Last week we spent a few days in New Hampshire. We decided to leave a day earlier than planned so we could just wake up there and get right to the fun. Originally, both of Dave's parents were supposed to join us but his father ended up going on a last minute work trip to Japan so we only had his mom along for the fun. We packed up, got on the road and were happily greeted by a snowman when we arrived at the hotel.
The next day we headed to Story Land. It was the first time any of us had been there and we had such a blast. First stop: a visit with the "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe". Notice how even Library Duck got in on the action.
There was so much to do there but I think it's safe to say that the highlight of the day was riding the swan boats. I have always wanted to ride in a swan boat like that and was so happy that we got to ride them more than once! The only way it could have been any better would have been if this swan boat took us through a tunnel of love (another thing I've always wanted to do)! The horses you see the girls riding are part of the Antique German Carousel. It's one of two in the world (the other's in Munich). They move back and forth instead of up and down. Such a beautiful carousel.
We had plans to meet up with friends of ours for Cinderella's Tea Party.
We were ready for a tea party but had no idea we'd be getting an etiquette lesson out of the deal too!
Some more rides, a visit to the wayside chapel (like the ones found in Austria), and a visit to Butterfly Island aboard the Story Land Queen rounded out our day. We headed back to the hotel tired and blissfully happy.
The next day brought grey skies and lots of rain. Not the ideal time to go to Santa's Village as we had planned but evidently a good time to journey up the Mount Washington Auto Road. Having never been up Mount Washington before I had no idea how tense some of the moments during our drive up (and consequently down) would be. Dave has always wanted to do this and since he supported my dream of riding swan boats I felt it was only fair to this dream of his. As a born and raised New Englander I always thought it was silly when I would see a car with a "This Car Climbed Mount Washington" bumper sticker on it. I used to think: "How hard could it be for a car to go up a mountain?" I now know how truly challenging (and bumper sticker worthy) it is!
The next day was our last one in New Hampshire. It was a chilly but lovely day and we decided that it would be fun to go to Santa's Village before we headed home. We are all so glad we did as this was indeed a magical place.
We were sad to see our New Hampshire adventure come to an end but it was lovely to arrive home full of happiness and lots of wonderful memories!
