There are three "castles" overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee,and you may see them on our cruise. One is haunted, one is deserted and crumbling, and one is overrun with tourists. The tourist one, Castle in the Clouds (orignially known as the less hippie-ish Lucknow), is in Moultonborough, about 20 minutes to a half hour from the Weirs, but it is definitely worth the trip. If it’s a clear day when we start our cruise, you will be able to see the castle from the boat—it has a distinct orange roof that, from a distance, makes it look like a majestic Howard Johnson’s.
Seeing it from afar does not really compare to being there in person, though. When you get there, you have to pay at the gate and then drive a mile or so up a very steep , winding mountain road. It’s a little scary (make sure your brakes work first) but it’s worth it for the views of the lake and Mountains along the way. And, for some reason, my terror of heights doesn't kick in up there. This road is the only way up—the original owner, Thomas Plant, planned it that way, because he wanted it to be difficult for people to visit. When you live at the top of a mountain, you probably don’t want much company. Anyway, when you get the top you can’t even go straight to the castle; you must go first to the carriage house (which is now a snack bar) and take the tram up another series of winding roads.
I first went to Castle in the Clouds when I was six years old or so, but I didn’t really get to know it until college, when I was invited to do an internship with a yuppie freelance journalist who was writing a story about it. She needed someone to go with her up to the oceanside town of Bath, Maine, where the castle’s original owner grew up, and root around in their library to see if we could find out anything new about him or his family. To be honest, what we discovered was pretty bland by any standards (“He might have had an “e” at the end of his last name but dropped it because he didn’t want to sound Canadian! He built a nursing home in Bath where his elderly family members lived! His first wife was a schoolteacher!) but I felt like Nancy Drew in the attic of that old library, digging through old pictures and papers until dark, with the sounds of boat horns and seagulls in the distance.
I am also firmly convinced that I saw a ghost at the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed. I'm not going to tell that story here but I'll be glad to tell you in person.
The “castle” itself isn’t really a castle—Scott says it looks more like an oversized hunting lodge, and I agree that it’s not too grand or gothic; it’s like a really nice house that a B-level celebrity might own, but it's the panoramic views that make it spectacular. Also interesting is the fact that the original owner was a bit off his nut. For example, he had his own coat of arms made (it’s teeny-tiny) and invented all sorts of things for his house, including a central vacuum system, an intercom system, a shower that shoots water from all angles so you don’t have to move to get wet, and (this is the best part) he had a secret room. When I was little they didn’t let people see the secret room at all, which was pure torture ("There's a secret room over there but you can't see it and we're not going to talk about it. Now turn your eyes to the marble fireplace; do you know he had each tile hand-painted in Italy?" ) Things have changed, though--now you can not only see it but walk around in there.
Other fun facts: Thomas Plant died penniless, and one of his cooks bought the castle and let him live there until he died. He divorced his first wife by placing a check for a million dollars on her breakfast plate in the morning and walking out the door without a word--now that's class. And Teddy Roosevelt was a regular visitor (lots of wildlife to shoot around there); he even had his own room, although its' rumored that Teddy is the one who later persuaded him to invest in pork bellies, thus causing him to go broke later in life.
A second castle you can see from the Mount Washington (and this one really is a castle) is Kimball Castle. Kimball Castle has been in various books and on “paranormal” TV shows because it is apparently haunted, though I, believer in ghosts since 1989, , have not seen first hand evidence. The daughter of the original owner—who had based the design on a German castle he had seen from the Rhine—had stated in her will that the castle must never be used for commercial purposes. The original idea was for the town of Gilford to purchase the property and use it as a public park with free admission, but Gilford taxpayers being the wealthy but insufferable cheapskates that they are, (yes, I’m talking about you, Gilford taxpayers! What are you going to do about it?) the town broke its promise.
Anyway, to make a long story short , the town ended up selling some of the property (for commercial purposes) and since then lights have been going on in the castle at odd hours, even though there’s no electricity.
A third castle is known as "Hale Castle" and it's on Sleeper Island, an inhabited island that you can only get to by boat. Not much is known about it. The family of one of my friends in junior high, Kelly, had a cabin there. We used to row past the castle and imagine all sorts of scenarios about it, but we never got up the courage to try to go inside. Just as well; like the secret room, it might be better in my imagination.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
New Hampshire Food, Slimy and Sublime
1. The Fluffernutter:
When I was in second grade, this was my absolute favorite lunch: a big gob of marshmallow fluff on one piece of bread, peanut butter on the other, to make one sweet and sticky sandwich treat. Even better was fluff and peanut butter on ritz crackers--a great snack for when you get home from school.
2. Steamers, or Steamed Clams:
My brother can polish off a whole bowl of steamers in one sitting. You have to pull them out of the shell, pull the edible part out, dip it in drawn butter, and eat. They are slimy and hard to chew, but really good. Two places have great steamers near the Weirs: The Town Docks, which is in Meredith and right on the water, and Sandy Point, in Alton Bay.
3. Fried Clams:
When I worked as a waitress at the now defunct "Colonial House of Pancakes" in the Weirs, the lunch crowd would always order these, and they'd ask, "Do they have the bellies?" I am still not entirely sure what this means, but they were always happy to hear that yes, they did. A good place for fried clams is Sawyer's Dairy Bar or Tamarack restaurant--both of these places have ice cream, indoor/outdoor dining, and are self-serve.
4. Squamscot Soda:
A New Hampshire soda company, they make their own syrup for the sodas, which come in 18 flavors, including my favorites, "Yup" (lemon) and Maple Creme. Strawberry or Fruit Punch are really good, too.
5. Black Moons:
My aunt Joanne, who has many family holiday brunches and dinners at her house, makes these for every single one of them. These are known elsewhere as "whoopie pies," and I think the filling contains lard or Crisco.
7. Coffee Frappes:
This is very much like a milkshake, but thicker, kind of like the consistency of a Wendy's Frosty. Really good ones are made with vanilla ice cream and Autocrat coffee syrup. An "everyday" variation of the coffee frappe is a "coffee milk," which was, of course, Autocrat syrup and milk. My aunt used to trick us for years, though, into thinking that the Kahlua and milks she would drink at weddings were coffee milks.
8. Kellerhaus Waffle and Sundae Bar:
This is a faux-Swiss candy shop (looks like a cuckoo clock) that has been in the Weirs area for ages; they are best known for their ribbon candy ("boys love ribbon candy!") but the reason I am mentioning them here is their weekend waffle bar, where you can put your own toppings on your Belgian waffles. It's actually their ice cream sundae bar transformed for morning use, so you can have caramel, fudge, strawberry, and even sprinkles.
9. Moulton Farm's Apple Cider Donuts:
They have a little stand between Meredith and the Weirs--these are very small but delicious cake donuts.
10. Lobster rolls:
You can't visit New England without having at least one lobster roll--they taste like summer at the ocean. The ones in Maine are the best, of course, but the Town Docks makes a good one, as does Sawyer's and Tamarack's. Tamarack will make one without mayo if you ask.
There are lots of good places to eat in the area and also lots of bad places. Do go to any of the ones I've mentioned here so far, plus Camp in Meredith, Patrick's Pub in Gilford, George's Diner in Meredith, or Church Landing in Meredith. Don't go to the Lobster Pound (in the Weirs, supposed to be terrible). I will post more details about local restaurants in months to come.
When I was in second grade, this was my absolute favorite lunch: a big gob of marshmallow fluff on one piece of bread, peanut butter on the other, to make one sweet and sticky sandwich treat. Even better was fluff and peanut butter on ritz crackers--a great snack for when you get home from school.
2. Steamers, or Steamed Clams:
My brother can polish off a whole bowl of steamers in one sitting. You have to pull them out of the shell, pull the edible part out, dip it in drawn butter, and eat. They are slimy and hard to chew, but really good. Two places have great steamers near the Weirs: The Town Docks, which is in Meredith and right on the water, and Sandy Point, in Alton Bay.
3. Fried Clams:
When I worked as a waitress at the now defunct "Colonial House of Pancakes" in the Weirs, the lunch crowd would always order these, and they'd ask, "Do they have the bellies?" I am still not entirely sure what this means, but they were always happy to hear that yes, they did. A good place for fried clams is Sawyer's Dairy Bar or Tamarack restaurant--both of these places have ice cream, indoor/outdoor dining, and are self-serve.
4. Squamscot Soda:
A New Hampshire soda company, they make their own syrup for the sodas, which come in 18 flavors, including my favorites, "Yup" (lemon) and Maple Creme. Strawberry or Fruit Punch are really good, too.
5. Black Moons:
My aunt Joanne, who has many family holiday brunches and dinners at her house, makes these for every single one of them. These are known elsewhere as "whoopie pies," and I think the filling contains lard or Crisco.
7. Coffee Frappes:
This is very much like a milkshake, but thicker, kind of like the consistency of a Wendy's Frosty. Really good ones are made with vanilla ice cream and Autocrat coffee syrup. An "everyday" variation of the coffee frappe is a "coffee milk," which was, of course, Autocrat syrup and milk. My aunt used to trick us for years, though, into thinking that the Kahlua and milks she would drink at weddings were coffee milks.
8. Kellerhaus Waffle and Sundae Bar:
This is a faux-Swiss candy shop (looks like a cuckoo clock) that has been in the Weirs area for ages; they are best known for their ribbon candy ("boys love ribbon candy!") but the reason I am mentioning them here is their weekend waffle bar, where you can put your own toppings on your Belgian waffles. It's actually their ice cream sundae bar transformed for morning use, so you can have caramel, fudge, strawberry, and even sprinkles.
9. Moulton Farm's Apple Cider Donuts:
They have a little stand between Meredith and the Weirs--these are very small but delicious cake donuts.
10. Lobster rolls:
You can't visit New England without having at least one lobster roll--they taste like summer at the ocean. The ones in Maine are the best, of course, but the Town Docks makes a good one, as does Sawyer's and Tamarack's. Tamarack will make one without mayo if you ask.
There are lots of good places to eat in the area and also lots of bad places. Do go to any of the ones I've mentioned here so far, plus Camp in Meredith, Patrick's Pub in Gilford, George's Diner in Meredith, or Church Landing in Meredith. Don't go to the Lobster Pound (in the Weirs, supposed to be terrible). I will post more details about local restaurants in months to come.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bob, Summer Jobs, and Waterskiing Dogs: The Lakes Region in Literature and Film
1. What About Bob?
None of this 1991 film starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss was filmed here but in a much nicer resort area in Virginia. But my family enjoyed it nonetheless, because of the parallels between psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin and my dad, psychologist Dr. Leo Sandy. Our first boat was a small motorboat named Freudian Slip. Later my dad and Uncle Fred went in on a sailboat together, called Sand and Spice (Fred’s last name is Spicer.) I think this clip really captures the joy of sailing on the lake, even if it isn’t the right lake.
2. Twenty Grand and Other Stories by Rebecca Curtis
You must read this book. I read one of her stories, “Summer, with Twins” in Harper’s several years back and I absolutely loved it. As I was reading it, some of the places in it seemed vaguely familiar. Well, it wasn’t until she published another story in the New Yorker that I realized that she was from Gilford, and went to my small high school, and that she was the little sister of one of my brother’s friends (and she now teaches creative writing at Columbia University). A lot of her stories about women and work, mostly the kind of temporary service jobs available in tourist towns like this. She even has a guide to the area in the back of the book.
3. King of Kong
Mentioned in a previous post, but it’s the newest, so this list would be incomplete without it.
4. The Three Stooges
OK, I’m citing Wikipedia with this one, but apparently, in an episode, Curly said that he was born near Lake Winnipesaukee until he was asked by Larry or Moe to spell it, and then he changed his answer to “Lake Erie.” I can’t find that clip, so here’s my favorite-- “Pie Fight.” If you can’t laugh watching a Senator get a pie in the face, you’re not human.
5. On Golden Pond
Yes, not technically Lake Winnipesaukee—this was filmed on Squam Lake, pretty close by. The director of that film, Ernest Thompson, is a friend of my parents’ and his kids went to my mother’s school until they packed up and moved to L.A. When you get near Squam Lake, everything in Holderness is named after that movie—two bed and breakfasts, a restaurant called “Walter’s Basin,” “Golden Pond Gas and Gulp” (I made that last one up, but I’m not exaggerating that much).
6. The Waterskiing Jack Russell Terrier
Needs no further explanation.
7. Peyton Place
Grace Metalious lived in nearby Gilmanton and was ostracized when the book was published. If you haven’t read Peyton Place, you should read it—it’s a fantastic book, particularly for beach reading. When I taught this in one of my classes my students loved it, and even shared stories of their grandparents reading the book (one student’s grandmother went to buy it and the clerk called her husband to ask if she had his permission). It’s still a pretty scandalous story by today’s standards. Scott read it and didn’t like it, but I don't like his Cat Power records. There's no accounting for taste.
None of this 1991 film starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss was filmed here but in a much nicer resort area in Virginia. But my family enjoyed it nonetheless, because of the parallels between psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin and my dad, psychologist Dr. Leo Sandy. Our first boat was a small motorboat named Freudian Slip. Later my dad and Uncle Fred went in on a sailboat together, called Sand and Spice (Fred’s last name is Spicer.) I think this clip really captures the joy of sailing on the lake, even if it isn’t the right lake.
2. Twenty Grand and Other Stories by Rebecca Curtis
You must read this book. I read one of her stories, “Summer, with Twins” in Harper’s several years back and I absolutely loved it. As I was reading it, some of the places in it seemed vaguely familiar. Well, it wasn’t until she published another story in the New Yorker that I realized that she was from Gilford, and went to my small high school, and that she was the little sister of one of my brother’s friends (and she now teaches creative writing at Columbia University). A lot of her stories about women and work, mostly the kind of temporary service jobs available in tourist towns like this. She even has a guide to the area in the back of the book.
3. King of Kong
Mentioned in a previous post, but it’s the newest, so this list would be incomplete without it.
4. The Three Stooges
OK, I’m citing Wikipedia with this one, but apparently, in an episode, Curly said that he was born near Lake Winnipesaukee until he was asked by Larry or Moe to spell it, and then he changed his answer to “Lake Erie.” I can’t find that clip, so here’s my favorite-- “Pie Fight.” If you can’t laugh watching a Senator get a pie in the face, you’re not human.
5. On Golden Pond
Yes, not technically Lake Winnipesaukee—this was filmed on Squam Lake, pretty close by. The director of that film, Ernest Thompson, is a friend of my parents’ and his kids went to my mother’s school until they packed up and moved to L.A. When you get near Squam Lake, everything in Holderness is named after that movie—two bed and breakfasts, a restaurant called “Walter’s Basin,” “Golden Pond Gas and Gulp” (I made that last one up, but I’m not exaggerating that much).
6. The Waterskiing Jack Russell Terrier
Needs no further explanation.
7. Peyton Place
Grace Metalious lived in nearby Gilmanton and was ostracized when the book was published. If you haven’t read Peyton Place, you should read it—it’s a fantastic book, particularly for beach reading. When I taught this in one of my classes my students loved it, and even shared stories of their grandparents reading the book (one student’s grandmother went to buy it and the clerk called her husband to ask if she had his permission). It’s still a pretty scandalous story by today’s standards. Scott read it and didn’t like it, but I don't like his Cat Power records. There's no accounting for taste.
It's Always 1983 in Weirs Beach
One thing you really need to know about Weirs Beach is that visiting there is like going back in time, to several different eras, none of them after 1985. After my shift at the Dairy Queen, we would all change out of our red and tan shirts into something cute, spray our hair into various immovable claw formations, and head for the Boardwalk in the back of my friend Dana's truck to see if any Massachusetts boys wanted to give us rides on their cigarette boats (they did once. It did not live up to expectations.) I strongly suspect this still happens, because the Dairy Queen is still open and local teenagers do not have all that much to do.
If there are two activities that you can always count on at the Weirs, it's the arcades and the miniature golf (go-Karts are a close third, but more about that in a future post). If you like to do either of these two things, you are in for a rare treat. The Weirs pier itself has three big arcades, and many have some really old games: Handwriting Analysis, the Compatability Tester, and Grandma Fortune Teller.
The area also boasts within two miles "the biggest arcade in the world," Funspot. Yes, being the biggest arcade in the world might be akin to being the biggest roller disco in the world, or the world's biggest supplier of stirrup pants, they take this claim really seriously. They even call the arcade an "arcade museum" because it basically kept all of these old games that no one wanted, that now have kitsch value, like a Playboy pinball game. Someone got a "perfect" Pac Man score there, and a documentary was filmed at Funspot, King of Kong. They have Scott's old favorites, Xybots, and my dad's, Burger Time (though my dad will not go into Funspot to actually play it, as he finds the owner a fascist. Ask him about it. ) And who could forget games like Clowns, Cheeky Mouse, or Elevator Action?
Funspot has a full bowling alley, a cash bingo hall, a bar, a kiddie play room, a pizza parlor, a mini golf course (but to be fair, every business around here has a mini golf course out back), Skee ball, bumper cars, and slot machines (not real--you get tokens). You can have your birthday party or function here for free; you just need to bring ice cream and cake and you're all set! The best part about Funspot is that they used to have this painted double-decker bus that would go back and forth from the pier every hour or so during the day. Sadly, the bus is no longer.
If there are two activities that you can always count on at the Weirs, it's the arcades and the miniature golf (go-Karts are a close third, but more about that in a future post). If you like to do either of these two things, you are in for a rare treat. The Weirs pier itself has three big arcades, and many have some really old games: Handwriting Analysis, the Compatability Tester, and Grandma Fortune Teller.
The area also boasts within two miles "the biggest arcade in the world," Funspot. Yes, being the biggest arcade in the world might be akin to being the biggest roller disco in the world, or the world's biggest supplier of stirrup pants, they take this claim really seriously. They even call the arcade an "arcade museum" because it basically kept all of these old games that no one wanted, that now have kitsch value, like a Playboy pinball game. Someone got a "perfect" Pac Man score there, and a documentary was filmed at Funspot, King of Kong. They have Scott's old favorites, Xybots, and my dad's, Burger Time (though my dad will not go into Funspot to actually play it, as he finds the owner a fascist. Ask him about it. ) And who could forget games like Clowns, Cheeky Mouse, or Elevator Action?
Funspot has a full bowling alley, a cash bingo hall, a bar, a kiddie play room, a pizza parlor, a mini golf course (but to be fair, every business around here has a mini golf course out back), Skee ball, bumper cars, and slot machines (not real--you get tokens). You can have your birthday party or function here for free; you just need to bring ice cream and cake and you're all set! The best part about Funspot is that they used to have this painted double-decker bus that would go back and forth from the pier every hour or so during the day. Sadly, the bus is no longer.
If you are into mini-golf, the Weirs offers several themes, most variants on "America the Beautiful" or "New Hampshire History" or "Golfing in a Volcano," which is in the middle of a waterslide, or"The Joys of Piracy" (Pirate's Cove). The Funspot mini-golf has a little replica of the Mount Washington you can hit balls into. The absolute best mini-golf around is now closed--that one actually had many moving figures and puppets in these diorama-like stages throughout the course. I miss that place so much.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Mount Washington
This is the boat where the wedding will take place. When I was 14, we moved from Massachusetts up to Governor's Island on Lake Winnipesaukee, which has a bridge leading to the mainland. While we didn't live by the shore, I used to spend a lot of time on the beach, and I would always see the Mount Washington go by.
The original Mount Washington was launched in the 1870s and was used as a cruise ship for tourists when Weirs Beach was first starting to establish itself as what Trip Advisor labels " a blue collar resort area." The idea was that Weirs Beach could be a version of the Hamptons or Kennebunkport or Cape Cod for those who lived and worked in the many blue-collar mill towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. My mother vacationed there as a child, too, and very little has changed since then--some of the same arcades, the same boardwalk pier, the same miniature golf courses. The boat is still cruising around the lake, too; the original Mount Washington was later gutted by a fire, but a brand new boat by the same name was created in the early 1940s and restored in 1988.
The Mount Washington itself is 230' long, which means that, for the potentially seasick, it's big enough to absorb any waves or turbulence we might encounter--the lake rarely gets choppy enough to be a problem. What's especially fun about cruising on this boat is that you can see several of the lake's over 250 inhabitable (and inhabited) islands as well as three mountain ranges--the White Mountains, the Belknap Mountain range, and the Ossipee range.
Our wedding cruise is at night, starting at 7:00, though the website says we can board at 6:15. This means that we'll have some daylight, and hopefully a nice sunset, and also a chance to see the lights in the harbor when we return. Taking place that evening is also a dinner cruise, and I have been promised that anyone with the wedding can take part in the festivities elswhere on the boat (but no one outside of the wedding group or staff can use our air-conditioned function room, so we have a place to escape if the Nascar Dads get to be too much). I had been hoping and praying that the dinner cruise was either the Elvis or the Disco theme--I would have even been happy with the 80's cruise or "Big Band night". Alas, it's something called "Sea and Beef," which describes the food and not the music, so we'll have to wait and see.
The original Mount Washington was launched in the 1870s and was used as a cruise ship for tourists when Weirs Beach was first starting to establish itself as what Trip Advisor labels " a blue collar resort area." The idea was that Weirs Beach could be a version of the Hamptons or Kennebunkport or Cape Cod for those who lived and worked in the many blue-collar mill towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. My mother vacationed there as a child, too, and very little has changed since then--some of the same arcades, the same boardwalk pier, the same miniature golf courses. The boat is still cruising around the lake, too; the original Mount Washington was later gutted by a fire, but a brand new boat by the same name was created in the early 1940s and restored in 1988.
The Mount Washington itself is 230' long, which means that, for the potentially seasick, it's big enough to absorb any waves or turbulence we might encounter--the lake rarely gets choppy enough to be a problem. What's especially fun about cruising on this boat is that you can see several of the lake's over 250 inhabitable (and inhabited) islands as well as three mountain ranges--the White Mountains, the Belknap Mountain range, and the Ossipee range.
Our wedding cruise is at night, starting at 7:00, though the website says we can board at 6:15. This means that we'll have some daylight, and hopefully a nice sunset, and also a chance to see the lights in the harbor when we return. Taking place that evening is also a dinner cruise, and I have been promised that anyone with the wedding can take part in the festivities elswhere on the boat (but no one outside of the wedding group or staff can use our air-conditioned function room, so we have a place to escape if the Nascar Dads get to be too much). I had been hoping and praying that the dinner cruise was either the Elvis or the Disco theme--I would have even been happy with the 80's cruise or "Big Band night". Alas, it's something called "Sea and Beef," which describes the food and not the music, so we'll have to wait and see.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to our blog, and yes, that is a very old picture in our profile, but we haven't had our picture taken together in a long time, and that one is one of my favorites, taken at our friends Lee and Lance's rehearsal dinner several years ago.
We hope to post here some information on the Weirs Beach area, places to stay, things to do, and other informative things like that, but we will from time to time probably comment on the wedding planning. Both of us have been in many weddings--I have probably been a bridesmaid more than ten times, and between the two of us we have attended many weddings and written wedding toasts and thrown showers and honestly, we have enjoyed all of it.
We hope to post here some information on the Weirs Beach area, places to stay, things to do, and other informative things like that, but we will from time to time probably comment on the wedding planning. Both of us have been in many weddings--I have probably been a bridesmaid more than ten times, and between the two of us we have attended many weddings and written wedding toasts and thrown showers and honestly, we have enjoyed all of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
