Shirley Goodness: Ice, ice and the beach!

New Hampshire was a fun and yummy state to visit! But the trip started out very stressful! Because mom didn't plan on coming until a week or so before, we had different flights due to cost. But both were leaving around 6 or 6:20, and mine was supposed to land in Boston about 30 minutes after mom's. When we woke up at 3:30, however, I found out my flight had been changed and I was not to arrive in Boston until 10 that night...about 10 hours after mom!! Calling people never works anymore, so we hurried to the airport and finally was able to get changed to a flight that was supposed to arrive at 5, but with two stand-by chances to get there earlier. The first stand-by would get me there about 30 minutes after mom, but I didn't make it. Stand-by is very stressful! I was number 2 on the stand-by list and at 2-3 minutes before they were supposed to close the door, there were 2 spots available. Then someone ran up to catch their flight and I lost the seat. Right after they closed the door, another man ran up to catch his flight, but it was too late for him. I felt bad for him, but really needed that to happen the next flight. And it did! They basically ran me through the door so they could close it and not let anyone else on the plane.

I landed around 1 and we had just enough time to get our car and make it to Woodstock, NH for our ice castle ticket time. The ice castle was a magical place that looked like Elsa had made it!! There were ice slides, ice seats, ice tunnels and an ice maze!

We took a ton of pictures!!

There was also a fairy trail with cool lights, ice corn hole and a sleigh ride that was more like a hayride. But it was all super fun and beautiful!!

We had a great time in the ice but were also getting hungry because all we had eaten today was lunch at the airport and it was not very memorable. But we were able to get a very memorable meal in Woodstock at the Woodstock Inn Brewery. We both got soup (clam chowder for me and French onion for mom) and then split giant cheesy tater tots, a grilled cheese/bacon/tomato sandwich and a salad. Super yummy and it hit the spot before our hour drive to the Top Notch Inn. Before we could get to bed, however, we had to make a stop at the local Wal-mart. Even though the airline attendant in Charleston assured me that my luggage would be on the first stand-by flight and would be waiting for me in Boston, it was actually on my guaranteed flight and arrived at 5! So, my luggage was waiting for me in Hampton Beach, but in the meantime, I had to buy new underwear!

The Top Notch Inn was a very nice and comfy motel!

Saturday morning was our snow coach day. We drove to the Auto Road that goes up Mt. Washington. During the summer you can pay to drive to the top of Mt. Washington, but this time of year only the snow coach can make it up partway. Because of recent rains, the snow was more ice than snow, so we only could go up halfway. But it was still beautiful and majestic! Although we didn't see it snow, there was still a lot of snow to see!

Most of the people that were on the vans going up, snowshoed down the mountain instead of taking the van back down. It actually looked like it would be a fun activity!

After our snow coach activity, we started our 2 hour trip to Hampton Beach with a stop for lunch at J-Town Deli in Jackson. The food was super yummy! We both had paninis.

Wildcat Mountain Ski Slope

Our final stop before arriving at Hampton Beach was Portsmouth. This was a cute little seashore town with lots of stores. And they had a great little soap store!! It is always a good idea to buy soap on a trip!

When we arrived at the Hampton House Hotel, I was very happy to see my suitcase! I was ready to change after wearing the same clothes since 4:30 Friday morning! Dinner that evening was at a great pizza place called M and Y Pizza. They were overwhelmed with customers and the lady taking orders wasn't too friendly at first, but after mom started talking to her about tea, she started being very friendly to us. She even asked us if she would see us again. Unfortunately, no matter how good the pizza was, it would be a long commute to eat there again!

The next day was race day. New Hampshire done! And one more day to have fun! We ended up back in Portsmouth because all the stores in Hampton were closed for the season. We were able to find a NH shaped Christmas ornament in a cool shop we missed the first day when we were in Portsmouth. Mom also found some sea glass earrings and I found a chocolate bar made in NH with beans imported from Ecuador!

More beach views Sunday afternoon

We were getting hungry because we really had not eaten lunch. Our plan was seafood! I wanted steamers and clam chowder and mom wanted lobster. I ended up getting lobster too. It was SO good! I have only had a whole lobster one time when we bought one from BiLo where they cooked it for us. It tasted nothing like this lobster!! And the chowder and steamers were delicious also. The evening ended early, mainly because there was nothing open! We watched Return of the Jedi back at our room and then went to bed. At some point in the night, I finished off our leftover pizza! Running makes me kind of hungry!

The next day was sad in that we had to leave and not be on vacation anymore. But we did have one more good meal at Betty's. We had real maple syrup on our pancakes and French toast. It was a super yummy way to finish our trip before we headed to the airport.