Hello from the White Mountains...
Well, this is my last night on “vacation” in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (Lincoln, New Hampshire to be precise). It started 4 days ago on Sunday but we had to return home on Monday for me to do some work on a software project. That led to an on-line meeting on Tuesday morning. My wife, Jamie, and I were supposed to leave to return to our time-share (time share is the Dracula of the vacation world) condo in the early afternoon. That didn't happen.
Around 10:30 on Tuesday morning, we got a call from a friend who was going to the hospital. Jamie went to the hospital to be with our friend. She didn't get back to the house until 6:00 that evening. They had been in the emergency room all that time waiting for some results and decisions. Finally, they admitted our friend in for the night.
We got back to the condo around 7:30, early enough to go have dinner and then sit on the balcony drinking a bottle of wine we picked up on a trip earlier this year to Lodi, California (side note – Lodi produces great wine without all the hype you find in places like Napa).
Timeshares
Some of you may have picked up on the fact that this is a time share unit. Before I go any further, if any of you are thinking of going down the road of “buying a week” (or buying vacation points...the current scam they use to get you to pay too much up front for vacations)...DON'T!!!!! Sure the condo is nice (and the newer ones are even nicer) but you end up trying to schedule around this week you purchased (as it sucks the lifeblood out of you and all your loved ones). Or you try to trade it for someplace else using one of the brokerage groups and pray they have something in a place you might want to go...at a time you can go. The new points system is a little better in that you are not tied to a certain week but the cost is more and I don't see a decent return on your money (unless you plan on living longer than Methuselah and have lots of time to travel).
If you do decide to go on one of the free weekends and listen to the sales pitch, be sure and wear a strand of braided garlic bulbs around your neck...a carry a hand mirror, the sales staff hate that they have no reflections as they tell you about the wonders of time-share ownership
Entertainment
We were not at a loss for entertainment. Our balcony overlooked the tennis courts. Tennis seems to be the one sport that everyone feels they can do and do well. Look at it, how hard can it be to hit the ball and keep in that big green area. I took lessons in college and know a little about the game...I know it's not one I do well, and it's hard. For some reason our fellow time-share prisoners think that if you can hit a baseball or play badminton, then you can play tennis. You what what happens when a baseball player hits a tennis ball with a tennis racket...it flies over the fence like a cleanly hit fast ball in a baseball stadium. And a tennis ball tends to go lots higher that a badminton shuttlecock.
But they did prove to be very entertaining every evening...but I am sure the wine helped as well.
Food
My real passion on vacation is food., new food in new places. This trip did allow for some excellent food finds.
I'll start with my favorite place found on this trip (and I place it in my all time top 10). The Gypsy Diner is an eclectic little place, with a full bar, a small dining room, a deck for those evenings when you want to be outdoors, and did I mention an excellent chef. The food was some of the best I have had. We started with drinks. Jamie had a gin and tonic and I had a Bloody Gypsy (a very spicy Bloody Mary...the way they are supposed to be). We shared a Mezza Platter (olives, feta cheese, hummus and baba ganouche with grilled pita bread). I followed that with duck confit tacos (also on the appetizer menu). I don't get duck very often so I am very picky. It was excellent. Jamie had the special for the day...a salad with marinated and grilled chicken. She doesn't remember it's name (got to get her to take notes) but it was great. She brought half of it back to the condo and we had it as a snack this afternoon and it was even better.
Breakfast this week has been a real treat. I look upon the frying of an egg as an art. Making sure it's not cooked too little or too long is something you learn usually standing next to your mother or grandmother, as she cooks them for you. This being a tourist town, there are plenty of places to eat breakfast, and there are lots of cooks who would make their mothers and grandmothers proud. My favorite is Peg's on the main drag in North Woodstock, New Hampshire. It's only about a 10 minute drive from where we were staying and for 7 bucks you get three eggs, your choice of bacon or sausage, another choice of potatoes or corned beef hash, a short stack of pancakes and toast. Wash that down with a cup of coffee and your good for the entire day. (Tourist Tip – after breakfast, walk a few doors up the street and visit the Curious Cow gift shop being careful not to step on the little dog that has the run of the place. This is the only place I know where you can get a bobble-head moose, a John Deere bank, chopsticks and a mushroom brush, all in the same store).
Cheese
One final place I have to mention; in the small community of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, you have to visit Harman's Cheese and Country Store. The store has been around since 1954 and they started selling cheddar cheese in 1955. They age it at least 2 years. The cheese I bought today was aged for 3 years. We bought two 1 pound blocks of the “Really Aged Cheddar.” It's worth the drive...but they do ship it around the world once you get hooked.
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