior full of antiques; 4 guest rooms and 2 suites, we’re in the Lavender Room w/ our own bath across the hall.  Other guests arriving now, including 2 couples from near us in Troy, others from CT & Ohio.  Our voucher includes discounts for some area attractions and dining, picnic basket lunch tomorrow.  

 Over to Sunapee Harbor on a beautiful evening, pretty boats & flowers, some nice shops, ducks swimming & walking about.  People arriving for evening dinner cruise, but it seems a bit pricey.  A young woman in one of the shops gives us a tip for a favorite dining spot, where we have a tasty 2-for-1 pizza deal.  Too full to go back to the harbor for Quacks ice cream.   

Back at the Inn to find a plate of evening hors d’oeurves waiting for us; we eat some now for dessert with tastes of the wine we bought, save the rest for lunch tomorrow.  Info in the room on B&B packages from “Hiking NH” to a “Babymoon Package” getaway for expectant parents.

Thursday, July 19: 

 

          I’m awake by 5am, birds chirping.  Off I go as the sun is rising, walking along the lane and a short drive for lovely photo ops: pretty houses & flowers, a covered bridge, mist rising on a lake, an atmospheric old cemetery.  A clear, cool AM. 

          Back “home,” I wrap up in a snuggly bathrobe to head for a shower.  M awakens, down to the pretty sun room for breakfast.  A chat w/ our friendly hostess, Marilyn.  She & husband (now ex-) bought this at auction 20 years ago, it needed substantial work (an album shows before-and-after, and pics from various events here, including quilters & doll houses) and was empty of any furnishings; M thinks it would have been fun to go to sales and shops to find furniture and knick-knacks.  A wonderful gourmet 3-course breakfast: lemon-poppy seed muffins, French toast stuffed w/mascarpone & jam, orange marmalade ricotta cupcakes w/ red raspberry ice cream  ̶  ice cream for breakfast, my kind of place!  Just right, not so stuffed as at some B&Bs.  M offers help, but Marilyn has it under control; too bad, M would have fun in the kitchen.  

         Off we go for a gorgeous summer day in NH.  Some indicators of the “Live Free or Die!” mentality: no motorcycle helmet law, no seat belt required for adults.  And lots of Mitt Romney for President signs.  To Fells Estate and Gardens on L Sunapee.   

Set in a wildlife refuge, a pretty walk in thru many ferns and mosses, some sculptures.  

 

 

Waiting for a house tour, one docent is eager to tell about John Hay, who made his summer home here; his career spanned from being Lincoln’s personal secretary to Teddy Roosevelt’s Secretary of State.  Another docent gives an excellent house tour, M recognizes some things (old phone and bathtub on legs) from her own childhood.  

Grounds include a variety of gardens, especially a large rock garden spilling down toward the lake, and a trail leading to a Fairy Village, where children construct fairy houses from bark, twigs, mushrooms, etc. (one little girl doing so as we’re here).  

Marjorie uses her artist's eye to take some black-and-white photos.

On to Canterbury Shaker Village.  A sizable complex, bigger than Shaker sites near us.  

Interesting buildings (tho a few not open except via later guided tour), displays of furniture and life here, and video interview in the schoolhouse of a woman in her 90s who was sent here to be raised when her widowed father could not manage being a single parent.  They took in needy & orphaned children, who could decide as adults whether to become Shakers.

          Back to Bradford.  Very small farmer’s market here a disappointment, so M goes strolling, I take a nap.  We’ve saved our large picnic basket for dinner in the sun room; quite a spread: shrimp cocktail, marinated mushrooms, potato salad, chicken salad croissants, cream puffs w/ fruit, Sparking Prickly Passion Lemonade.  To the lake for music in a gazebo along the shore, but it’s become breezy & quite chilly so we drive around instead, enjoying pretty views & lovely houses. Back to the lighted Inn.

Friday, July 20:

          Another cool AM & lovely day: yesterday about 80°, mid-70s today, mix of sun & clouds.  I’m up way too early again, using the time to study things to do before heading home.  Our voucher includes discounts for Tanger Outlets mall, but M doesn’t find that any different from what’s around us, and there are more interesting local spots.  But first another yummy 3-course breakfast!  Then off to Warner, where we see brightly painted cattle sculptures (also seen elsewhere) by the Velvet Moose Ice Cream Shoppe (but no early ice cream for us today).  Into Market Basket grocery; not quite Trader Joe’s class, but a colorful display of various flavors of Whoopie Pies.  

On to Concord, stumbling upon a big annual street fair.  M finds interesting toys in Imagination Village.  

I tour the capitol; not the heavy security of NY so I can wander thru on my own, looking into the pretty legislative chambers and even into the midst of bill-signing ceremonies in the Governor’s Reception area.  We get directions to nearby Goodwill store; M finds frames for her artwork (she’s prepping for big upcoming Stockade Art Show), I find books for travel reading.  

          A good lunch at Daniel’s, overlooking Contoocook River in Henniker.  Nearby Stone Falls Gardens has beautiful display areas and a Garden Shoes contest to “give castaways new life;” but I think my lawnmowing shoes are probably too far gone to save.

 

A short drive to Contoocook w/ pretty RR station and car and oldest surviving covered RR bridge, some young folks swimming below.  Back to Henniker and Fiber Studio: a nice shop w/ friendly owner working her spinning wheel, many colors of yarn & beads (M finds some yarn for a project, and remembers she needs to knit more Christmas stockings for new niece & nephew), interesting variety of spinning wheels. 

         On the road home, a quick stop at Big Moose Deli and Country Store, many moose, cows, other figures on the roof & grounds, jam-packed w/ stuff inside; but we don’t linger, it’s time to get home.  Back about 7pm.