I returned Monday from a fabulous two weeks on Lake Winnipasauke in New Hampshire. I love New England so much and always hate leaving. The pictures below were taken at Abenacki Tower that Jessie told us about.
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.
One last food interlude. Four years ago after the last event of the Wicked mini-tour, Barb, Julie, and I were driving back to where we were staying. We were HUNGRY after missing lunch, but we decided it would be better to head toward where we were staying instead of driving the windy, mountain road in the dark. As we drove we talked about what we wanted to eat, but didn’t come up with anything specific. Suddenly, a restaurant appears: Hart’s Turkey Farm. We made a snap decision to eat there and careened into the parking lot. It was delicious! So we ate there this time too–twice. And in one of those small world things, my neighbor worked there when she was a teenager!
You may be wondering: how much weight did you gain on this trip, Sherry? Thanks to pickleball, climbing towers, and taking lots of walks, only a half pound.
We drove home through southern Vermont which was stunning and it’s not even at peak yet. The photos don’t do the beauty justice.
Readers: Do you have a favorite place to visit in the fall? Is there somewhere you’ve always longed to go?
Sherry, thanks for sharing your New England adventure with us. Love all the photos. Glad you were able to visit with Jessie and Barb. I did notice that Barb and Bob had the same hat. And when I saw the photo, I said, there are the Three B’s.
I have a similar hat too, but didn’t wear it that day. My sunburned forehead says I should have! And I’m laughing about the three B’s because I was stuttering out their names at times!
There is nothing like a good apple cider donut from an apple orchard. They are the best.
I agree!
SHERRY: Great photos of your New England trip! I am lucky that the Ottawa region where I live has wonderful fall colours. We have shuttle buses that go into nearby Gatineau Park (Quebec) on the weekends in October. There are several stops at great lookout points and at several hiking trails that circle several small lakes in the park. And yum, we also have cider donuts. I buy them at our weekly Farmers Market this time of year.
How awesome is it that you have shuttle buses that take you!
What a great trip you had! I love the photos! We have cider doughnuts here, too, made at a local farmers market. I get them for my husband all the time. I’ve yet to go to Canada, I think we’re just a few hours from the border. We have our passports and I’m ready for a trip!
Going to Canada in the fall would be amazing!
Your trip brought back such sweet memories for me. Our first bucket list trip after hubby retired was to the New England states in the fall. We went up the entire coastline of Maine, hit the interior of the state before see all the other beautiful states. We did go to the cog train and were blessed with a clear not as blistery day too. We hit all the major tourist things like taking a moose tour and went to places like Boldts Castle and Niagara Falls as well as enjoying the small towns and all the beautiful colors of fall. It was a fabulous 30 day trip we will never forget.
We love traveling to anywhere that the fall colors pop and we can enjoy critters in their natural environment. As a photographer, both make amazing photos and when you can capture both in the same shot, it’s fabulous.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I was so disappointed that we didn’t see a moose with all the moose crossing signs we saw! I had no idea there was such a thing as a moose tour!
Well, we took the tour, but ended up not seeing any moose on it. We sure were disappointed to pay out the $ and nothing. The thing was if you didn’t see one you got to go again free until you did. However, traveling our time at each place was limited as we had the whole trip laid out. We did see some later on our own as driving from one town to the other down in a swampy area. We fortunately were where we could pull over and no traffic to get some photos.
That is very interesting! I’ve seen moose in Idaho so I’m not sure why I was so anxious to seem them in New Hampshire!
Sherry, I love your photos and your essay, and think maybe we should head up to New Hampshire for a weekend ourselves! I have some fun and some terrifying memories of driving on the Kancamagus Highway. It is one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on, but time of day and weather are big factors. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you make it! I can imagine that road could be frightening. It started to rain just after we left Lincoln and got on the freeway! We were thankful it didn’t hit earlier!
Beautiful photos! I live in New England so am very fortunate to see the Fall colors. I love all of New England and can’t imagine living anywhere else again. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com
We loved living in Massachusetts for five years and our daughter calls Massachusetts home. It sinks into your bones!
What great photos, Sherry. Sounds like you had a fantastic trip.
The leaves are starting to turn here in PA, so I’m hoping they will be right on time when I go on retreat next weeked down in Somerset with my SinC chapter.
A retreat sounds wonderful! Have a fabulous time and fingers crossed for some nice fall foliage!
Wow! Your travelogue is fun-tastic, Sherry! Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. It felt like I was participating in your journey. What a beautiful area of the US you visited. Thank you for all the recommendations. I hope to go back to New England one day. I also did not know you were born in Iowa. Muy wife was born in Adair. To answer your question: I didn’t have any favorite place to visit in the Fall…until I read your blog today. Now you injected all these photos and descriptions into my mind, and I am motivated to go. Thank you for sharing so much fun with us readers! Luis at ole dot travel
I have been by Adair many times! I’m glad you enjoyed the post and hope you make it to New England!
Sherry, I’m so jealous! You’re living my dream! I miss New England so much. I was just with my mom in northern Westchester County. I took her to a farm around 15 minutes from where she lives and it was so wonderful to get even a small dose of the bucolic countryside.
That is so lovely that you could take your mom. I’m sure she enjoyed it as much as you did!
I love this so much! When I was writing my first book, I decided to set it in New Hampshire, a place I’d never set foot. I researched the heck out of it, even using Google earth to virtually drive the road to Lake Winnipesaukee and explore the whole area. I ended up moving my series back to the Pacific NW but seeing the area in person is still on my bucket list!
I hope you make it some day. The Pacific Northwest is beautiful too. My sister lives in Seattle and I love to visit her!
What gorgeous photos! I’ve put Kellerhaus on my bucket list. Is it wrong to have a hot fudge sundae on a bucket list? Oh well, it’s on mine!
It’s the perfect thing to put on your bucket list!
I loved taking this trip with you through these pictures and post. Seeing Mew England in fall and trying apple cider donuts is on my bucket list.
I hope you make it, Lori!
I would love to go to where you just were. Looks and sounds divine. I have never been above Glens Falls, NY and that was for a weekend in winter with snow on the ground to visit some new friends. We did go over the state line to Vermont where I took a skiing lesson. Otherwise, I have only been as far north as Boston (close but no cigar) in summer when I stayed with a friend in New Jersey.
What a lovely post. My son is at college in Hanover, and I took a coach trip from Boston through NH in the late summer, but after reading this I’m going to explore in a lot more detail next time. I might retrace some of your steps, if you don’t mind. Being from London, I don’t have much of a clue where to go, so definitely keeping this email! 🙂
There are so many beautiful places to visit! Barb also recommended going to Castle in the Clouds but we will save that for another trip. You’ll have to let me know if you visit some of the spots!