Tag: prep

Dartmouth College Outing Clubhouse Wedding

On By careofmonIn Trips2 Comments

This past weekend, my husband, Jon, and I attended a wedding for one of his cousins at the Dartmouth Outing Clubhouse in Hanover NH. The Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) was established in 1909 “to stimulate interest in out-of-door winter sports”. In 1929, the clubhouse was built. The “club” actually encompasses a dozen or so member organizations all having to do with some outdoor pursuit. The clubhouse is a beautiful building on Occom Pond with stone pillars and ivy crawling up the sides. It is right across the street from another beautiful Dartmouth property, the Hanover Country Club.

Front of the clubhouse
Pondside of the clubhouse
Hanover Country Club

The upstairs of the clubhouse has a large main room with fireplaces on either side of the room. There are historic photos on all the walls which I loved. Dartmouth runs the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge as the base of Mt. Moosilauke and owns the Second College Grant which has trails and many rental cabins. I wrote about the lodge on Moosilauke here. Seeing photos from Moosilauke and some of the cabins from the 1940s, 50s, and so on was really amazing. The Dartmouth Outing Club has done so much historically for the White Mountains. It was men from Harvard and Dartmouth that were some of the earliest hikers up many of my favorite peaks. There are a couple rooms off of the main room as well as a kitchen.

Main Room
Main Room
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Photos in a side room

The man in the portrait is Sherman Adams, ’20. He accomplished a lot in his life including being a part of the founding of Cabin and Trail as a senior, which was the central club for the DOC and gifting land on Moosilauke for a cabin used for wilderness skiing. He had quite a political career as a congressman, governor of NH, and finally chief of staff for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Off the main room there is also a beautiful balcony that overlooks Occom Pond.

Downstairs is the rental center for outdoor gear like cross country skis. There is a terrace that goes out to the pond and that’s where the ceremony was held.  The terrace was the gift of the class of 1944.

Pondside of the clubhouse & terrace

Hanover NH was an adorable town that I definitely would like to spend more time in. Its sort of a funny town up there practically in Vermont, very secluded. You have to wonder if everyone in the town is somehow associated with the college and its various associates.

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Occom Pond, the leaves are just starting to turn!

I love weddings and this was my only one this fall! It was great seeing a lot of Jon’s family and celebrating his cousin’s big day. Being a hiker and lover of New Hampshire/New England it was amazing getting to spend some time in the DOC House.

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LLBean for Fall!

On By careofmonIn Fashion2 Comments

It’s Wednesday but my Labor Day weekend is still fresh in my mind. We camp up in Freeport ME every Labor Day weekend right on Casco Bay. It is my favorite weekend of the year! The scenery is beautiful, and there are trails to walk on along the water at the campground. In the past we have done the LLBean discovery classes (stand up paddle boarding & clay shooting), but this year we decided to do some kayaking. My husband and some of the other guys went mountain biking, and I went for a great run in beautiful Freeport. LLBean was busy this past weekend with back to school shopping. It is the time right now to snag some great LLBean items for the fall and winter!!!

LLBean Boots

This is the time to buy LLBean boots BEFORE the rush at the holidays. Bean boots were backordered for months last year. I have these and these, but I am always keeping my eye out for the boots featured in the photo below. I love these and haven’t seen them in a while. Remember to order down a size from what you normally wear unless you want to wear super thick socks with your boots!

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Via originally from KJP

Fisherman Sweaters

LLBean has some great fisherman sweaters. The one I have is here  and I love it. This one is a tunic sweater so a little longer with a slightly bigger neck. I would really love the tunic in green. These are from the signature line and so are more true to size than regular shirts/sweaters.

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Sweater Fleeces

A great item to have during the colder months is the LLBean sweater fleece pullover. This year they added some new colors! I really like the kelp green one. I have the pewter one and it washes well, but I do line dry it. I love the retro label on these!

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Scotch Plaid Flannel Shirts, Slightly Fitted

These sold out last year, so grab them now while they in stock! They are a nice weight flannel, not too thin like a lot of brands. See them here for $44.95. I have the black watch and just got the stewart victoria. They are great flannel shirts- warm and not too boxy. For both the sweater fleece and this shirt, I sized down from my normal size.

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Via

Daybreak Scuffs

LLBean has great slippers. They are well known for their wicked good moccasins, but the daybreak scuffs are worth a shoutout too! I got the ones with the moose on them, but I am going to guess that the lobster will be VERY popular. The chocolate lab was popular last year. There is a cat and owl pair too! I ordered my normal size for these. I wear mine barefoot or with light socks, so you might want to go up a size if you want to wear thick socks.

Labor Day has come and gone BUT summer isn’t over yet. We have some seriously warm weather coming our way! Summer isn’t over until September 22 🙂 Hopefully this post has given you some fall fashion inspiration!

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Shopping smart paid off for the Lilly APS

On By careofmonIn FashionLeave a comment

I received my Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale shipment this past week! Woo!! In the past, I like many Lilly lovers have taken advantage of the sale to purchase expensive items like dresses for less money. The truth is though, I looked at my closet, and I already have more Lilly dresses than I can wear. The TRUTH is that I don’t really wear dresses that often. What I really wear more are tees and shorts or tees and skirts. I realized the real void in my wardrobe was not that I needed more dresses despite the great deals, I needed more tees for every day wear. Finding these holes in my wardrobe is sort of a new mission of mine after moving and seeing exactly what I own. These are the three tops I got from the sale, love all the nautical/marine prints 🙂

Lilly Pulitzer only has two sales a year- the one in January and this one in August. It can be really easy to over do it on these sales just because you feel like this is your only chance to get the items you have been checking out all year.

There’s a psychology to these sales. First, not all items are even in the sale. You finally get in via the online queue after an hour to find that the item you wanted isn’t even in the sale.  Well that’s ok, maybe you just find something similar. Because of the great deal, you decide to get a few things. Because its only twice a year, you get a few more things. Now instead of getting one thing that you really wanted, you are getting six things that you kinda want and actually end up spending more money than that one thing cost at full price. You check out quickly because you know that nothing is safe until you check out! Once the flurry of activity is over and your final sale items have been purchased, you start to go over the items you bought. Maybe that feeling of satisfaction starts to wane as you start to worry about sizes, or realize that you already own a really similar pair of shorts to the ones you bought, or you realize you have a bill due on Friday that you could have used that money for.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t enjoy sales, and I really do love the Lilly APS. I got three great tshirts this year for just around $100 and I am really happy with my purchases. This year I really planned and thought about what I needed though as opposed to what I wanted….or worse what I thought I SHOULD want. We work hard for our money, and we owe it to ourselves to make smart purchases and avoid buyer’s remorse 🙂

This is a timely post considering the fact that there will be many Labor Day sales this weekend! We are heading up to Freeport ME for the weekend, what are you up to!?

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Backyard Footwear and other canvas sneakers!

On By careofmonIn Fashion6 Comments

Living in New England means a lot of different footwear depending on the season and the weather. I love it because you can never get bored with your wardrobe, just when you think you can’t bear to put those boots on again, its time to take out your Palm Beach Sandals! A hole in my wardrobe recently has been a nice pair of casual canvas sneakers. There are a lot of choices out there, but I got these Backyard Footwear sneakers that I found on @dave_money3‘s insta. I didn’t want to do white because I KNOW I would get them so dirty, but these gray ones were perfect for me. The sizing is European as they are from Denmark, and I am a size 8 which translates to a 38. They were a little snug so I sent them back for a 39. They were $60 with free shipping and they can also be purchased on Amazon! They are gray canvas with little  blue suede inner toe patches and the rubber soles are molded up around the toe, so the rubber isn’t glued on.

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These are some of the other options out there that I checked out before purchasing my Backyard sneaks. Let me know if I forgot any!

LLBean sells Superga sneakers here. They are $65, free shipping, and come in some nice colors. My problem with these is I like a rounded toe to my sneaks and these have more like a square/trapezoid shaped toe I guess? They look like fabulous sneakers though.

FullSizeRender-6 Sperry has some beautiful canvas sneakers too here in many colors for $60 with free shipping. I really liked these because they have the traditional topsider laces, but they have a similar toe box to the Superga sneakers AND I felt like I saw these everywhere this past spring and summer, so I wanted to find something a little different. I have a friend who has them in navy and said they are wicked comfortable.

FullSizeRender-5J. Crew sells a couple different canvas sneakers. There are the SeaVees for $78 and then the TreTorn sneakers for $68. I sort of crossed these off my list because they were more expensive and some of the colors are backordered.

Of course, there are Keds which are the classic canvas sneaker. Here is a link to the canvas sneaker page because honestly its pretty cool to see the whole collection. They have so many colors!! The sneakers run from $45-60 for the most part. I had Keds growing up, and loved them…but I kicked the crap out of them ha. I remember retiring many pairs of Keds with holes in them and the rubber around the sides coming off. The quality might be much better now…hopefully it is because they are more expensive now than I remember…but I guess I have those memories and wanted something more sturdy.

FullSizeRender-2Converse Chuck Taylors are also a nice classic canvas sneaker for a great price at $50. My sister has a pair of these and loves them. I like them and have a pair of the taller Chuck Taylors in green.

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I am looking forward to wearing my Copenhagens on days when I don’t want to wear sandals, am not ready for boots, my neon blue/green running sneakers would be a little overkill.  They are handmade in the same factory in Europe since 1972 in an eco-friendly way and they are cushioned for wear all day. Lets be honest, I kinda want them in every color.

The Superga, Tretorn, and Sperry sneakers all sort of flare out to the toe. I like the Seavees, Keds, Chucks, and of course the Backyard sneakers because they taper to the toe. I suppose its personal preference.

What is your go to sneaker??

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Carter Dome hike to finish the Carter’s!

On By careofmonIn HikingLeave a comment

A while back we hiked Middle & South Carter in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire but couldn’t do Carter Dome because my pup hurt her little paw pads. This past weekend we took a break from house stuff to finish the Carters. I now only have five mountains left to finish the 48 4000 footers in the Whites!! Woo! I have to hike the Bonds which is 3 peaks, Isolation, and Owls Head to finish up.

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Mizpah playing in the 19 Mile Brook
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The main building at the Carter Notch Hut
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Carter Pond…check out that cloud creeping up
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Another Carter Pond shot
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Looking down into the notch at the Carter Notch Hut. Those rocks down there look small, but they are the size of buildings!
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Looking out into the Wild River Wilderness from a view before the summit
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Mizpah ascending into the cloud

We went up 19 Mile Brook Trail to the Carter-Moriah Trail which has some steep parts to the summit. The Carter Notch Hut is off the Carter-Moriah Trail. This particular hut has different buildings for the bathroom, bunks, and dining area whereas a hut like the Mizpah Spring Hut has everything in just one building. The summit has the remnants of a tower which is cool even though it doesn’t have great views. We were in a cloud the day I hiked though so there were no views no matter what.

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We thought this was a geocache in the rocks of this cairn near the summit, but the note inside was actually a very sweet memorial tribute 🙂
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My trusty La Sportiva Pamirs….these are my zombie apocalypse footwear….yes we have discussed what footwear we would grab for a zombie apocalypse.
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Summit!
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In a cloud on the summit!
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Mizpah investigating one of the old anchors for the tower that is no longer up there

We took the Carter Dome Trail back down to the 19 Mile Brook Trail which is a little longer, but not as steep. I would MUCH rather go up something steep and come down something more gradual for my knees’s sake. It’s better for Mizpah’s joints too!!

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Yep, we handfeed Mizpah her food out on the trail. She never eats breakfast before we leave for a hike, so anytime we take a break, we offer her food to keep up her energy!
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Mizpah lounging trailside
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Love the scenery on the 19 Mile Brook Trail!

It was a really great hike to do after taking a little time off. We even ran into one of my favorite instagrammers out on the trail- @munjoyboy. He was coming down Carter-Moriah as we were heading up. He has AMAZING photos of many of my favorite places.

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Lazy Days at Lake Winnipesaukee

On By careofmonIn Lifestyle, TripsLeave a comment

Good afternoon! I just went back to work yesterday after a lovely summer off. As part of my move to NH, I am also teaching biology and chemistry at a new school up here. We are in the midst of orientation which has been really fun. The other new teachers I have met are awesome and I am really liking my new school district! Last week, I was invited up to my friends’s house on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire for a few days which was a perfect getaway before going back to work!

We had zero plans, which was awesome because we really got to relax. We had a couple floats that we took out to hang out in the water, and we took out my friends’s boat. There was wake boarding, swimming, and stops to get some delicious food.

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The view from the house is beautiful. I love the views of the mountains in the Belknap Range and the wooded areas around the lake.

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The mailboat!

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We had great weather to be out on the lake. The water is really warm right now, and it was perfect because we were warm when the boat stopped but once you picked up again the breeze was so refreshing.

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So here is the Naswa Beach Bar & Grill. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of the food here, but the atmosphere is fun so its a great place to dock for a drink and an app to hang out. It feels a little more Floridian/Caribbean I guess with the be achy outdoor seating. The colorful painted buildings are so pretty too.

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The Town Docks in Meredith NH is actually our favorite place for food on the lake. The sky looks a little scary here huh? There is a lot of space on the docks for everyone to come on in, but be aware, the line for seating at the restaurant can be long. They have seafood, grilled stuff, salads, drinks, and bonus….they have really good ice cream! Chocolate frappe and lobster roll with fries? Check and check.

As I get ready for the next school year, I always try to remember that we still have nice weather for a while- summer isn’t over just yet thankfully.  Speaking of the end of summer, how’d everyone do with the Lilly After Party Sale?? I couldn’t shop until the afternoon and I snagged a few tops in some nice prints! I got this one, two, and three. Usually I go for dresses during the sale, but I found that what I actually needed were some casual tshirts, and I just loved the three prints. Who else got some good deals!?

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The Move to New Hampshire!

On By careofmonIn LifestyleLeave a comment

Hello all! My humblest apologies for being missing so long on here. My husband and I bought a house in an adorable town in southeastern New Hampshire and have been crazy people unpacking and setting up and doing work on the house and yard. Every time I thought about sitting down to blog, I almost felt guilty because I knew there were like, ten other things I should have been doing. Anyone else out there ever feel like that?

Anyway, our house is a small split level, two bedrooms upstairs but a third one will end up in the finished lower level when we need it. Its on a great piece of land, almost 2 acres, that we are in the process of fencing ourselves for our little pup Mizpah. It also has a huge three car garage which is amazing for us because between hiking, biking, camping, kayaking, and fishing, we have a lot of gear to store!

Top left is one of our rock walls! I love the rock walls left behind from colonial farm boundaries in New England. We have one to the front of our house, in the back , and to the right as boundaries between us and neighbor lots. Bottom left is our very own graveyard!! The graveyard is for a family that dates back to 1788 and then into the mid 1800s. On the right is a pic from some trails at the end of our road. Yes…we have off leash trails to run on with Mizpah just down the street! High five!

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We are off a main road in a very country setting, but many stores and restaurants are just 5 minutes away. Above are some pics from my lovely rural neighborhood 🙂  There is a horse farm just across the street that I have to check out for riding and we are close to some nice rowing clubs which I might check out for next summer.

There is a lot to do- we are ripping up carpets to do hardwoods, finishing the lower level and adding a bathroom down there, painting walls- the list is never-ending. The town we are in is great and we are just a half hour from Portsmouth NH, Kittery ME, and the beaches in Hampton/Rye NH. We are also much closer to some of the mountains that we love so much, so hopefully we will get out there to hike as some of the bigger projects finish up.

My sister came up to visit for a couple days last week and we went out into Portsmouth and Kittery. It felt like a jailbreak after being in doing house stuff for so long. Both places are along the Piscataqua River which opens up to the Atlantic. So beautiful. We hit up Portsmouth Brewery for a little snack and a drink and then made our way down to Lazy Jacks to check out the beautiful waterscape on the decks, and then grabbed something sweet at Izzy’s on our way out. I got a cappuccino shake with chocolate syrup- so good.

The lobster roll on the right with those amazing curly fries is from Rudder’s in Kittery Foreside. Kittery ME has amazing outlets- all the ones you normally think of, but definitely try When Pigs Fly. There are restaurants right there amidst the outlets, but we wanted to get out of the crowded areas and go somewhere new. That is the small lobster roll and it was mostly claw meat which is my favorite, and the dressing was light and flavorful. So good. It was a smaller place, and the staff was awesome. Watching Gevvie Stone kill her semifinal in Rio was nice too that afternoon! Who has been bingewatching the Olympics!? Rowing, equestrian, swimming, gymnastics….so many exciting finishes and competition!!

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Rowing on Lake Quinsigamond

On By careofmonIn LifestyleLeave a comment

This summer I decided to get back into rowing. I registered for a learn to scull (2 oars instead of 1) program through Quinsigamond Rowing Club and it just ended today. There were six sessions- we did the first 3 in a quad because those are the most stable with just one person rowing. Then the fourth session we did in doubles, and I rowed the last two in a single. Monday I went out in a wintech explorer which was a little wider, and then today in a peinart which was more narrow. It was a really fun experience, I am so glad I did it.

Growing up, I played tennis and did Irish step dancing. My junior year of high school, I was having knee problems, was diagnosed with patella femoral syndrome, and was faced with finding a new activity. My orthopedic doctor had rowed for St. John’s in Worcester so he suggest rowing as a way to strengthen my inner quads to support my knee better. That summer I did the learn to row camp at Northeastern University, then rowed at CRI my senior year, and then rowed for four amazing years at WPI. While at WPI, I did a little sculling- most of it was good, but there were definitely some disasters. I remember walking off the dock holding a single with my coach my freshman year, then I flipped a double with my best friend Jen in the summer after my junior year of college, and then flipped a single senior year during spring training down in Cocoa Beach. This morning…I flipped and fell in the water reaching out to my oar lock hahaha- oh well, I had a change of clothes.

Sculling is awesome because you have two oars and use both sides of your body more evenly I think. I really liked rowing a single. The reward for good strokes is big, and crappy strokes are on you and only you, so you become really aware of what you are doing well, and what you need to work on. I had our coach video me on Monday and today so I could see my body and blade position. It’s really helpful to actually see whats happening with your rowing.

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A shot from Monday’s row in the wintech explorer!
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A shot from today’s row in the peinert! Had shorts on, pants were my extra clothes in my bag after I took a little swim! oops!
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The boat named for one of my best friends, teammates, my co-captain, and even my sorority sister Jen. She passed away in 2008 and I miss her all the time.

It was so good to get back into rowing. After my friend passed away, going to the boathouse was hard- it felt like a place of mourning, like I was visiting her grave instead of the happy place it had been. Reconnecting with Jon, one of my teammates from college that knew Jen started to bring back the happiness in rowing, and I started to feel that healing and instead of just hiding and shutting away that void from when I left crew behind, I am starting to fill it again.

New England LOVES crew. There are so many colleges and clubs on the Charles River,  Lake Quinsigamond, the Mystic River, and the Merrimack River in Massachusetts. Many private and boarding schools have crew programs as well. Groton School rows on the Nashua River which is near where we run with Mizpah. The Head of the Charles is a huge event here in the fall, and in the spring there are many prestigious sprint races on Quinsig.

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Vermont Brewers Festival on Lake Champlain

On By careofmonIn TripsLeave a comment

Happy Monday!!! I just spent a lovely weekend up in Burlington VT with a great group of friends. This past weekend was the annual Vermont Brewers Festival at Waterfront Park right on Lake Champlain. We dropped the pup off Friday morning and headed up with a couple stops along the way. We stopped at Cabot Creamery in Cabot, VT for a tour and some free cheese. The tour was great, just $3. I love how the Cabot Creamery works- its a coop, owned by the dairy farmers that supply the milk. Over 1 million pounds of milk arrive at the creamery from farms across New England and New York. Favorite cheese? Definitely the alpine cheddar- it was so good, had to get a block to take with us.

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Cabot Creamery- World’s Best Cheddar!

From there we stopped at the Ben and Jerry’s in Waterbury. Oh man, it was so packed. There were so many people, we walked around but didn’t stay…..I did get some Ben and Jerry’s at the scoop shop in Burlington though 🙂 Last stop before the campground was Prohibition Pig, also in Waterbury. They had some great beers of their own on tap, and then an awesome selection of local beers- some from Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Hill Farmstead, and Alchemist that are tough to find!

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Ben and Jerry’s! So much sugar, milk, and cream! Look at those mountains in the distance 🙂
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All the flavors that have been retired over the years- RIP
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I would totally camp in this instead of my tent!
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Scoop shop in Burlinton! The line was much better here. I am usually a phish food kinda gal, but gave chocolate therapy a chance- so good!

We stayed at North Beach Campground for the weekend, 4 couples, 4 tents, 2 sites. We put all the tents on one site and used the other site for the fire pit, picnic tables, and set up the screened in EZ-up. We were close to the bathrooms, and they had battery operated hot showers, which are great amenities at a campground. It’s not my favorite campground that I have stayed at, but the location was perfect. It was just a short walk to the lake, and just a little longer walk to the park where the beer fest location. The beer fest on Saturday was great. It was hot, but they had plenty of free water thankfully. We pooled our tickets to try as many beers as possible, attacking each brewery with a divide and conquer strategy. Thankfully we are all close friends, because there were a lot of passed beers! In all, I think we tried around 75 different beers!!! Not bad! We made really great food for the weekend- marinated steak tips, turkey burgers, rotisserie chicken salad with dried cherries and walnuts, and of course, s’mores. We had a camp fire and played cards for hours…it just seems like time doesn’t exist when you are camping.

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I was trying to get a picture with this lovely light house but my friend was being such a goof ball I couldn’t stop laughing. Dress is from Mahi Gold 🙂 
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I love lake views with mountains as the backdrop- do you see Champy out there? That’s Lake Champlain’s version of the Loch Ness monster!
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North Beach- we think those are NY mountains over there!
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Love water views

Sunday we got up, packed up the sites, and explored Burlington a bit. I loved Outdoor Gear Exchange, had to hold myself back from LLBean, and grabbed a couple chocolates at Lake Champlain Chocolates. We did lunch at Farmhouse Tap and Grill and I got the best BLT I have had ever. Everyone loved their meals and beers, definitely recommend it!

Very last stop for the weekend was the Magic Hat‘s brewery which is called the artifactory. It’s a very cool brewery….the building itself looks like a plain, industrial warehouse, but they have really done a lot inside to make it feel like a different planet. It’s dark, neon, and kinda psychedelic- lots to look at. You can try beers there and get growlers. I really liked the Single Chair Golden Ale, dedicated to the single chair lift at Mad River Glen, and Stealin Time which is a wheat ale with ginger.

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Artsy-industrial tower outside the brewery. They definitely know how to dress up the factory. 
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Very cool poster for Magic Hat #9, an elixir that is not quite a pale ale 
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Fitting for my ski bum to take a pic with the Single Chair frame!

We had such a fun weekend. I loved Burlington and Lake Champlain and think we will be returning next year. It was definitely tough getting up this morning to row at 5:30. Oh yes, I am in a learn to scull program this month, what a throwback. I have loved every second of it, but man is it early. I will write a post about it soon! Anyone else been to Burlington? Where did you go? What were your favorite spots?

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Southernmost Presidentials Hike

On By careofmonIn Hiking2 Comments

Last week, I got to do a midweek hike with my sister who is just starting out doing the 4,000 footers in NH. We did Mt. Jackson and Mt. Pierce, which are the most southern 4,000 footers in the Presidential Range. This was actually my third time hiking these two, but first time in the summer!

We took the Webster-Jackson Trail from Rt. 302 to Mt. Jackson, and then the Webster Cliff Trail over to Mt. Pierce, and finally the Crawford Path back down to Rt. 302. It was my first 4000 footer hike without my husband, and so I felt a little pressure to make sure we were on the correct trails, going the right way and so on. Mt. Webster is up there too, named after Daniel Webster, but it’s not a 4000 footer so we had to make sure we avoided that trail.

Mt. Jackson is actually not named after Andrew Jackson, our 7th president. It is named after Charles Jackson who was a physician and the state’s geologist! On the way to Mt. Pierce, named for Franklin Pierce, is the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) run Mizpah Spring Hut. It was a really nice one. It made me miss my pup, Mizpah, but her paw pads were still healing.

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View down from Mt. Jackson. You can just barely see the Mt. Washington Hotel down there! Just to the right of center with that red roof!
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Sisters at the summit!
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The rest of the Presidentials from Jackson, you can see Washington perfectly high up on the right!
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Mizpah Spring Hut, just below the summit of Mt. Pierce
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The Mizpah bell in the hut, reminded me of my pup!
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Matching Merrell boots up on top of Mt. Pierce! Mine on the left are just really old haha. Mt. Pierce was originally named Mt. Clinton after DeWitt Clinton, a governor of NH.
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Just starting out on the Crawford Path, beautiful views of the Presis
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Someone on the trail got really excited about my mountain hat, said he was friends with one of the Harding Lane guys! We probably could have had a nice convo if I wasn’t so awkward and unable to speak more than “hi, how are you, have a nice hike” haha

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The Crawford family….you really can’t discuss the history of the White Mountains without talking about a few families, and the Crawford’s are definitely one. Abel and Ethan were father and son. They cleared a path up from Rt 302 to Mt. Pierce (Clinton then) over to Mt. Washington and guided hikers up. Abel at 75 years old in 1840 ascended this trail to Mt. Washington on horseback!! The path is just over 8 miles and goes over Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Monroe, past the Lake in the Clouds, and ends up at Mt. Washington’s summit.

It was a really hot day which meant drinking lots of water. Having the hut was nice to fill up and not have to worry about running out of water. When we finished our hike, we headed to the Woodstock Inn Station & Brewery for a beer and some food. So delicious. I got the chicken salad melt which is an open faced sandwich on their spent grain bread, and my sister got a bison bacon bbq burger. We both got their summer beer which is deliciously light and refreshing. It was just a great day with my sister, so thankful to be able to hike with her!

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