The first week we stayed on the east side of the lake in Wolfsboro, NH. One of the highlights of that week was getting to see Jessie and her wonderful husband.
Another was watching the sunset on the lake and hearing a loon for the first time!
A link to a loon’s call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ENNzjy8QjU
Julie recommended taking the cog railroad up Mt. Washington. It’s the oldest cog railroad in the world. Mt. Washington it renown for having the worst weather in the world! The narrator of our trip up the mountain said two days earlier the winds were 80 to 90 miles per hour and that they told people to keep a tight grip on their children.
I keep joking about walking the Appalachian Trail this year and walked another ten feet at the summit of Mt. Washington. I’m up to forty feet for the year! I did the math and only have 11,563,160 feet to go!
We have to take a brief break here to talk about cider donuts. A few years ago Jessie brought these amazing cider donuts to a Wicked retreat. I’d never had a cider donut. I’d never heard of a cider donut. And there she was with these still-warm donuts. They were heaven. Jessie kindly told me she’d purchased them at McKenzie’s Farm so we drove over. You know how sometimes you’ve had something that seemed so wonderful and then you go back and they aren’t? Well, that didn’t happen to us. These were just as delicious!
Jessie had us over to dinner and had bought us donuts from McKenzie’s and sent them home with us. And I’m embarrassed to admit that we went back one last time last Friday.
We moved over to Weirs Beach on the west side of the lake for our second week. Julie had introduced me to Weirs Beach when the Wickeds did their mini-tour in New England four years ago. It’s one of those towns with old arcades, tons of shops, and interesting Victorian houses. Julie and I had our fortunes told four years ago and I still have mine.
Barb and her wonderful husband to see us. We all went on a cruise of the lake on the Mt. Washington — another recommendation from Julie. The weather could not have been better. I love the picture of the sparkles on the lake. The interesting thing about the sparkles is I snapped four pictures in quick succession and they only showed up in one.
Another brief break to talk about ice cream. When we lived in Bedford, Massachusetts we discovered Bedford Farms ice cream. And we still think it’s the best ice cream we’ve ever had. But my husband seemed determined to find out if there was anything close. I had no idea he liked ice cream that much. If we went by a stand that was closed for the season he was disappointed. We went to two different places in Wolfboro. Both were good. The portions are huge! The picture below is of a kiddie size cup and it’s 16 ounces!
My neighbor, who lives across the pipestem from us in Virginia grew up going to the lakes region and told us about Kellerhaus which was conveniently located .3 miles from where we were staying. It’s been open for over 100 years. They make their own ice cream and my neighbor recommended their hot fudge. It did not disappoint! They also make their own chocolates and have a huge gift shop.
We spent the better part of one day driving over Kancamagus Scenic Byway . It was beautiful. At one of the stops, we talked to some people who are from a small town in Iowa near where I grew up. The cloudy day didn’t dampen the beauty.
