Travelogue: Alton Bay, NH
Last weekend Dale and I found ourselves with no commitments. No band jobs for him, no work commitments, no social engagements – – – a completely unscheduled weekend in July. This is sort of unheard of for us so we decided to take advantage of it and go away. We went back and forth about where to go and decided to try someplace Dale had been as a kid but we had never been together so we headed north, to Alton Bay, NH.
I found us an adorable little cottage online. It was reasonably priced and available. It was close to a medium size pond and also close to our friends Jo-Ann and Shawn on Lake Winnipesaukee. It sounded perfect.
And it was. We settled in on Thursday night and went out for a quick bite to eat down in Alton Bay. I had delicious fried shrimp and Dale had the biggest piece of fried haddock I have ever seen. It was wicked hot so we also had some ice cream!
On Friday we decided it was too hot for the beach so we headed to Center Harbor and Keepsake Quilting. I got inspired by all the fabric and am now committed to make 3 new quilts. I fell down so hard in the fabric store that I never even went into Patternworks next door. I know, I know, but I have a lot more yarn than fabric so I feel I made the right choice.
We ended the afternoon on the beach and then had an awesome dinner with Jo-Ann and Shawn at the Lyon’s Den. Dale said his swordfish was the best he’d ever had and the setting was beautiful. It was still hot so after dinner we took a boat ride with Shawn & Jo-Ann and their family to the ice cream place. It was the perfect way to end a wonderful day.
The weather was much more moderate on Saturday so we spent the afternoon at our pond. We met some very nice people on the beach and felt very welcomed by the whole area. The pond is very pretty and surrounded by mountains. We swam and drank beer and ate crackers and cheese and it was a great afternoon.
We cooked steaks on the grill for dinner and took a walk back to the beach to see the sunset. We missed the sunset but Dale got to play horseshoes with his new friends so it was not a total loss!
On Sunday we cleaned up the cottage and headed over to Lake Winnipesaukee to spend the day with our friends. You’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to hear about that, though.
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Fun times! Love the photo with the flames!
Sounds like fun. Heading north was certainly smart last weekend!
Awesome…counting the days until we hit the NH mountains ourselves. (10!)
Keepsake is fun isn’t it?
Oh, Carole! What a wonderful weekend getaway! It all sounds perfect. (And I can’t wait to see your fabric. . .)
Nice! What a cute cottage… wonderful weekend. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the story.
; )
We’re glad you chose NH for your getaway!
I love spending a day in Center Harbor! I haven’t been there since I moved from upstate NY to IL five years ago…I think I need to make a trip back east!
Sounds really, really nice. It was terribly hot here in Massachusetts.
de-lurking to beg for pics of your new fabric finds! I fall off the wagon every single time I stop at Keepsake…
The Keepsake Quilting catalog is extremely dangerous. I can’t imagine visiting the shop in person. Lucky you!!
Carole, your pictures are fantastic. This entry looks like a magazine spread! It’s wonderful that you took off and had fun! Maybe the empty nest thing isn’t going to be too bad?!
You find the best places to stay and you know how best to enjoy a long weekend! You have been knitting and spinning for a couple of years solid, so your quilting passion needs to resurface again. Enjoy!!
THREE quilts? how much time will that take away from your knitting?! it’s fun to be spontaneous, isn’t it? especially with friends, and ice cream, and lovely locales!!
mmm…those steaks look great! and wow!!! three quilts worth!?! cannot wait to see them.
So nice to see some summer. It hit 64 here yesterday!