New Hampshire Day Trip

We've a few great adventures this year, but we haven't had a local daytrip in a long time, local to us at least.  Back in March we tried to head to Polly's Pancake Parlor with Kate's sister Emma for an amazing breakfast but had to postpone as Kate and Wesley got VERY sick.

We decided that Saturday August 16th was the perfect make up day, and thankfully the weather agreed.  Emma was able to tag along with us and as it turns out she had never been to any of the places we were voyaging to.

We hit the road a little after 6 am and didn't make out first pit stop until Fair Grounds Cage in Fryeburg so Kate and Emma could get a coffee style drink.  I bought a molasses cookie and it is the second best molasses cookie I have ever had.  My wife makes the best, and I love molasses cookies so I always have to pick one up.  Typically they are ok but nothing compares to my wife's this is a VERY close second place.

Kate had Emma sit in the front seat so she could experience the beauty of the Kancamagus Highway and driving through Franconia Notch State Park.  Both roads are uniquely gorgeous, but the Interstate running through Franconia Notch is the prettiest Interstate I have ever driven on.

On the other side of the Kanc we stopped at the McDonald's for a bathroom break and Wesley and I explored the railroad tracks.

 

We stopped at the Betty and Barney Hill abduction site, the first widely spread UFO abduction story.  Down the road is a gas station with a mural honoring it as well.

We got the Polly's about 930am and they had a short 45 minute wait, which really isn't that bad.  Kate found a bench in the shade, coupled with the low temps and nice breeze it was a pleasant wait.

After an amazing breakfast we made the short drive to Harman's Cheese and Country Store where I got two pounds of their May 2023 aged sharp cheddar.  I was hoping for the 4 year cheddar, which they did have this past March, but oh well.

We continued north to town of Littleton and their beautiful main street.  We went to Chutter's home to world's longest candy counter to get some delicious treats.   They actually sell penny candy still and I got 220 pieces of frooties, 20 of each of the 11 flavors they have.

Also on main street is a bakery called Crumb Bum that Kate has been following for a while Instagram and just had to try it.  We got some croissants to bring home for later.  I thought it was good, but I like the ones that Kate makes better.

After getting back in the van we hit the McDonald's drive thru for some Diet Coke's, I got a Coke Zero, and headed west towards Bethel.  We decided to drive a big loop and come back into Maine a different route.

Once we got into the Bethel the temptation to stop at Smokin' Good BBQ was too much and we just had to get the best BBQ in Maine.  When we stepped out of the vehicle the smell of the smokers was AMAZING!  If you weren't hungry you would be that's how good they smelled.

I finally tried the Hot Links, and they were delicious, but I'm glad I got the two meat combo as I would have been sad to not have some Texas beef brisket.  Kate got the pork sundae, Emma got just the pulled pork, and Wesley got a heavy half rack of ribs.  We had plenty to take home with us.

The final planned stop of the day was just over the line in Greenwood at Maine Line Products so we could get some of their delicious fudge and some shaker peg racks for the mud room.

We got home just about 5pm for a good 11 hour daytrip through the White Mountains and back.

If you ever get a chance to hit all the places I wrote about in this post, you should!

Until Next Time! 

Impromptu Story Land Outing

Saturday July 27th we were relaxing that morning when Kate said, "too bad you have to work it would be fun to take Wesley to Story Land today."  As there were four of us on the overnight shift that night I called my supervisor and was able to take comp time so we were New Hampshire bound!

We called around looking for a hotel room and most were in the $200 plus dollar range.  We found a room at the Covered Bridge Motor Lodge, only one left was the suite.  It was nice, queen bed, separate living room with kitchen area and refrigerator.  The best part was that it was less than two miles from Story Land.

We headed out about one and took the route through Fryeburg into Conway, New Hampshire.  We were driving through Fryeburg as I said to Kate, "Is that a pretzel truck?"  Sure enough it was, so we spun around and went back.  So glad we did as they were amazing!  I was talking to the guy and he said that for 28 years he used to supply Story Land with their pretzels delivering them three times a week.  In fact people that worked there as teens buy pretzels from him now and tell them how much they looked forward to his deliveries.

We got to Story Land just after 3 pm which was by design as after three you get passes to use another day, for us that would be the next day.  I have pictures of myself at Story Land when I was a kid but I don't remember going.  I remember going to Santa's Village as a kid, which we took the bigs too a few years ago.

Straight away we rode the train all the way around the park and then jumped in line for the antique cards.  One of the photos I have of me is driving one of the antique cars.  We explored story book land with Wesley's favorite being the Grandfather tree because it had slides.

Wesley got a kick out of the story book animals, especially the three little pigs area they had a houses made of stray, sticks, and bricks.  We rode on the Buccaneer Pirate Ship which was okay, but Wesley loved it.

As we moved along I wanted to do the shooting gallery, but as it was later in the day the coin machine was shut off.  We went to Los Bravos Mining Company and took a tour of the mine.  We were the only ones on the tour so it was cool.  I actually find this maze attraction really fun.

Next up we stopped at the dutch village where Wesley did his best to imitate the story of the Little Dutch who put his finger in the dike.  There also had this cow where you could milk water out of it's udder that he had fun with.  We got him an ice cream at Dutch Village Ice Cream, he got chocolate on a cone and he demolished it!  We rode the train back around the park as there is a train stop near by.

We decide to call it an afternoon and head out to the hotel.  After getting checked in we decided to head out for dinner.  This became quite and ordeal.  We wanted to go to Joseph's Spaghetti Shed but by the time we got there it had a 45 minute wait.  So  we headed towards North Conway and called a bunch of places only to find they all had long waits.  We got stuck in traffic in North Conway and by the time we got to the Muddy Moose, which had a 25 minute wait, we could have been seated at Joseph's.

Muddy Moose it really nice, large dining area but as the place was packed the ambient noise in there was so loud.  I got a beer on draft a Pig's Ear Brown Ale from the Woodstock Inn Brewery in New Hampshire, it was delicious!  Kate got a fruity drink as well.

We headed back to the room and let Wesley watch some Peppa Pig before calling it a night.

We got up early the next morning and after getting reading headed right down the road to the Honeymoon Covered Bridge for which the motel got it's name from.  It has an attached walking path so we drove over and parked then walked back and forth.

We had breakfast at the Red Fox Bar & Grille, we wanted to get there early because of the long waits at the restaurants last night we thought it would be busy.  It wasn't.  The only breakfast option on Sundays at the Red Fox is their breakfast buffet and it was really good.  My favorite part was the fresh wheat bread that I used to make toast.  I know, I know with all the options meats, fruit, eggs, and ect, my favorite part was toast.

We got to Story Land for when they opened and the line formed up quickly.  While near the time to gates opened Cinderella, Peter Pan, & Little Red Riding Hood walked to line greeting customers.

Once in the park I wanted to go up the hill past Heidi's Grandfather's Hut to the Cuckoo Clockenspiel, which is basically the tea cups.  Wesley wanted to go on the ride but he wanted nothing to do with the old men animatronics.  We had fun on the ride.

Yesterday and today he kept asking to go on the roller coaster, and Kate was even going to on it with him even though she didn't want to.  I'm not sure why but he changed his mind.  Next we checked out the Rap-Tour Safari, Wesley liked it at least.  Then on the Splash Battle he fired water cannon at the riders, who fired back at him.

Wesley rode with both of us on the Great Balloon Chase which is deceptively high and you get some grand views. 

Walking around the rest of the park we went up to the Eggs-traordinary Farm Tractors where the kids drives and the parent(s) ride in the back. 

Kate and I managed to get back there together as you can see from the photo that was captured.  We look like such dorks I had to buy it.

Wesley wanted to go again so I rode with him solo.  He loved the Dig-M Deeper Play Area where he got us use and excavator to dig dirt.  We headed to the Loopy Lab Theater & Play Area for the Daniel Tiger live show.

Wesley seemed to like the live show but wasn't that into it.  It was extremely hot in there so when Kate left about 2/3rd's the way through to get air he followed her.  The costumes were top notch similar to those that I have seen at Sesame Street live.

We finished up the park by getting Wesley another ice cream, going to Cinderella's castle, going back to the Grandfather Tree and riding the train.  Between the two days we spent about seven hours at the park.  To exit the park you have to go through the gift shop and because he was so awesome I bought him a couple small things.  When I was loading him in the van he said "Daddy I love Story Land."  All worth it!

On the way over we drove through Fryeburg and we hit some super annoying construction that neither of us wanted to venture through again.  So we headed north on Route 16 towards Gorham and took our favorite drive home through Bethel.  It's such a gorgeous ride!

We stopped for lunch in Bethel at Smoking Good BBQ it was amazing!  Kate got something called the Pork Sundae which she loved and I got the brisket, so flipping good!

We got home late afternoon because I had to be to work that night.  It was a great impromptu overnight adventure and we will most likely take Wesley back next year.

Until next time!

Grafton Notch & Height of Land

Making the most of our limited weekend days off Kate, Wesley, & I headed out Saturday the 1st of June for a day trip drive up through Grafton Notch and back down through Height of Land.  The route we took from home lead us through Monmouth and Leeds up to Rumford.  Once in Rumford we took route 2 until turning off on route 26 in Newry.

We stopped at the Puzzle Mountain Bakery to grab a couple sweet treats.  It's a roadside self service bakery stand that uses the honor system for payment.  Kate got a strawberry rhubarb pie that she said was delicious and I got a couple of there maple cream cookies. I've gotten them before and they are amazing! two maple cookies with this outstanding maple cream in the middle. They are only $1.50 which is a steal.

We had experiences some periods of rain, nothing major, on the drive and by the time we entered Grafton Notch State Park it had ended.  We decided to stop at Screw Auger Falls because there was only a couple vehicles there.

I'm glad we did because water was flowing well and Wesley really thought the waterfalls were really cool.  I like that you can walk down on the rocks with the water flowing right by you.  I managed to grab a few cool photos.

Continuing north we eventually crossed over into New Hampshire.  We stopped at the Errol General Store which opened 135 years ago.  Kate and I order sandwiches from the deli and they were tremendous.

You take a slip and check off what you want writing you name at the bottom of it.  They slice all the meats and cheeses in house.  I got turkey, provolone, mayo, tomatoes, pickles, and salt & pepper.  Kate got ham & cheese with all the veggies and this hot pepper jam mix that she thought was fantastic!

We went across the street to the school and ate out sandwiches on a bench while Wesley played.  He had been asking for chocolate & vanilla twist ice cream basically since we left the house so after we finished our lunch we drove down to LL Cotes and I was able to get him a kiddie cone with Gifford's hard serve chocolate & vanilla.  I also got Canaan a glass bottle of LL Cote soda.  The flavor was Yup, think 7up.

We've never gotten Wesley hard serve ice cream on a cone before and he's not fond of change so I wasn't sure how he'd react to it. This seemed to satisfy him and he excitedly powered down the ice cream like it was nothing.

We continued north now on Route 16 to head back into Maine.  On the way we drove through Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge.  We came around a bend and there on the shoulder of the road was good sized moose!  We were very excited because in all our trips we'd only seen a moose once before and we drive in the mountains and north country a lot.

I slowed right down but it went into the woods and we got to see it trot through the trees parallel to the road. It was super cool!

We crossed into Maine and a few miles in we came over a pass ahead of us in our lane was yet another moose!  This time we were able to see it really well as it crossed the road and we got a nice broadside look at it.  I tried to get some good pictures but they came out the way they came out.  Pretty cool seeing two moose in the same day not to far apart.

We made a pit stop in Rangeley were they had an even better playground for Wesley.  I had wanted to grab a drink and at first we weren't going to stop, but then Wesley asked for just 10 minutes on the playground.  Half hour later we were back in the van.

We took route 17 south to Height of Land, we hadn't been here in about four years.  It's a wonderful scenic overlook for information signs telling you about the area.  The Appalachian trail runs along here as well and they a really nice marker for it.

In Byron we stopped at Coos Canyon but the bugs were horrific so we quickly left.  We went back into Rumford and took the same route back home.  Kate's mom message that she was having chicken divan for supper and if we wanted to come over.  Of course we did!

It was a great day trip covering just over 230 miles total.  We got a few great sweet treats, some killer sandwiches, saw two waterfalls, two moose, and a wicked nice scenic overlook.  I'm hoping to be able to get in several day trips this summer, unlike last summer when we weren't able to because of my work.

Columbus Day Cruise

Once again the Labbe's headed out on a adventure to the White Mountains, for the first time though it was during the peak of Autumn foliage.

A few weeks back I had discovered the Sandwich Notch Rd in the southwest corner of the White Mountain National Forest.  Built in 1801 and still in use it is a single lane dirt road that according to research even though it is steep at times it is traversable, one guy even said he took his mercedes across it.  I'm pretty sure we were not talking about the same road.

I planned this whole trip around taking this road and seeing some covered bridges in the area as well.  The night before we left, I was looking at the map and for only 40 miles longer we could still hit Sandwich Notch Rd, but go north after and hit other covered bridges, plus go to Chutters and take our favorite route back home through Gorham, New Hampshire.  When given the option Kate went with the new route.

I got out of worked, grabbed Kate her coffee at Dunks, a bag of ice and after changing we were on the road before 8am.  Wesley is such a good boy on these adventures, riding in his car seat doesn't seem to bother him and he loves to get out and explore the covered bridges.  Of the four that we took in two were in busy areas, one not so much, and one closed to vehicles.  The secluded and closed one we like a lot because he can just run around on them with out a care.

Our first stop of the day was at Durgin Bridge in Sandwich.  Originally built in 1869 spanning 96 feet over the Cold River.  Surprisingly we saw a lot of people at the covered bridges.

Next we drove over the road that was the inspiration for this trip.  Ultimately I don't regret that we drove the road, but really there isn't much to see for us.  After stopping at Beede falls 3/4 of a mile in it's just hiking trails, which we can't do with the boy, and a narrow road that we scrapped a half dozen times on.  I sincerely doubt the guy drove his Mercedes with no issues.

Beede Falls was neat, but it's been so dry that there was no water flowing.

After completing the road with headed north taking rte 112 west towards Bath.  This side of the Kancamagus Highway we had not taken before.

Along the way we stopped in Bath at the Swiftwater Bridge.  Built in 1849 spanning 158 feet over two spans, 77.6 & 57.5 feet over the Wild Ammonoosuc River.

We had lunch in Bath right near the Vermont Border at Little Grille with has two year round locations and a season one.  It's actually a Mexican restaurant that specializes in Burgers.

Kate had the burger of the day, it has caramelized onions and mushrooms and she really like it.

Wesley has a cheeseburger with ketchup, and I had The Sticky Vermonter, sticky glazed maple bacon, Vermont cheddar, maple aioli with tomato.

It was real good!  They boast themselves as the best burger in New Hampshire and although it was good, they are not the best because I've had Black Mountain Burger Company.

Less then a mile away we stopped at the Bath-Haverill Bridge, this was the bridge that was closed to traffic and the one Wesley really got to have fun one.  This was also the only bridge to have an attached walkway.  This two span bridge was built in 1829 crossing 256 (104 and 120 feet) feet over  the Ammonoosuc River.

The fourth and last bridge of the day also located in Bath is the Bath Bridge, a four span bridge also crossing the Ammonoosuc River was built in 1832 totaling 374.5 feet, 117.5, 66.5, 62.5, & 80 feet,

The final stop of the day was in charming town of Littleton.  My main reason for wanting to go was to stop at Chutters, home to the world's largest candy counter.

It is here were I can buy ten different flavors of frooties for just 1 cent each.  That's right actual penny candy.  I few hundred for the kids and I.

On the street they had a few pianos sort of a community music appreciation.  We set Wesley up and let him tickle the ivories for a spell.

Littleton is the birth place of Eleanor Porter who wrote the beloved children's novel Pollyanna in 1913.  The Littleton library features a statue of Pollyanna on their front lawn.

I had been awake some 22 hours by the time we left Littleton so Kate wisely drove us home.  I slept more than halfway, Wesley watched Winnie the Pooh and slept a spell himself.

Along the way we some wonderful fall foliage including snow on the mountain tops.

We've had a year or day trips exploring the White Mountains, what's great is there is so much more for us to still see!

Later Readers!