Text 15686, 96 rader
Skriven 2008-10-28 15:52:02 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: NE Trip report 2
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Wednesday, bags out at 6:30 am.  The Hilton served the group a buffet,
pretty typical with pancakes, fruit, bacon, sausage, juices, coffee and
cold cereals.  Very easy to tank up if you wanted to.  We tend to go for
scrambled eggs, bacon, juice and coffee.  Snagged some bananas for
later.

The morning started out with a drive into Boston proper.  We picked up
another step-on guide who directed the coach driver around many twisty
and windy streets, all different.  Some of the places were Faneuil Hall
and the Old State house, with a stop at Quincy Market (but before it was
open).  There was a short walking tour through Little Italy, including
the Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung to signal Paul
Revere).  After we rejoined the coach, we went to Gloucester for a
lobster bake.  I don't know why they call it a lobster bake, because the
lobsters, potatoes and corn were all steamed on a monster steamer which
was at least six feet across.  Lunch started with a good thick New
England Clam Chowder before moving on to the lobsters and stuff.  For
those who did not want lobster, roast chicken was offered.  Perhaps two
or three people out of the group of 35 had chicken, but there were a few
afterwards who announced that they did not really care for the steamed
lobster. These lobsters were perhaps 1 1/4 pound or so.  I think that he
cooked about 50 and a few of us had extras:-}}

That evening was at a hotel near the ocean, the Ogunquit River
Plantation.  Officially, dinner was not provided but the tour guide
ordered boxes of pizza for the group.  Decent tasting, and sufficient
given the large lunch.

Thursday we got to sleep in -- bags out at 8 am.  The hotel had a
"continental breakfast", which meant containers of dry cereal, muffins,
toast, English muffins, and the usual waffle machine.  This place had a
guy who was very protective of the waffle machine and would *NOT* let
you do your own.  We grazed on cereal, fruit, juice and coffee.  They
cut their bananas into sections, which prevented the sneaking one away
for later.

The day's trip took us into the White Mountains and to North Conway NH.
We had lunch at a place called the Red Jacket Inn.  It was quite nice.
Meals had been selected ahead of time from about four choices.  Both
Gail and I chose the stuffed haddock.  It was a moderate piece, about
4x4 inches and with a shrimp/lobster stuffing on or under it.  Very nice
lunch sized portion.  Sides were a salad, rolls, steamed squash and
carrots and a rice pilaf.  A cookie/brownie finished the meal.  After
lunch we continued into the White Mountains along the Kancamagus
Highway, climbing to 2600 feet at the pass.  On the other side of the
pass, we ended up in Lincoln NH.  It was a very colorful trip and we
took a lot of pictures.  In Lincoln, we were on our own for dinner.  The
coach took some people to an Italian restaurant -- touted as being
pretty good but with dinner entrees in the $14-25 price range.  We were
still satisfied from a big lunch and so opted instead to walk to a
little hole in the wall place called Bob's Beef BBQ. There we had a pit
beef sandwich, onion rings and coke for a total of about $15 for the two
of us.

Friday started with bags out at 7:45 and the same sort of minimal
continental breakfast as Thursday.  We were driven to the Franconia
Notch state park.  The Franconia Notch Gorge is a very narrow and fast
stream cut into a gorge that is as much as 90 feet tall at places.  They
have wooden walkways along the sides.  Total trip is perhaps a mile or
two, with 100+ steps.  We opted out of going all the way and went only
up to the beginning of the trail.  Even so, it was still a worthwhile
view.  Afterwards, the coach took us to Cannon Mountain.  Here we took
an aerial tram which rose from 1900 feet at the base to 4180 feet at the
summit.  In the winter time, it is a ski resort.  It had already snowed
at the summit, but there was no evidence of it remaining.  The wind
outside was quite strong.

After coming down from the mountain, we traveled on to the grand Mt.
Washington Hotel.  This is a very large and luxurious place -- emphasis
on grand.  If you can recall the hotel in the old movie "The Shining",
it was on that style.  We had lunch there in the secondary dining room.
It was a set buffet, but with very well prepared dishes.  Our group was
the only one there -- and in fact the main dining room was empty.  The
hotel was obviously occupied but perhaps they have other places for
residents to eat lunch.  There was a menu for dinner posted.  Entrees
were $25 up, with $8 or so for soups, appetizers and sides.  The lunch
buffet put before us had breads, cold cuts, a variety of salads and then
four hot dishes.  The hot dishes were some sort of chicken, a roast pork
with apples, baked halibut and a vegetarian lasagna.  At the end of the
line a server was dishing out bowls of potato leek soup and then later
clam chowder.  All of the food we tried was excellent.  The desserts
were displayed on a separate table.  There were at least eight to twelve
items, mostly chocolate in some form.  I had a sample of a cheesecake
and a few other half servings -- all were very good.  After lunch, we
had a walking guided tour of the hotel.  The guide gave us history and
escorted us to various public rooms, such as the "bowling alley" where
the speak easy had been during prohibition.  Finally, we left and
entered into Vermont where we stayed at a Best Western in Waterbury, VT.
For dinner, they put out a tray of cold cuts, cheeses and breads plus
chicken noodle soup and brownies/cookies for dessert.

... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 15:53:40, 28 Oct 2007
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