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Mount Washington - Part 4
Written by: Stacey Stern
To take your family on a rustic adventure reminiscent of your own childhood memories, New Hampshire has all the best pieces to make a new trip down Memory Lane.
Jim also told us next year is the 50th anniversary of the park. After lunch, we continued over to the new Great Balloon Chase Ferris Wheel for Amanda and I to ride, while D.J. and Sal sat by a pond and watched the ducks. We tried to cool off at the Oceans of Fun Playground, with water shooting coral and a submarine covered by a giant octopus shooting water, but the sun was too strong. We went through the Sandcastle Maze, and Amanda and I went on the Turtle Twirl. We came off that ride feeling sick to our stomachs and went to find Sal and D.J. who went looking for some shade to sit under. They were sharing a frozen lemonade. We just missed the start of Professor Bigglestep's Loopy Lab, but we were able to play in the outer area. There were tons of soft balls and many vacuum machines that sucked them up and spit them out. Even D.J. got into the fun throwing balls at us and putting them into the suction and watching them fly out. Amanda and Sal went upstairs to the ball shooters and tried to shoot me with them. We spent a long time there, playing and laughing. It was almost 2:30 and we had an appointment at 3:30, so we walked past the Bamboo Chutes log flume and Dr. Geyser's Remarkable Raft Ride, to the Antique Cars for the last ride of the day.
At a little after three, we left the parking lot and headed for Ben & Jerry's in North Conway to meet Marti Mayne, the trip coordinator from the Chamber of Commerce. Amanda and Sal had chocolate chip, and I had triple caramel chunk ice cream. We headed over to the Sunny Side Inn, on Seavey Street in North Conway. We met the owner, Eric Kinkopf, and his daughter, Emily, as we checked in, and were given keys to cottage 2. The cottage was more like a condominium. We entered into a large living room with sofa bed, TV, child's rocking chair, large gas fire place, and air conditioning. There was a full eat-in kitchen, bathroom with a shower only, a bedroom with a Queen-size bed, and a large walk-in closet with a day bed.
After unpacking, we went for dinner at Flatbread Company at the Eastern Slope Inn, Main Street in North Conway. The restaurant was a large round room with high ceilings in lightly colored wood, with strings hanging cloths decorated with messages of love and humanity. A large wood-fired clay oven bakes the specialty pizzas served here. We ordered three mini pizzas, which were 8 inches in size. The first one had Cajun shrimp, bell peppers, Vidalia onions, and fresh gremalata (parsley, lemon zest, and garlic). The second was cheese and herb with mozzarella, Vermont farmhouse Asiago parmesan cheese, and garlic. The third, called "The Happy Valley," had caramelized onions, mushrooms, garlic oil, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and herbs. We watched as the dough was tossed, seasoned, and baked.
When the pizzas were served I expected to have a lot of leftovers, but they were so good, we ate it all. Even D.J. polished off about a third of a pie himself! All the pizzas are made with organically grown wheat and white flours, wheat germ, and spring water. After dinner, we went back to the cottage to relax and go to bed.
Wednesday morning, we went over to the inn for breakfast. We met Robyn, Eric's wife, who showed us to the dining room. She sat us and asked if we wanted eggs, French toast, or pancakes with bacon or sausage. We all decided on French toast and bacon with fresh strawberries. D.J. wasn't interested, so they made him a pancake which he enjoyed. Emily was the chef. We learned they had bought the inn about 4 months ago and were beginning some renovations. The name of the inn is going to be changed to the Spruce Moose Lodge in November.
We drove to Santa's Village on Route 2 in Jefferson. The ride was about 45 minutes from North Conway. Outside the park was a large Nutcracker Slide. Amanda climbed up and slid onto the drum. We went into the park and met Elaine Gainer, the owner of Santa's Village. She told us this is the park's 50th season and still remains a family business. Entrance fees were very reasonable at $18.00 for ages 4-61, $16.00 for 61+, and free for under 4. The park is up in the mountains and has many trees providing a lot of shade. We wore our jackets most of the day. Throughout the park Christmas carols play all day -- this was truly Christmas in July.
Our first stop was the Elfabet House. We got game cards with all the letters of the alphabet in the shape of a Christmas tree. The object is to go through the park and find all the elves, punch the letters on the card, and return to the Elfabet House for a prize. We walked over to the Little Drummer Boy Ride, the Christmas version of the teacups, where Amanda and I went for "a spin." Next we went to the Village Airport, and we all went on the sleighs, the Christmas version of the helicopter ride. D.J. had so much fun that he cried when the ride was over, and Sal took him off. Amanda and Sal went on the Bumper Cars, and D.J. and I watched. The Reindeer Ranch petting area had great appeal for me and D.J., while Amanda and Sal preferred the swings.
We went into the St. Nicholas Chapel, a beautiful interfaith chapel, then passed the giant Nativity. Over at Santa's Reindeer Shoe Shop, Amanda and D.J. smiled at the blacksmith to receive a free ring made from the nails. The next shop was Santa's House. We had waited on line for 15 minutes, and then Santa took a break, so we decided to come back later. Then we went to Elf University for a diploma signed by Santa, followed by a photo op with the giant Frosty statue next door. The Great Humbug Adventure, where you shoot the "Bah" out of the Humbugs with laser gun, was one of Amanda's favorite things in the park.
Read part 1 | Read part 2 | Read part 3 | Read part 4 | Read part 5
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