I was awake early again...SURPRISE! I did a bunch of facebooking, and then got my day started.
It was another beautiful day, and Jackson Cross Country has literally miles of trails in their network all around town, so I had decided to take advantage of my stupidly early wakeup times and get a bit more time in on my skis. I think I was buying my trail pass (these I don’t mind buying, since the trails are actually groomed) by 8:45, and I was way up on a hill in Jackson at the parking lot for the “Woodchuck Trails” by 9:00.
The Woodchuck Trails are also easy trails, this time through a pretty flat field. It’s a bigger area here, so the trail loop is longer. These trails have a view of Carter Notch. Because they’re not in the center of town, they’re less busy than the loop I had skied on Monday. And by that, I mean I saw a grand total of 4 other people using them in the time I was there. The weather was perfect, the conditions were great, and the views were stunning. I would drive the 4 hours round trip just to spend a little time skiing here, as a day trip.
It was another beautiful day, and Jackson Cross Country has literally miles of trails in their network all around town, so I had decided to take advantage of my stupidly early wakeup times and get a bit more time in on my skis. I think I was buying my trail pass (these I don’t mind buying, since the trails are actually groomed) by 8:45, and I was way up on a hill in Jackson at the parking lot for the “Woodchuck Trails” by 9:00.
The Woodchuck Trails are also easy trails, this time through a pretty flat field. It’s a bigger area here, so the trail loop is longer. These trails have a view of Carter Notch. Because they’re not in the center of town, they’re less busy than the loop I had skied on Monday. And by that, I mean I saw a grand total of 4 other people using them in the time I was there. The weather was perfect, the conditions were great, and the views were stunning. I would drive the 4 hours round trip just to spend a little time skiing here, as a day trip.
Once I’d finished my ski loop, I headed back to the car and found that my in-laws were already halfway to Conway. So I headed back to the resort, woke up Nick, and we cleaned up a bit. Kim and John would be spending the night.
Kim and John got to the resort before 11:30. We visited for a bit and then decided we were all in need of lunch, so we walked over to the Met. We got a bunch of fancy sandwiches and hot beverages (thanksgiving sandwich with a hot caramel cider for me), and brought them back to the resort to eat.
After eating, we sat around chatting some more. Eventually Kim and I went outside to see the train come in. And then we went to the outlets (both LL Bean and Settler’s Green for the localish) for a bit of shopping.
NH is a sales tax free state. As such, our outlet malls are a true destination. I usually have to pay various outlets a visit on the weekends or holidays, so it was really nice to be able to visit midweek. We hit a select few stores, probably most importantly our second favorite cupcake place in the state: White Mountain Cupcakery. They’re no Cake Fairy, but they were on Cake Wars or something on the Food Network so...they’re pretty good.
Shopping done, it was time to figure out dinner. This is always a bit more of a process with the in-laws in tow. Add in the fact that it was midweek and a lot of restaurants were closed midweek and we still hadn’t finalized a decision as we got back in my car.
Thankfully, as we headed out of the Settler’s Green parking lot, Kim announced she wanted to go to Sea Dog. Ok, we have a decision!
Sea Dog seems to be a small brewery restaurant chain. I’d never been, and frankly, I associate a place with that name with the ocean, not the mountains but...here we go.
Dinner was good. They were a bit short-staffed in the kitchen; their head chef had gotten in an accident on his way to work, so a few things were off-limits for the evening on the already kind of limited menu, but we all found something to eat, and we all liked our meals. I had a burger, Nick and Kim had fish and chips, and John had a cheesesteak. And of course the boys had beers. We all were happy with our meals, and despite being short on kitchen staff, service was still efficient. I struggled a bit, however, with the fact that this place is a restaurant and brewery now. The last time I was in this very same storefront, I was a teenager, and it was an Aeropostale outlet. And by that I mean, it was a “store” filled with folding tables, covered in boxes of clothes. You could get some epic deals (sweatshirts for $3), if you had the patience to sort through those boxes.
Once we finished dinner, we headed back to the resort. We visited and played a few rounds of Scrabble Slam (I recommend it...it’s cheap and fun and great for short attention spans). It was a nice evening, and the latest night I’ve had in months! I think we went to bed a little after 10.
NH is a sales tax free state. As such, our outlet malls are a true destination. I usually have to pay various outlets a visit on the weekends or holidays, so it was really nice to be able to visit midweek. We hit a select few stores, probably most importantly our second favorite cupcake place in the state: White Mountain Cupcakery. They’re no Cake Fairy, but they were on Cake Wars or something on the Food Network so...they’re pretty good.
Shopping done, it was time to figure out dinner. This is always a bit more of a process with the in-laws in tow. Add in the fact that it was midweek and a lot of restaurants were closed midweek and we still hadn’t finalized a decision as we got back in my car.
Thankfully, as we headed out of the Settler’s Green parking lot, Kim announced she wanted to go to Sea Dog. Ok, we have a decision!
Sea Dog seems to be a small brewery restaurant chain. I’d never been, and frankly, I associate a place with that name with the ocean, not the mountains but...here we go.
Dinner was good. They were a bit short-staffed in the kitchen; their head chef had gotten in an accident on his way to work, so a few things were off-limits for the evening on the already kind of limited menu, but we all found something to eat, and we all liked our meals. I had a burger, Nick and Kim had fish and chips, and John had a cheesesteak. And of course the boys had beers. We all were happy with our meals, and despite being short on kitchen staff, service was still efficient. I struggled a bit, however, with the fact that this place is a restaurant and brewery now. The last time I was in this very same storefront, I was a teenager, and it was an Aeropostale outlet. And by that I mean, it was a “store” filled with folding tables, covered in boxes of clothes. You could get some epic deals (sweatshirts for $3), if you had the patience to sort through those boxes.
Once we finished dinner, we headed back to the resort. We visited and played a few rounds of Scrabble Slam (I recommend it...it’s cheap and fun and great for short attention spans). It was a nice evening, and the latest night I’ve had in months! I think we went to bed a little after 10.
I think I've been cross country skiing exactly once in my life. Granted, I wasn't really on a trail, but on a municipal golf course that they opened for skiers in the winter, but it was just so boring. And hard work.
ReplyDelete(I've been downhill skiing for a total of 4 days. Water skiing is my favorite type of skiing.)
I've never water skied. My mom grew up downhill skiing, back in the days of $35 season passes, so she tried to get us into downhill skiing. I just wasn't a fan. Cross country definitely is exercise, but it does feel less like work when there's good scenery, and once a skiing rhythm is established.
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