February Vacation: Day 4

So before I begin I have to tell you about how Aaron and I spent a ton of time, the night before we left, packing. We try to pack lightly, but when it comes to food, we don't skimp; I hate spending money on food. In order to understand why we packed so much food, you must realize that we were going to North Conway to go skiing, among other things, and food at ski resorts is so expensive. We packed very carefully, and left right on time. As we were traveling along the Kancamangus Highway Aaron realized he forgot our cooler with all the food in it, and I teased him relentlessly all week long.

Something that usually seems to happen to us, is that the weather never cooperates with our travel plans. It seems whenever we go somewhere, (Montreal for example), there is some kind of extreme weather situation. This time we traveled in a blizzard! Forecasts were calling for several inches, but we were bound and determined to go on vacation.

We arrived at our Inn, again we always try to give money to local business; and stayed at the Merrill Farm Resort (to see our last visit there, click here.) Once checked in, we called to make reservations to go on a sleigh ride. Our reservation wasn't until 4:00 so we had plenty of time to kill, and North Conway is the perfect place to kill time.

We stopped in at a great little cafe for lunch, town was so quiet because of the weather, so we had pick of any restaurant with very little wait. The name of the restaurant was something like the 'Stairway Cafe' and it was too cute for words. We split the most amazing wrap and french onion soup.

We also stopped at my favorite milk stand to get fresh farm milk. I love milk, and this little farm is adorable with fair prices, and they sell little maple candies that I can't seem to find anywhere else. We stocked up and were off to go ice skating and on a sleigh ride.

Nestlenook Farm is located in Jackson, NH. One of my favorite things about Jackson and Nestlenook is that you have to cross over a covered bridge to get to this small town. What a beautiful place. The minute you enter into the village at Nestlenook, it is almost like a time warp.

When we first got to Nestlenook, we immediately went ice skating. They have a huge pond with quaint bridges and music playing. The ice was perfect and there were little islands that had huts with fires burning. We skated for a couple of hours, then went and got some hot cocoa before our sleigh ride.

The sleigh ride took us all over the property of Nestlenook, rich with history and, as you can see, wildlife. The horses were well cared for and the old Austrian sleigh was comfortable, equipped with blankets to keep you warm. It was snowing lightly which made the ride even more romantic. We stopped once to feed the reindeer who lived on the property.

After our sleigh ride, we went to a few shops in North Conway then back to Merrill for tea time. The snow was really starting to come down, but that didn't stop us from going back out to find a place to eat. We stopped at Decades, but the wait was over two hours; so we went back to the Muddy Moose, where we often frequent when in North Conway. My meal was absolutely delicious. Aaron's was not, he said it was yucky and dry. He ate very little of it, but we decided to take it home anyway. Shamefully, I carry a sharpie in my purse at all times (in case if feel the urge to 'tag' buildings) so we clearly labeled his meal.

His yucky maple pork chop.

We retired pretty early, because we had a long day ahead of us. It snowing with no end in sight.

We needed our beauty sleep...