Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!
- William Butler Yeats
My husband and I decided to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in the beautiful mountains and valleys of New Hampshire and Vermont. It was one of the best vacations we have ever had. Initially our thoughts were on Yosemite in California or maybe see the Grand Canyon in Arizona. But wanting to do something special, we decided to explore the White Mountains of the Appalachian range that runs through New Hampshire.
The amount of information I found on NH was amazing. Reviewers of Trip advisor gave a whole lot of suggestions on places to stay and things to do. Many travelers had combined NH with Vermont and Maine. That seemed like a good idea, as we had seven to eight days in hand. We decided to spend the first half of our vacation exploring the mountains and the second half at a quite resort in Vermont.
We flew from Minneapolis into Boston city and drove down to North Conway in NH, a 3 hr drive including pit stop at the lovely town of Portsmouth. North Conway is an ideal location for exploring the white mountains. We stayed at the newly renovated Residence Inn, very centrally located. The Kancamagus Highway is one of the most scenic routes in the country and about 10 mins from the hotel. These are few things that we did:
1. Drove on the scenic Kanc highway to the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. This is an hour and fifteen minute drive from North Conway, and well-worth the drive, as you get to go on the entire stretch of the scenic road. If you are lucky enough, you may see a moose (we weren't). There are plenty of things to do here. We did "The Gorge and Boardwalk" and went into all the caves. At times we had to crawl on our knees and even on our tummy to get in and out of the cave. Its super fun!
2. Visited the Flume Gorge at the Franconia Notch State Park. We once again went on the Kanc highway, an hour and fifteen mins drive, and about 15 mins longer than the US 302 route. This gorge was really impressive, about 80-90 feet tall. We went up on a wooden pathway for a while and later on dirt trails. There is a lovely covered bridge half way down the trail. This trip was really good and I would highly recommend it.
3. Saw some spectacular views from Mt. Washington. Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the New England states. There are two ways to go up the mountain - in a car or by a train. We decided to drive up on the famous auto road, which is one of the oldest man-made attractions in the US. The views from the top of the mountain is simply stunning. The mountain also holds the record for the highest wind gust (231 miles per hr) at the earth's surface. It took us about 45 mins to reach the foot of the mountains and about 30 mins to go up the summit. This is a must do!
4. On the way back, we stopped at wild cat mountains, where I tried the zip rider. Its super super cool! A chair lift carried us up the mountain, where we mounted a chair hung on a rope and zipped 1/2 a mile at the speed of 45 miles an hour. This is another must do! We also visited Attitash and went up the mountain on the chair lift. We didn't do much here though but would have been a good place if we were with kids.
Restaurants that we visited in North Conway:
1. Bellini's - Good Italian food. But very important to make a reservation before hand (we had to wait for two hours as we didn't have one)
2. Shalimar of India - Decent Indian food. Excellent service
3. Black Gap Grill - Excellent food with vegetarian options as well (we are vegetarians)
More on Vermont in my next blog..
- William Butler Yeats
My husband and I decided to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in the beautiful mountains and valleys of New Hampshire and Vermont. It was one of the best vacations we have ever had. Initially our thoughts were on Yosemite in California or maybe see the Grand Canyon in Arizona. But wanting to do something special, we decided to explore the White Mountains of the Appalachian range that runs through New Hampshire.
The amount of information I found on NH was amazing. Reviewers of Trip advisor gave a whole lot of suggestions on places to stay and things to do. Many travelers had combined NH with Vermont and Maine. That seemed like a good idea, as we had seven to eight days in hand. We decided to spend the first half of our vacation exploring the mountains and the second half at a quite resort in Vermont.
We flew from Minneapolis into Boston city and drove down to North Conway in NH, a 3 hr drive including pit stop at the lovely town of Portsmouth. North Conway is an ideal location for exploring the white mountains. We stayed at the newly renovated Residence Inn, very centrally located. The Kancamagus Highway is one of the most scenic routes in the country and about 10 mins from the hotel. These are few things that we did:
1. Drove on the scenic Kanc highway to the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. This is an hour and fifteen minute drive from North Conway, and well-worth the drive, as you get to go on the entire stretch of the scenic road. If you are lucky enough, you may see a moose (we weren't). There are plenty of things to do here. We did "The Gorge and Boardwalk" and went into all the caves. At times we had to crawl on our knees and even on our tummy to get in and out of the cave. Its super fun!
2. Visited the Flume Gorge at the Franconia Notch State Park. We once again went on the Kanc highway, an hour and fifteen mins drive, and about 15 mins longer than the US 302 route. This gorge was really impressive, about 80-90 feet tall. We went up on a wooden pathway for a while and later on dirt trails. There is a lovely covered bridge half way down the trail. This trip was really good and I would highly recommend it.
3. Saw some spectacular views from Mt. Washington. Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the New England states. There are two ways to go up the mountain - in a car or by a train. We decided to drive up on the famous auto road, which is one of the oldest man-made attractions in the US. The views from the top of the mountain is simply stunning. The mountain also holds the record for the highest wind gust (231 miles per hr) at the earth's surface. It took us about 45 mins to reach the foot of the mountains and about 30 mins to go up the summit. This is a must do!
4. On the way back, we stopped at wild cat mountains, where I tried the zip rider. Its super super cool! A chair lift carried us up the mountain, where we mounted a chair hung on a rope and zipped 1/2 a mile at the speed of 45 miles an hour. This is another must do! We also visited Attitash and went up the mountain on the chair lift. We didn't do much here though but would have been a good place if we were with kids.
Restaurants that we visited in North Conway:
1. Bellini's - Good Italian food. But very important to make a reservation before hand (we had to wait for two hours as we didn't have one)
2. Shalimar of India - Decent Indian food. Excellent service
3. Black Gap Grill - Excellent food with vegetarian options as well (we are vegetarians)
More on Vermont in my next blog..
