Not our name, but our passion
Our niece Mindy was getting married in September of 2019 and invited us to the wedding at the Shattuck Inn function facility in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.
The Inn provides a beautiful place for a wedding with an outdoor podium and Mount Monadnock as a majestic backdrop.
After the wedding the adjacent banquet hall provided a nice offering for the festive guests and family members.
We wish Mindy and Jeff lifelong happiness and there could not have been a better place to begin their journey together.
I am writing this blog during the great Pandemic of 2020 but I thought it might be nice to look back at 2019 and remember the fun you could have outside surrounded by other people. Hampton Beach, New Hampshire is a great place to get wet, listen to some music at the clamshell or get some beach food.
Alex even ran into his old school principal at the beach.
Catch the sunset,
Get a cold drink or a bite to eat,
and enjoy the music and fireworks.
If we all be calm stay safe and follow the guidelines we can be back on the beach in 2021.
We spent the day at the Hopkinton State Fair in Hopkinton, New Hampshire.
We enjoyed the typical unhealthy food treats you always find at these events.
Alex had a blast on the rides.
Animals and farm displays rounded out the day with a demolition derby in the evening.
Clark’s Trading Post has been a fixture in New Hampshire’s White Mountains for decades. Located on US Route 3 in Lincoln, New Hampshire it is a multi use attraction with a variety of activities for the entire family.
In 1928 Ed and Florence Clark opened a roadside attraction “Ed Clark’s Eskimo Sled Dog Ranch” with an associated souvenir shop.
In 1931 the Clarks obtained their first black bear and began training and performing shows in 1949. When I was a boy we would stop and feed the bears in their bear pit and spend some time in the souvenir shop on every trip to the mountains. A common sight was to see the bears atop their pole within their enclosure.
Modern sensibilities mean there is no longer a bear pit but the bears, bear show and trading post are all still highlights. The trading post has expanded enormously into a multi-faceted park with all sorts of activities. You can easily spend an entire day on site and still not see everything.
The bear show is still the marquee event for the park with several shows daily.
The upper level has unobstructed views without the chain link fence.
Just outside the show ring check out the bear cemetery. Notable is the grave of Rufus the oldest black bear on record at 38 years.
Also running several times during the day is the ride on the steam powered train. This short ride starts at the Main Street train junction in the park and runs over the Pemigewasset River a short distance through the woods.
You will pass through a covered bridge the Clark family brought to the site,
and encounter the famed “Clark’s Wolf Man.”
There are several museums on site with the 1884 fire museum a good example.
On hot summer days a water park on site is a good option.
Try the climbing tower,
or rent a segway.
When you get hungry do not hesitate to stop at the snack bar. The food was surprisingly good, not what you would expect from a snack stand inside a park. It was much better than what you would get at a typical fast food restaurant.
If you have kids of any age make this a destination and with the museums and shows there is enough to keep the entire family happy.
As a child during our many trips to the White Mountains we would stop at Clark’s Trading Post in Lincoln to see the bears. We would not always see the show but we would look at and feed the bears as they climbed their enclosure in the bear pit next to the gift shop. The iconic site of the bears on top of their post (See above photo) is no longer available and the attraction is so expanded now as to be al but unrecognizable to us old timers but the bears are still there and the shows are still put on several times a day with modern sensibilities in mind in terms of animal care and dignity.
The best views of the show are from the upper deck where the chain link fence does not get in the way.
