We left at rush hour and arrived at a Hampton Inn around 10:30 pm, about 30 minutes from the resort. We have gotten very good at rousting the kids from sleep in the car late at night and transferring them quickly to another bed. The next morning the kids were in the pool by 7:00 am (as usual) and then we went the last leg, staying two nights on the hotel property.
The Mount Washington Hotel is a grand style hotel at the foot of Mount Washington, the highest mountain in the east at a less-than-imposing 6,288 feet, and is the anchor of the Bretton Woods ski area. Because rooms at the hotel cost one limb per night (the reason most people stay no more than 4 nights), we rented one of the ski condos.
The hotel has been very successful at creating a year-round resort. There is hiking in the Presidential Mountain range (I hear that Washington was one of our presidents), the cog railway can take a family of 5 to the top of Mount Washington for the cost of another limb (limiting your stay at the hotel to maximum of 3 nights), there is a "canopy tour" (otherwise known as a "zip line", or "ride"), golf, frisbee golf (although how you hit those discs with the clubs is beyond me), the ski lift is open and you can have lunch at the "top of the quad", the pool is open in the fitness center and the hotel, or you can just go up to the hotel and sit on the porch drinking iced tea for a finger a piece (the more you drinks you order, the more difficult it is to hold the glass).
Although the hotel was booked for the weekend with 4 weddings (did someone say "economic downturn"?), the condos around the ski resort were relatively quiet...which was nice.
We did take the quad to the top of Bretton Woods ski area and had lunch (I had not charged the camera battery so I don't have pictures from up there). Lev decided to run down the mountain and off he went like Forrest Gump, while I walked down with Molloy waving "hi" to all the people going up (canopy tourists, mountain bikers with their bikes, or day-trippers going up for lunch or the view). I don't think any of them even saw me; just Molloy waving adorably. When Molloy saw a chair full of canopy tourists with their helmets on she said, "Look, dad...workers." Kerrie and Daniel took the chair back down.
Although the boys were too light to take the canopy tour (we would not have signed them up for the 3.5 hour tour, but for a lesser price you can also ride the last run 3 times for $25, which should be a clue as to how much the full tour is), they did have a smaller version in a playground. When we put Molloy on it, she gave us a Wilhelm Scream to remember (look it up). I have video of it here, but it is not her first ride and the scream is not as intense as the first one.
We had lunch at the hotel, splitting half a sandwich 5 ways so we would have enough money for gas to get home...although we could not deprive Kerrie of a glass of wine. We put the kids at a separate table and tried to have a quiet lunch, but the wait staff was too enamored with the kids and their great behavior (they really were behaving wonderfully...maybe we should not have given them a taste of the good life). And it was on this day that the hotel learned not to give children cranberry juice as the glass was spilled onto the floor...or should I be more specific...carpet. Fearful we would be asked to wash dishes for a year to pay for it, we escaped down into the basement of the hotel where the kids played in the arcade (one of the rare times we would give them money to do so.)
In front of the hotel they had a life-size chess set and the boys played chess with Molloy standing in for the white king until she wandered off. (Is that a forfeit? Can someone check the rule book on that, please?)
Chess Bored
Chess Bored
At some time on Monday afternoon, we packed everything up and started the long march home. Traffic was not unreasonable and I would say it was a successful family weekend.
VIDEO
VIDEO
