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Posts Tagged ‘Family Outing’

Believe in Books, The Trails at Theater in the Woods

Posted in Hikes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 10, 2014| 1 Comment »

Alex and I have made two trips to the Believe in Books Literacy Foundations trail network over the last month. It is an excellent area to explore if you only have an hour or two, just 10 minutes north of North Conway Village.

100 Acre Wood Trail System

100 Acre Wood Trail System

On our first excursion with our friends Kaelan & Heather we wandered around without referring to the map and basically took “Polar Path” to “Railroad Alley” and “Winnie’s Wandering”, right down to a beautiful little swimming hole on the East Branch River. The highlight for the boys was seeing a train from the Conway Scenic Railroad cross the trestle.

Don't forget to grab a map!

Don’t forget to grab a map!

Views of Cathedral Ledge in the distance

Views of Cathedral Ledge in the distance

This is where the "North Pole" is for the famed Polar Express!

This is where the “North Pole” is for the famed Polar Express!

A small reservoir

A small reservoir

Skipping rocks and exploring

Skipping rocks and exploring

Well signed trails

Well signed trails

Choo Choo

Choo Choo

On our way out another hiker told us of the “Storybook Trail”, and while we were out of time for this day I brought Alex back a week later so we could check it out. This short half mile trail has stations every 100 feet or so with the next page of a story. It makes for a fun interactive hike!

This week's book "Dragons Love Tacos"

This week’s book “Dragons Love Tacos”

This place is another great family destination in Mount Washington Valley. You should check it out!

From their website:

100 ACRE WOOD TRAIL SYSTEM
Hours: Generally 9am-4pm • Trail passes are $3 per car load for the day, An annual pass is $50 and can be purchased at the Foundation office. (The 100 Acre Wood Trail System is open when the entrance gate is open)
1/2 Mile Storybook Trail:
“Dragons Love Tacos” by Adam Rubin
TRAIL CONDITIONS: Perfect Fall Conditions!
COMMENTS: Walk, bike or run. Dogs are Welcome on a leash but please clean up after them!

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Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , , , on July 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Alex loves farms, and Michelle & I love history, so it was about time for us to visit the nearby Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm this past weekend. Walking distance from the idyllic village of Tamworth, NH this is an excellent place to spend a half-day with a toddler!

The Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm

The Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm

“The Remick family settled in Tamworth over 200 years ago, and six generations of the same family worked the farm. Each generation prospered and was active in the town’s history. Before his death in 1993, Dr. Edwin Crafts Remick created a foundation to preserve his home, farm, and family history in a way that the public could enjoy. The Remick family’s 200 year history in Tamworth gives us all a glimpse into how people worked and played in this historic landscape.” – Remick’s Website

We could feel the history in well preserved rooms as we read interpretative information and marveled at what life must have been like in the 1800’s.

The Recreation Room

The Recreation Room

One of a few kitchens

One of a few kitchens

My favorite room was the dining area, and while researching this post I discovered that they run a few “Hearthside” dinners every year. Next one is October 4th, perhaps Michelle & I will find a sitter!

Amazing dining area

Amazing dining area

Once we had soaked up as much info as we could inside we headed out to explore the grounds.

Lots to see!

Lots to see!

What kid doesn't want to sit on this?

What kid doesn’t want to sit on this?

Great area for picnics & parties

Great area for picnics & parties

iPhone Panaroma... great view of Chocurua from here.

iPhone Panaroma… great view of Chocurua from here.

After visiting the historic barn & milking house our stomachs were growling so we headed down to the village and discovered the tres hip “Tamworth Lyceum“. This was the perfect place to grab some sandwiches after spending the morning on the farm. Best grilled cheese I have ever had, and some great chicken & pesto panini’s were enjoyed on their back porch.

Photo courtesy of Yelp

Photo courtesy of Yelp

While driving home Michelle and I talked about how great it is to live so close to so many great little villages worth spending a day with Alex at. There’s a lot more to Tamworth than I had thought and we’ll be heading back there soon for the River Walk and some of the cool village events. A trip to the Barnstormers Theater is also high on the bucket list, stay tuned!

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Maine Mountain Division Bike Trail

Posted in Biking, Trip Reports, tagged , , , , on September 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A last minute cancellation of some work plans today allowed me to take advantage of the perfect pre-Fall weather and get the whole family out for a bike ride. I’d been wanting to show my wife the Maine Mountain Bike Trail after riding it this past May with Alex so we headed over to Fryeburg, ME. After running into our good friend Marty Basch in the parking lot at the visitor center we hit the trail with Alex in tow behind my bike. A short stop at a small pond alongside the trail allowed us to spot a couple Sun Turtles basking in the September sun.  A casual 35 minutes from leaving the car we had reached the end of the 4 mile trail. Alex stretched his legs, investigated a Wooly Caterpillar (no touching, they can sting), and had a quick diaper change and snack. During this time I switched over the trailer to Michelle’s bike for her inaugural run. I had posted a review of this Burley Bee Bike Trailer back in June and had mentioned I wanted to order an extra hitch. Since it took less than 5 minutes to move the hitch over to her bike I’m not so concerned about getting an extra hitch down now!

Previously I had made a loop ride by heading out on Route 113 and going through Fryeburg Village. Today we opted to return via the quiet bike path as Michelle got used to towing the trailer.

"Paved Paradise" - Marty Basch

“Paved Paradise” – Marty Basch

Crusin'

Crusin’

We got back to the car in one hour and 17 minutes. After stopping into the quaint visitor center (free local farm apples inside!) we headed over to one of our favorite watering holes, the 302 West Smokehouse and Tavern. This place has some of the nicest outdoor seating in the greater Mount Washington Valley, and since we know our outdoor dining days are quickly coming to an end we took advantage of the sunny, breezy, 65 degree day to sit outside and snack on some nachos and sliders while Alex got his exercise dancing up a storm on the empty deck while listening to the cheers of a packed pub watching the Patriots game inside. Perfect day!

7.9mi, 1:18hr, Avg 6.1mph, Max 20mph

7.9mi, 1:18hr, Avg 6.1mph, Max 20mph

Our sites are set on the Franconia Notch Bike Path in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that adventure!

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Sherman Farms Maize, and the coming of Fall

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged on October 21, 2012| 1 Comment »

Last weekend we visited Sherman Farm in our hometown to enjoy the regionally famous “Maize”. I intended to write about the visit sooner, but the following Monday we laid our dog of 14 years, Bear, to rest after a sudden decline in his health.

Bear 10/98 – 10/15/2012

It’s been a hard week adjusting to a missing companion that’s been with me for almost half my life. I’ve quickly discovered though he is still very much with me and I’m glad he is at peace. Almost a week later, the happy events of today have spurred me to share this post!

The Maize, at Sherman Farm

Every year this maze, cleverly spelled “maize”, makes the front page of the Conway Daily Sun, and for good reason. This 12 acre maze is nothing short of amazing with its intricate design that changes yearly. After paying the $9 admission fee for both Michelle and I (children under 2 are free) we headed right over to the “The Maize” entrance and listened while an employee gave everyone entering a quick briefing.

Look out for corn cops!

Before we entered the confusing labyrinth I snapped a shot of the “map” thinking it might help…

Easy enough

Alex had just woken up, and was still getting over a bit of a cold so he wasn’t very excited during the adventure.

Alex and Daddy

Mommy and Alex

About half way through the maze we climbed a central wooden tower of sorts that provided a good few of the maze and the nearby pumpkin patch that fair goer’s could visit on a hay ride to choose their own pumpkin.

Pumpkin Patch

There were quite a few other smaller activities about, but Alex was too young for most of them and we were too old for all of them… except maybe the giant jumping pillow…The giant vats of corn kennels that kids could play in seemed to be a close favorite to the jumping pillow.

Activities galore!

Since Alex wasn’t feeling his usual spunky self we decided to can the pumpkin hayride and grabbed a huge bag of kettle corn before heading back to the car. I’m sure we’ll make an annual visit to The Maize every year, and I can’t wait till he’s big enough to enjoy it. While we didn’t get our pumpkins from Sherman Farm this year, we did get out today to Schartners Farm since Michelle had a photo op she wanted to get after Grammie had given us Alex’s Halloween costume.

Alex… if you are reading this many years from now… this was your mother’s idea.

My little pumpkin

Fall is one of my favorite times of year for adventure, 2nd only to winter. Small New England towns always seem to have cool things to do during the Fall. Does your town have anything like this? What do you do with your kids to celebrate the harvest and changing of the season?

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