Whitefield, New Hampshire Trip Day 1 & 2: Hiking Mount Willard

My husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary with a long memorial weekend trip away to Whitefield, New Hampshire. We planned to head out Friday morning as soon as I dropped Alec off at school but my husband was running a bit behind wrapping up some thing at work so I took off on the Ranger to help Ian take the jet ski out of the lake so he could work on it.

The view was amazing!


We headed out around 8:30 and planned to stop in the Conway area for a repair job that my husband needed to do for his work.  We arrived shortly after noon and while he worked I sat in the truck reading my book(s) and took a little nap. 

He finished up his job and we made it to our hotel for check in sometime between 4 & 4:30.  We were encouraged to make both dinner and breakfast reservations and the Tavern was eager to accommodate us. The hotel was stunning and they gave us a free room upgrade!







With views like these it's easy to see why it's called the Mountain View Grand.  After getting ready we headed down to dinner.  We both ordered New England clam chowder, a steak dinner, and peanut butter pie (we got the dessert to go and ate in our room while watching movies).  Everything was delicious.


It was cloudy and chilly out the next morning (it never got above 60 the whole weekend) but we headed down to the breakfast buffet where we planned our day of hiking.  The view from the restaurant is just as pretty. 


Our first hike was up Mount Willard.  We parked near the old train station and asked a few other day hikers if we were indeed in the right spot.  It was a fairly easy trail and it took us about 45 minutes to reach the top with just a few stops along the way to admire the water.











Looking out the road we started on looks so small and the cars like ants! 

While I would have loved a bright sunny blue sky and the further views with it, I was still quite taken with the cloud cover rolling over the nearby mountains.

We admired the views from the top for awhile and then headed  back down; it only took us a little over an hour to hike the trail so we hopped in the car and headed for Arethusa Falls (which I'll recap tomorrow). 


Linking up with: Spread the Kindness, 






















Comments

  1. The hotel is gorgeous!! Mount Willard is a great hike!

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    Replies
    1. It was a great hike! We might have to make hiking in NH an annual thing!

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  2. Wow! The hotel looks incredible! Sorry the weather wasn't great but glad you had a good time anyway. #MMBC

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    Replies
    1. At least it didn't rain much; we had one anniversary trip a few years back where it just poured the whole weekend. I'll take cool and cloudy over rainy any day.

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  3. Replies
    1. It really was! I would definitely stay there again.

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  4. Wow, Joanne! What a wonderful way to spend your 20th anniversary! 💕 The hotel and views are incredible. I so miss hiking with my late beloved hubby. I know that you both had a fabulous anniversary.

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  5. Have always loved the beauty of New Hampshire. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Us too! New Hampshire has become one of our favorite getaways.

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  6. This looks like such a beautiful area to visit and the hotel does look amazing with those gorgeous views!

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  7. Happy anniversary to you and your husband. That hotel is stunning and how lovely to get a room upgrade too. Looks like a beautiful spot for your hike – it’s a shame you didn’t have clear weather and better views but I do love the photo with the cloud rolling over the mountain too. #MMBC

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  8. What amazing views. And the outside of the hotel is just gorgeous. Happy Anniversary to you guys!! I am glad you had a great time!

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  9. That hotel looks amazing and what a nice hike! I'm glad you had an anniversary getaway. Thanks for linking up with Hello Monday! Tanya - The Other Side of the Road

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  10. Looks like yall had such a good trip. Love your outfit for date night.

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    1. We had a fabulous time. Thank you! I thought it was such a comfy outfit too and took a photo so I can be sure to wear it again.

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  11. ...what a gorgeous hotel set in a beautiful mountain setting! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Simply beautiful. Glad you took us along.
    Amalia
    xo

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  13. How nice to have a room upgrade. And the views look amazing. Glad you got there despite the slow start. Thank you for taking us along on your hike. Again, amazing views. Have a good week, stay safe, and thank you for visiting my blog last week.

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    Replies
    1. It was such a surprise to have that upgrade!

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  14. I LOVE the Mountain Vie Grand and your hike looked amazing!

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    Replies
    1. I can see why you love it so much; we had a fabulous time.

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  15. Loved reading your recaps! The views are beautiful and so is the hotel and the food sounded good too! So glad y'all were able to take some time away to celebrate.

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  16. That hotel is gorgeous and so are the views!! What a great spot to celebrate your anniversary!

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  17. That looks like an amazing place to spend some time! I love the views!!!

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    1. We did too! They sure got their name right.

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  18. It looks like the perfect place to celebrate your 20th wedding anniversary Joanne. The place you stayed at looks so nice and same for the food and hiking! Thanks for the blog visit and enjoy the week Joanne.

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  19. I would love to visit, it looks so peaceful and full of fun things to do here :)

    Thanks for joining us :) #CreativeMondays

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  20. What a beautiful hotel! I've never been to the Northeast but I would love to visit some day. All that hiking sounds like so much fun! I really miss that having grown up in the PNW!

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot of fun and so different from what the hikes are like around here!

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  21. Sure looks like a fabulous place with magnificent scenery. I've always heard that NH had fantastic views.

    It's nice to see your link this week at 'My Corner of the World'!

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  22. Joanne, these views are absolutely breathtaking! And your hotel is so beautiful, too. I really like your top in the outfit photos, too! It looks like you had the most wonderful time!

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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