Hello again!
So Tuesday of our vacation has proven to be the best day so
far! I woke up around 7 and went for a run on the equestrian trail at the
hotel. It was so beautiful to run next to the mountains in the gorgeous summer
sun without the intense humidity for a change. I woke Petey up and we set off
for THE Mount Washington. Let me give you a little bit of history. Petey and I
had a math teacher in high school named Mr. Bailey. Peter was his aide for 2 or
3 semesters and listened to all of Mr. Bailey’s life stories with glee. Mr.
Bailey spoke highly of climbing Mt. Washington so of course, Peter decided that
he and I have to go do it. So… we drove for about 25 minutes and then reached
the bottom of the mountain. O…M…G. It looked intimidating. You must pay to
enter this oldest man-made attraction in North America BUT you get a
complimentary bumper sticker that says, “This car climbed Mount Washington” in
addition to a CD recording to listen to on your trek up. You must also pull
over and read very intense directions about giving the right of way to people
driving up and pumping your brakes on the way down. In addition, there are
complimentary water spots to cool your brakes down when they overheat. Really?
So up we went. This man-made attraction has no guard rails.
It is absolutely terrifying going 6,400 feet up and looking over rocky edges in
which you could potentially plummet to your death in one false move. So, I did
what any other girl would do… I cried. A lot. After about 35 minutes, we
reached the top. There was ample parking, a few souvenir shops, and a weather
station where scientists do work. Mt. Washington is the location where the
fastest wind gusts have ever been recorded: 231 miles per hour. Needless to
say, it was more than a little breezy up there. We went into the little museum
in which I found out that two cats live there full time with the scientists.
So, I listened to nothing else on our tour but instead asked all of the park
rangers where the cats were. The short answer is the cats were hiding. Bummer. There
is also a large sign listing all of the deaths on Mt. Washington. This was
nothing short of intimidating- people have died from falling and hypothermia
primarily. One of the guys in the 1800’s was just never seen again. SO CREEPY!
We had a picnic lunch in the back of our trusty Fit and began the slow descent
down the mountain. This was surprisingly less scary than the ascent. Upon
reaching the bottom, Petey explained that this was the coolest thing ever and
he wants to have a boys weekend in which he and friends will actually hike it.
Ahem.
Back at the hotel, it was time for TEA at MT. WASHINGTON.
Yeaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mt. Washington offers tea time at 2 and 3 pm. So, we
got served a full afternoon tea in the Princess Room. Peter was THRILLED of course.
J We had: English
Breakfast tea, ham and cranberry mayo sandwiches, cucumber and dill mayo
sandwiches, ginger scones, blueberry scones, and cranberry scones, a puff
pastry, a key lime and coconut mini cake, and a flourless chocolate torte
complete with a raspberry on top. Favorite part: ginger scones. The scones here
are little teeny biscuits, slightly toasted on the outside with a fluffy
center. Coupled with fresh cranberry spread, lemon curd, or Devonshire cream,
you can’t go wrong! EVER!
After tea time, we asked about the hotel’s complimentary,
“Drive a Volvo” program. Well guess what? You can take a Volvo out, drive it as
long as you want, and return it without filling up the gas tank… because you
want to. CRAZY! So, we got the little red sports car Volvo and drove it like we
stole it. Haha just kidding. We drove to the Mountain Coaster and bought
tickets. We flew around the Mountain Coaster and then drove until we found a
bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the road. We followed them and found a
giant spot on the creek with water about 8 feet deep. The perfect swimming
hole! We stood with the water up to our knees in the sun. It was so lovely. I
could move there.
We decided to have dinner at one of the Mt. Washington Hotel
restaurants off the property called Fabyan’s Station. It sits in front of train
tracks. We ate outside and had a delicious dinner selection to choose from. I
chose the Thanksgiving feast: a piece of fresh bread, then turkey, then mashed
potatoes, then stuffing, topped with fresh cranberry, and covered in homemade
gravy. The freshness of this combination was unbelievable. Peter had a Caesar
salad that was also ridiculously fresh. We hopped back into the car and drove
back to the hotel to return our Volvo. Tuesday night we had one last sitting
spell on the giant porch of the hotel, sharing a tasty brownie sundae and
looking out at the mountains. We wandered down to the creek and looked at the
stars. Petey showed me the Milky Way and it was so cool! I had never seen it
before. What a romantic that Petey is… J
Love,
KT and PD
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