Day 166: Have A Beautiful Day

Summer

time of year

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Sweet Maple Cafe, Conway, NH. We got a snickerdoodle latte, a pumpkin pie latte, a pumpkin mousse square to split as dessert, a veggie omelette for me and a breakfast sandwich for Chris. The lovely young couple running it were from Colombia. Everything was as delicious as it sounds.

https://www.sweetmaplecafenh.com/

9.5

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Conway and North Conway are 2 really nice vacation towns. Surrounded by mountains, they’ve got great food and are very clean and quaint feeling even though they are actually quite large and have all the amenities you could ask for.

https://northconwaynh.com/

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Mount Washington Auto Road, Sargent’s Purchase, NH ($65/2 people). Mount Washington’s harsh climate has earned it the nickname ‘Home of the World’s Worst Weather.’ This reputation is owed to the constant presence of freezing temperatures, thick fog, heavy snowfall, extensive ice, and unrelenting winds. As the highest peak in the Northeastern United States, Mount Washington serves as the convergence point for three major storm tracks. Its steep slopes and the north-south alignment of the Presidential Range cause winds to intensify significantly as they traverse the summit, leading to the recording of some of the fastest sustained winds on Earth at this location.

We were lucky to be there on a beautiful, sunny summer day. After checking out the view from the top, we decided to hike down to a mountain pass below and admire the incredible views from the end of a long valley. On our way back to the car, we turned around and watched the clouds obliterate our view in minutes.

https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/mt-washington-state-park

9.3

difficulty: 4

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Otto, Brunswick, ME for a Margherita pizza for dinner. Thin crust and tons of flavor in a creamy, non-tomato base. The pumpkin mousse square was the perfect dessert.

https://www.ottoportland.com/locations

8.5

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Giant’s Stairs and McIntosh Lot Preserve, Bailey Island, ME. We followed a path lined with wildflowers and rose hips along the coast, with waves crashing on the rugged shoreline one side and charming homes clad in cedar shakes on the other. The trail led us to the Giant’s Stairs, aptly named for its distinctive rock formations set between the jagged layers. According to geological records, the original sedimentary rock was formed from layers of mud, interspersed with deposits of minerals that later crystallized into quartz and garnet. Subsequent movements in the Earth’s crust caused significant buckling and cracking of these rock layers. Over time, molten magma from deep within the Earth found its way into a major crack, resulting in the formation of a vertical seam of dark basalt rock, creating what’s now known as the Giants Stairs.