like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream,
like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water,
most of all like golden eternities of past childhood or past manhood
and all the living and the dying and the heartbreak that went on a million years ago
and the clouds as they pass overhead seem to testify to this feeling.
//Jack Kerouac
My Dad and Step-Mom purchased a beautiful post and beam log cabin in Upstate Vermont almost a year ago now. Over the past year I have been able to go up and visit three times, the most recent being the last full weekend in October. It is almost a four hour drive, and is located in a very remote and seemingly uninhabited region of the State- the White Mountains. With a view of Mt. Washington straight off their back deck, it really is a secluded and beautiful place to go to relax and unwind. With nothing but the woods and nature and mountains surrounding you, you can't help but breathe in the fresh air and feel calm and rejuvenated. I am an ocean girl at heart, but there definitely is still something about the woods and the wild that does something good for the soul. We decided to make a 'couples weekend' out of it, bringing along my Brother and his girlfriend Lindsay, along with my brothers best friend Kevin and his girlfriend Alisa who have also become like family to us over the last almost decade. We all get along so well as a group, and really all have the same sense of humor which has led to an ever growing repertoire of inside jokes and stories. It's constant fun and laughter when we are together, really what more could you ask for? Being my usual planner self, and upon the request of the others, I made up another little "itinerary" for the weekend with some ideas of what we could do. My intent is never to STICK to the itinerary, or be a cruise director, but to just have ideas laid out and ready depending on how we feel or what we feel like doing. I printed it out on nice card stock paper so that we could bring it with us and hang it on the bulletin board in the main entryway of the cabin. That way, we could leave it there and other people who stay can get ideas from it as well.
Friday after work I headed up to Mass to pick up Nick for the long and uneventful drive up to the North Woods. The drive is basically a straight line up 91 and if you are driving at night, there really isn't much to see! It is a very pretty drive during the day, but if you are driving at night it can be pretty boring and hard to stay awake and attentive.
We made it though! And it was all pretty standard until we were just about to turn onto my Dad and Step Mom's street. We saw something in the road that appeared to be eating something else, and to our surprise, it was a HUGE white owl! I hadn't seen an owl in the wild in so long, not since being in Maine as a child, so it was really cool and a rather exciting way to end a long drive. It was hard to get a good picture but you can kind of see him (I am presuming it's a boy) in the photos below before he took off into the night.
We headed downstairs to my Dads "man-cave", complete with a big beautiful wooden bar for some more cocktails and country pandora station blasting over the tv. It was great to just all be in each others company laughing and telling stories and sipping our drinks. We don't get to see my Dad too often so it was nice to be there with him as he manned the bar, he was in his glory!
Father and son chatting about the complexities of scotch.
After a couple hours we were all tired, so it was time to call it a night and head to bed to be rested up for a big day on Saturday. Dad and Leann have dubbed the house the "Lunenburg Baby"- check out those beams and all of the gorgeous woodwork! Goodnight house.
We slept in the loft and although waking up is very BRIGHT, as the sun is shining right in your face over the horizon, it is so cozy and beautiful that you really don't mind being awoken at the crack of dawn. You are looking directly out a large window to the beautiful morning view of the foggy mountains.
Everyone awoke slowly, as the effects of the previous night had hit some harder than others, but sooner or later we were all up and at em for a day of fun and adventure. Coffees were made and we each took turns showering and getting ready.
Once everyone was ready, we headed out the door and over the border into New Hampshire to the "bustling" town of Littleton. It's a really quaint and cute town that doesn't have an abundance to offer, but what it does have is really good and just enough! Our first stop was breakfast as we were all starving after not really having eaten dinner the night before. The Littleton Diner is such a classic diner that I had been to both times prior and wanted to take the rest of the group who hadn't been. In mine and Lindsay's opinions, they have the best buttermilk pancakes we have ever eaten, complete with the real Vermont maple syrup. Their hash is also to die for!
Next up we just decided to explore the downtown area of Littleton and do some window and antique shopping down Main Street. They have tons of consignment and antique stores, you can find lots of good scores and old/vintage pieces. The old masonic temple is now a huge antique store loaded with tons of furniture and housewares. There is so much to look at it feels like you are in a maze.
A peak down the street to the Schilling Brewery and grist mill where we would be heading to later on! Such a pretty area.
Best buds! Mike and Kevin have been great friends from high school, through college and into adulthood. They are "lifers" for sure.
After a couple hours of wandering and shopping, it was time for a snack and a beer! We headed down to the river to the Schilling brewery which we had found on our previous trip in May. It is a small micro brewery in a renovated mill building right on the river. They did an amazing job in the restoration and the building looks beautiful. Even better, they serve and make their own great beer!
They use these really cute and hand made flight boards to deliver their beers. And those little mini goblets are too cute for words. Linds and I are dying to find some somewhere. It's also nice that they allow you to pick different beers to taste to figure of what you like! I am not much of a beer connoisseur, as you can see by my all-light options.
Let the taste testing begin! Mike was finally starting to feel a little better at this point, but was still holding on to his water for dear life.
As soon as our waitress read the special pizza of the day, we were sold! A white pizza with bacon, green apples, chicken, spinach, maple syrup and honey. It was DELISH! A great combination of flavors.
Right out back from schilling is a long and beautiful wooden covered bridge than spans across the entire river. Its a great walking and biking path for anyone staying in town, and leads down to a trail that snakes along the river. It is a great spot for pictures so we had to go and check it out.
We did a bunch of different combinations of the couples and groups, they came out really nice! It's such a cool spot with great light and architecture.
That boy I tell ya... so wise! But he makes me laugh, everyday.
We crossed over the bridge and were on the other side looking back towards the brewery, which gave us an entirely different view. Pumpkin carvings were lining the river gearing up for the harvest festival later on that day. There was also a large rock on the river that you could get down onto. Kind of slippery and dangerous, but we decided to live on the edge and go for it!
Mike was next to join...
And then, just before leaving- more puppies. Three to be exact. ADORABLE.
Back over the bridge to start our journey back to the cabin.
On the drive into town earlier that day, we had passed a horse farm that looked pretty and I really wanted to stop and take pictures but we were so hungry for breakfast we just drove past it. On the way home though, we made sure to stop so I could get some pictures of the pretty ponies!
We made another couple photo op stops as well, at the factory and dam by the river, and a pretty open field more towards the cabin. There really is gorgeous scenes pretty much everywhere you look up there.
Back at the cabin, we just relaxed and hung out for a bit and decided to take a little walk around the property and nearby path to do a little more exploring in the woods.
Everyone was SO excited for the nature walk, I could hardly hold them back.
Nature is beautiful!
We all were tired so we rested up for a bit and Leann made a nice lasagna and salad for dinner while we simultaneously, to my upmost opposition, watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I absolutely hate that movie in that I think it is the scariest of them all. Hey, it could happen!! After dinner we decided to head back into Littleton to check out the Harvest festival! There was activities for kids, and hundreds of jack-o-lantersn lining the bridge and along the river. How they got them out there and kept them lit, I have no idea! It was really cool though to see them scattered all along the river. Sadly we were too late for the headless horseman carriage rides, we forgot that the town pretty much shuts down by 8pm.
We headed back to the cabin shortly after, and after watching SNL it was time to say goodnight as we were all wiped.
Sunday morning Nick and I hit the grocery early, and helped my Dad make a nice big home made breakfast for everyone. Dad made the eggs and bacon, and Nick and I made sweet potato medallions, toast, and of course Mimosas for all! It was really yummy and a great way to start the day. Nothing like waking up to the smell of bacon cooking on the griddle.
We had originally planned on driving up the Mt. Washington Auto Road that day as it was expected to still be open through that weekend. I checked the website that morning and unfortunately, they decided to close it on Friday due to weather conditions at the peak. We missed it by TWO days! Oh well, it will give us something to do next year! Instead we just hung around the house and took our time packing up and cleaning.
We couldn't leave without a few more cheesy FANTASTIC group photos! Prom pose anyone?
Such a fun weekend with this group- we definitely did NOT want to leave and head back to the real world. We always say that a day in between Saturday and Sunday would be amazing... we could call it Funday!
We ended up breaking up the trip home with a stop at Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT. They have some great fall beers out right now and a bunch of us tried some flights and got a bite to eat before going home for Sunday dinner.
We ended the day back at our house for Sunday night dinner with the family- brisket in our new smoker! It was really good. We also carved pumpkins but that will be part of my next post on halloween! We had a GREAT weekend and can't wait to get back! It was so tough going back to work on Monday after such a relaxing and nice time in the mountains. Thanks to Dad and leann for hosting us all, we had a blast!
