A Great New Hampshire Long Weekend

In case you missed it on Instagram I spent the past three days in New Hampshire truly admiring everything New England has to offer.  I was only in the Granite state for 72-hours but I made sure I made the most of it – hiking, biking, waterskiing, and most importantly spending time with my family! If you live in the Northeast you will know we have had a bit of a heatwave so instead of sweaters and fall foliage I opted for tank tops and time in the water! 

I flew up to New Hampshire Thursday after work and on Friday morning after enjoying some coffee and gorgeous scenery we hiked up Mt. Kearsarge.  There are a few ways up and to vary the exercise we hiked up the steep way – see the massive boulders below – and traveled down the more gradual slope.  After the hike we worked up quite an appetite so we had incredible homemade blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup at the Foothills Restaurant  (they serve breakfast until 2pm) and then switched our hiking clothes for biking ones and went on a pretty 18-mile ride. Take a look: 

After the bike ride we cleaned up and enjoyed a quick drink by the fire at the house before heading out to meet my grandparents for dinner.  We had an AMAZING five-course, prix-fixe meal at Oak & Grain located at the Inn at Pleasant Lake and it was a joy to celebrate both my grandfather and my birthday’s as we are both September babies.  I brought my DSLR to dinner and got a bunch of amazing shots of the incredible food, my outfit, and the Inn which will have its own blog post coming soon but here’s a small preview: 

When we realized Saturday was going to be the nicest day of the weekend we planned to make that the boat day.  It was only a quick drive to Lake Sunapee (which you have seen here) and we boarded the speed boat for a gorgeous four hours on the lake.  I am sure I sounded like a broken record remarking how gorgeous it was every twenty minutes but for the end of the September I was expecting to be in a windbreaker, not a bikini soaking up 80 degree sunshine but the change was so lovely even if the warm weather meant the foliage isn’t quite ready.  Both before and after lunch my Dad and I took turns waterskiing on the lake which was almost crystal smooth (and I promise I was having a great time even if I’m grimacing in the photos below!). 

Saturday night we had another great dinner with my grandparents and then went to a performance of the North Country Chordsmen performing barbershop style signing which wasn’t really up my ally but it was definitely an experience!  Sunday I had to fly back to New York but to make the most of every moment we got up early and went on a lovely 22-mile bike ride on the gorgeous rail trail that stretches from Concord to Lake Sunapee. 

Have you ever been to New Hampshire?