Visiting the “North Country”

Excluding a bachelor party in Manchester and a night out on the town of Nashua, each of my trips to New Hampshire have been on account of work. Prior to this trip, I really didn't know anything about NH. For example, did you know that the IMF was signed into existence at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, NH? ...me neither. Despite the border being located only 35 minutes north, all of my preconceptions were based on the state motto, "Live free or DIE," and an old girlfriend. In other words, I didn't hold New Hampshire in very high regard.

Ali and I spent last weekend in the aforementioned Bretton Woods...and loved it! We drove up early Saturday morning so that we'd be sure to have enough time to check-in and find our way to the afternoon's activities. New Hampshire is not a very populated area. According to this, there are 41 more populous states than NH (which leaves a lot of room for trees, mountains, and moose). The winter setting makes for a very scenic drive through the 'shire. Route 93 winds through the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. The drive through Franconia Notch is enough to put anyone in the mood to hug a few trees. In fact, I've been growing a beard ever since arriving in BW. Unfortunately, these photos don't do a good job of capturing scale.

We stayed at the Mount Washington Hotel. The good thing about wifey's travel schedule are the rewards programs. Oh, the rewards.  Because of Ali's Omni status, the room didn't cost us a dime. On the other hand, the hotel cost a lot of dimes to construct: it was opened in 1900 and carried a $1.7M price tag. In an (un)fortunate twist of fate, it was later purchased in 1944 for less than half a million dollars. Ouch. Our room looked out towards Mount Washington and had a great view of the storm that rolled in around dinner time.

By the time the storm closed in on us, Ali and I had already expired the front end of our Zip 'n' Ski package. The zip lines were a lot of fun and gave us even more spectacular views. We never did use the backend of the Zip 'n' Ski. The weather kinda sucked on Sunday morning so we traded up to the Zip 'n' Spa package. Ne refrets here. I'm slowly coming to terms with the reality that I might not be a skier.

Here are two other things that are surprising prominent in New Hampshire: snow mobiles and Subaru's. Did you ever wonder how Subaru stays in business? …New Hampshire. Be sure to check-out the other pictures (link on the left side) from our trip to the North Country.

Side Note: Do you're damn thing, Ray.

Side Note: Congratulation to Ali for winning an iPad at work! Consensus…underwhelming.