Winter in the White Mountains

In 2018 a variety of incidents prevented us from going on many day trips starting with my medical issues in the Spring to my work being overburdened with overtime since they closed the Gray center and merged it with Augusta.  Yes we were able to go on our camping trip with the kids and our Atlantic Canada vacation in September but no day trips into the White Mountains.
 

In December I asked Kate if she would like to try to get away for a night in January, overtime was letting up (two people put in their notice while we were away) and with me being at work so much Kate was running the household by herself.  We both needed this!  So I booked us a cabin at Pemi Cabins in Lincoln, New Hampshire and before we knew it the day had arrived.

Thursday, January 31st, after dropping of the kids where they needed to go, Kate and I hit the road for our overnight adventure.  The sun was shining and the sky was clear both days so it made for nice driving and we did a lot of driving.  Stopping first at Bova's in the North End of Boston we got stuck in a bit of construction traffic heading into the city.  It only hung us up for about 15 minutes, but it was a bit annoying.

I dropped Kate off so she could go in and procure the cannolis which were magnificent.  I drove around the the one way streets making two laps before Kate was ready to be picked up.  We headed straight back out of town going north back to New Hampshire.  Yes we drive to Boston to buy cannolis and we will do it again.

Next stop was in Dover at Le Festa Pizza.  We were both excited because heading North on 95 in New Hampshire when the road splits to either take exit 4 to the White Mountains on the left or stay the course to Maine on the right, we've always went right, it was excited to go left.

La Festa was tremendous!  We each got a slice and garlic knots, first time we've been not for Mother's Day too.  We next drove to Weir's Beach to play some games at Fun Stop!  I wasn't sure how Kate was going to take wanted to stop at the World's Largest Arcade but I knew they had tickets games and that's like a a gambling addict at a Casino for her.

A $20 bill gets you 125 tokens, most games take 1 token, pinball 2 tokens, and some up to 4 tokens.  Kate's "drug" of choice is the cyclone game.  You drop a token in and a light spins around, the object is to stop the light on the Jackpot, which starts out with 100 tickets and climbs by one ticket for each token played.  If you don't land on the jackpot then the spots around it awards tickets from 10 and decreasing for each step further away from the Jackpot that you are.

I don't know how many times she hit the jackpot, but her haul of tickets was over 2,500!  I know it's crazy but she is just so good at this game.  Called Wheel of Fortune other places this is the sixth or seventh arcade we've been to that she has played this game and made a killing on tickets.

I myself played a whole bunch of pinball!  I even played Hercules the world's largest pinball machine that uses a lacrosse ball for the pinball.  I also dropped some tokens into some classic arcade games like Pac Man, Double Dragon, and Tag Team Wrestling to name a few.

I played my share of tickets games including not hitting the jackpot on cyclone and doing fairly well on skeeball.  After over three hours of gaming fun we decided to cash in the tickets and we got some cool swag.  It was funny because Kate carried around the big bunch of tickets for quite a while because it looked impressive, it really did.

We drove to the Pemi Cabins located on the Pemigewasset River in Lincoln, New Hampshire and got check in.  They had gotten over a foot of snow in the area just two days prior so the snowbanks were impressive, it was also bitterly cold in the low single digits dropping below zero when the sun fell.
  

I had booked cabin number 5 based on the photos and we were not disappointed.  The inside was small but had everything we needed with a queen bed, fireplace, tv, mini fridge, and bathroom.  I bought two bundles of wood and Kate didn't waste anytime starting a fire.  We relaxed and enjoyed it for a couple hours before heading to dinner.

We drove down to Woodstock and to eat at the Black Mountain Burger Company.  We had eaten here a couple years ago for Father's Day so we knew it would be good.  It was pretty darn busy for a Thursday night but we got seated without a wait.

We got an appetizer of mac & cheese bits, which is a breaded deep fried ball of macaroni and cheese, yes it was amazing.  We both got burgers and they were fantastic!  They hand cut fries were splendid and while Kate had some hot tea, I got myself a beer, a rare occurrence for sure but when I saw they had something called Great North Robust Vanilla Porter on draft I had to try it.  It was smooth and worth it.  We both left very pleased.

Back at the cabin Kate got the fire roaring again which heated the place up making it nice and cozy.  The cabin also had a screened in porch that overlooked the river and we could hear it roaring by all night, it was quite soothing.  Turning the TV on we found that The Breakfast Club was playing on AMC and out night was set.  

The bed was actually very comfortable and, it must of been because we slept for almost nine hours.  It was chilly minus two degrees when we started the day and even though there is a heater in the room, it was a bit too cold for it.  

Checking out we headed just up the road to Indian Head Resort because I wanted to take a picture of this landmark sign which is self explanatory.

Next stop was Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire!  I love this place, it has the finest pancakes around without question.  It was our first time eating here since they demolished and rebuilt the dining room.  They managed to keep the charm of the old place but now they are open all year round instead of just seasonally.

I'm not a hot drink type of guy but they had something on the menu called a Maple Steamer which is steamed milk with maple syrup, I had to try it.  The first sip was scalding and being a hot drink rookie I just forced it down and that was a mistake.  Once it was cooled it was tremendously delicious!

Kate got Kathie's Combo, 3 pancakes, buckwheat, two eggs and bacon and I got Polly's Sampler Combo, 6 pancakes with sausage and I got a side of bacon as well.  For my pancakes I got two oatmeal buttermilk, two buckwheat, and two gingerbread with pecans mixed in, all amazing but the gingerbread with pecans was the best on this day.

We went over the hill to Harman's to pick up some of the best cheddar cheese there is.  Sincerely they do make the best cheese.  I got there two and half year old really aged cheddar, a two pound block for only $16.

We took the Kancamangus highway home, which was the plan of the trip to begin with to traverse the road in the winter.  It was beautiful drive and the road was quite sketchy at times but in the end it was uneventful for us, we did see one vehicle that of off the road but they had help on hand.
 

We have been to the White Mountains many times in the past but never before in the Winter so it was nice to see it in a different way.  Round trip we drove 482 miles. 

Later Readers!

Father's Day in the White Mountains

Unlike Mother's Day for Father's Day 2016 the weather was gorgeous and were able to go to Glen Ellis Falls and a whole lot more driving about 330 miles from home, through the White Mountains, and back home again.

Our trip started with one of our favorite drive which is from home, through Winthrop to Bethel and into Gorham, New Hampshire.  There is just something about that drive that we truly love.  Once in Gorham we hit Route 16 south towards Jackson stopping at Glen Ellis Falls.

There is a well marked parking area and you have to take a tunnel under the road on the third mile hike towards the 64 foot waterfall.  The trail is well maintained and features of stair the descend to the base of the falls that is well worth the walk for the spectacular view.  Granted I did not have a 30 pound Wesley boy strapped to me, but I think Kate felt it was well worth it as well.

Leaving the falls we continued south on 16 turning onto route 302 towards Bartlett.  Route 302 cuts right through the heart of the White Mountain National forest and Crawford Notch State Park.  This is one of, if not the most, scenic and beautiful road I have ever driven on.

We had destinations in mind and even though I made a couple impromptu stops to snag a couple pictures we passed some places that we are definitely going back to in the future.  Which is exciting knowing we have a reason to return and explore more.

From 302 we turned onto Route 3 south which turns into I-93 south through Franconia Notch State Park into Lincoln.  We stopped in Lincoln to check out Fadden's General Store.  It's hyped as having the best Maple Syrup in New Hampshire.  It was a bit of a let down, but we did buy some of their syrup and Kate got a maple cream soda. It was terrible, but very creamy.

Next we stopped at Chutter's second location which features a 60 foot candy counter.  I have wanted Frooties so bad but have not been able to find them anywhere in Maine and I don't want to buy them off the internet.  The Chutter's Littleton, NH store featured a 100 plus foot candy counter, the World's Largest, and they have Frooties.  Well Lincoln does not.  The store is nice, but it was a massive disappointment.

Staying in Lincoln we stopped for lunch at Black Mtn. Burger CO., a placed voted as New Hampshire's best burger.  The inside is really nice with a great set up, you can eat outside if you choose. The table we have was very high, which I was okay with because when you're eating a messy burger you want to be close to the table top keep the mess off your clothes.

Kate got the Swiss Mushroom Burger, I got the basic Cheddar Cheeseburger adding Bacon to it, we both got fries.  The burgers were fantastic!  Really one of the best I've ever had.  I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to go back there again.

Continuing our journey on the Kancamagus highway we exited the White Mountain National Forest in Conway New Hampshire and headed south to the Madison Boulder.

The Madison Boulder is the largest known erratic in North America at 83 feet long and 23 feet high and 37 feet wide.  Take a look at the photo with Wesley in front of it.  It's very impressive!

Continuing south east we cut back into Maine on route 25 into Porter stopping at the Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge which spans the Ossipee River.  Originally built in 1876 it was rebuilt in 1999 and is closed to traffic.  Wesley loves him some closed covered bridges, walking across them, yelling, and apparently dropping rocks through the gaps floorboards.  He found a rock and picked it up and dropped it through, when he heard the plop of it hitting the water he let out a pleasantly surprised noise.  So we gathered up a lot more rocks and he went to town.

Driving home we passed a place that had multiple signs advertising penny candy. Even though I would most likely be disappointed I turned back to Sunrise Corner and ventured in, I was not to be denied on this day for they had frooties!!  Sadly they were 5 cents each but I didn't care and bought giant bag that had a handful of each flavor.  I spoke to the owner Jason who stated that they just added the candy 4 years ago and it was a success, it certainly was today.

We got home just about 7pm when Paul was getting there with the Pizza so we could watch the Money in the Bank PPV on WWE Network.  It was a great ending to a truly wonderful day!

Thanks for reading!

Later Readers!

Map of our Adventure