Captain’s Log…Day Ten ~ New Hampshire to Vermont — Cogging Up the Works

The kids thought it was massively funny to rattle the door while I was showering and try to scare me to death. I thought it was pretty funny too. It’s good to scare Mom when she’s sure a haunting is happening; especially when she’s stuck behind the thick shower curtain of a period style bathroom. That’s just good fun right there. DD even suggested that the noise I heard was just a monster coming through the pipes to eat me. Ahh, all my child rearing is paying off.

Well, after an awful nights sleep, (not the hotels fault, really…though these were the worst beds we’d slept on so far), a ride in the creepy 1930’s elevator and a warm send off from the staff, we were outta there. I didn’t get a photo of the place because I was in a hurry to get to the all-important Polly’s Pancake Parlor, but here’s a photo from their site. I know. It’s looks fabulous and harmless…but I’m telling you…haunted. Just saying…haunted. It’s roots go back to 1865. Haunted.

mtn view hotel

I was panicking because I really wanted to get to Polly’s and the bellman wouldn’t stop being accommodating to us and eating into our 11:30 reservation. Great bellman/valet though, really. Actually refused a tip. Wha?! That’s a first in my trip. He got the elevator, pulled my car around, loaded all our stuff AND offered to throw away some of the obvious garbage. Don’t judge my slovenliness. This is day 10 of 17, in a car, with three kids. Whaddya expect? Really though, we’re starting to look like the Clampetts. Anyway, cutiepie bellman/valet from the haunted hotel finally let us get outta there…

<<<EXCUSE THE INTERRUPTION… I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN’T ALLOW THE EAGLES TO BREAK IN HERE>>>

“you can check out any time you like…but you can never leave”…

Ahhh, much better.

So, we made it to Polly’s even though the guy who lives in my GPS was off his game today. I had to find Polly’s on my own…not easy since this city girl does not totally understand the concept of country roads and their convoluted simplicity…I’d like to build a better mousetrap…called…say…INTERSTATE or HWY…even BLVD…or a simple plan called LARGE ROAD SIGNS. When I was parked in front of Polly’s Pancake Parlor my GPS pal finally had his coffee and told me that he did finally locate Polly’s…and it was 7 miles away. Idiot.

We had a WONDERFUL breakfast at Polly’s. The four of us had oatmeal buttermilk pancakes made with organically grown grains, which they stone grind themselves. The kids had chocolate chips added to theirs, but I choose walnuts. Awesome. Fantastic. I have to say…Polly’s made the awful trek from Maine to New Hampshire almost worth doing again just to eat here.

DON’T BE A COG…RIDE A COG

After Polly’s we took off for The Cog ride to the top of Mt. Washington. Naturally, the GPS said one thing, but did another. I finally found it though, with hardly any time to spare. I bought the tickets for a 2pm ride 3 weeks ago. Man, I’m good. Still reeling that I made it.

cog

The Cog @ Mt. Washington, New Hampshire Summit

We’re not in heaven. There was zero visibility off the mountain…those are clouds in the background.

The Cog ride is pretty cool. Sadly, Mt. Washington is covered by fog/clouds/whatever 300 days of the year and…you guessed it…this was one of those days. Visibility was zero. However, it was still cool. At one point the incline is so steep that the front of the train is 13 feet higher than the back. That’s pretty wild. The whole ride takes about 3 hours. You get to spend 20 minutes at the summit. I thought it was cool that Mt. Washington has it’s own Post Office at the summit, but it doesn’t reopen until July. That’s neat. We jumped back on the train and zipped back down. The descent was very cool. The view was outstanding once we got past the cloud cover.

Well from creepy hotel to Polly’s Pancake Parlor to a 3 hour Cog ride THEN outta New Hampshire and on to Burlington, Vermont.

The ride to Vermont was as pretty as non-coastal Maine and New Hampshire were ugly and depressing. I’ve decided that the only people who don’t like Vermont, haven’t been to Vermont. It is decorated with high mountains, lush fields and streams. I know why Vermont’s known for tree-huggers. There’s a lot to hug. If I lived here I’d be crazy paranoid about anything happening to my environment too. It’s really something.

Our hotel overlooks Lake Champlain. We’re off to dig our binoculars from the Clampett mess and search for Champ, the “sea monster”. That’s the whole reason I booked this particular room. Priorities man, it’s all about priorities.

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