Live Free or Die!
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/5/5/12556517/758816.jpg)
In the running for funniest town name.
6/10/12
The next day, we said our goodbyes after breakfast and headed for Vermont. We decided to take Route 100 as it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in the Northeast. A bit slower, but incredibly scenic. The weather was fantastic and we stopped to entertain ourselves with covered bridges and the Equinox Hotel.
The next day, we said our goodbyes after breakfast and headed for Vermont. We decided to take Route 100 as it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in the Northeast. A bit slower, but incredibly scenic. The weather was fantastic and we stopped to entertain ourselves with covered bridges and the Equinox Hotel.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/5/5/12556517/6468821.jpg)
This was a gorgeous Victorian Hotel in Manchester, VT. Now, this place did not advertise that it was haunted, but we had done our research. We were slightly apprehensive because it looked so nice, but we went in and asked the hostess what she knew about the rumored haunts. She told us that not a lot had happened during the time that she worked there, but the room that was said to be haunted was room 306. She told us of a time when a group of elderly men were staying at the hotel and the one who was assigned to room 306 refused to stay there after he heard strange noises and witnessed the lights flickering on and off. So of course we snuck up to the room to take a picture. More on room 306 later…
Boredom Takes Over
After the Equinox Hotel, we continued on to our first Couch Surfing home in New Hampshire (where the state motto is Live Free or Die!). The trip was getting long and a bit boring, so we had to entertain ourselves for the 8.5 hour drive.
|
|
Our First Surf
We finally arrived at our first Couch Surfing destination, and lord be praised, it was a successful one! Our host, Lynn, was just as welcoming and as sweet as she could be. She also had two awesome dogs, Mica and Vicky (a rescued Rottweiler from Costa Rica!) who we both fell in love with. Of course Kim had to shower them in affection. The three of us sat around and got to know one another for a bit, but she was totally okay with giving us space to use our computer and do some necessary planning for the next leg of our trip (which takes up a LOT of time). We turned in a bit early, tired after the long day of driving, and slept like the dead. Couch Surfing is AWESOME!
6/11/2012
In the morning, Lynn made us oatmeal with fresh blueberries, bananas, and strawberries (YUM!) and told us that she was going to make us shrimp scampi with broccoli for dinner! Lynn is soooo NICE! Then she gave us some great tips for local places to see. She even went so far as to look up a haunted inn (the Spalding Inn) for us once she’d learned the theme of our road trip!
Hiking an Appalachian Trail
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/5/5/12556517/7073542.jpg)
At about noon, we set out for Tuckerman’s Ravine, a nice hike suggested by Lynn. Tuckerman’s Ravine is actually a tiny portion of the Appalachian Trail and a couple of miles away from Mt. Washington (the highest point of elevation in the Northeast), located in the White Mountain National Forest. It was a beautiful hike, about 4.5 hours from top and bottom. We saw some amazing forestry(?) and excellent, cascading waterfalls.
The Spaulding Inn
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/5/5/12556517/4352895.jpg)
Once we got back off the mountain, we headed for the Spalding Inn in Whitefield, NH. It didn’t take long to get there and the hostess at the inn was very eager to inform. The Spalding Inn was originally a very posh resort. Many would-be customers were turned away because they were not part of a “certain class”. The hostess compared it to the resort in “Dirty Dancing”. During this time a maid died on the property. She was secretly smoking a cigarette in the old carriage house (seen in the pictures), and as she leaned far out of a window to get rid of the smoke, she slipped and fell to her death. She is one of the ghosts that they believe to be haunting the property. They think that her name is Mary. Also during this time, one of the owners died on the property. For some reason, the hostess wasn’t comfortable telling us the original owners names…but now the spirit is simply called “the grumpy old man”. This is another entity in the carriage house. There have been many reports by guests and workers alike that an angry male voice has told them to “Leave!” and “Get out!” Footsteps are heard when no one else is around, and doors open and close by themselves.
The hostess told us that she personally has had more trouble in the main house than in the carriage house. She told us that there was a night that she had to stay at the inn alone when it was first being opened. She said that there were voices in the hall, loud footsteps, and even banging on her door. She said it was terrifying. When she left her room in the morning, she said that guest room doors that she had locked were now standing open. Spooky stuff.
The hostess told us that she personally has had more trouble in the main house than in the carriage house. She told us that there was a night that she had to stay at the inn alone when it was first being opened. She said that there were voices in the hall, loud footsteps, and even banging on her door. She said it was terrifying. When she left her room in the morning, she said that guest room doors that she had locked were now standing open. Spooky stuff.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/5/5/12556517/2033595.jpg)
The carriage house
They were nice enough to let us go into the carriage house and take a few pictures. It was about 5:30 in the evening, the sun was still very high in the sky and it wasn’t very creepy. However, as we stood in the upstairs hallway taking a picture, directly behind us, there was a tapping sound on the window. Of course we turned around, and of course there was nothing there. We took a closer look and found that the window was secure and there was no wind moving and no trees nearby. Could it have been Mary the Maid?
After we left the Spalding Inn, we headed back to Lynn’s for diner. She had invited a friend, Albert, to join us. Al was a character, to say the least. He was very interested in our stories and made the conversation flow smoothly over the evening. We had a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio and it was a great way to relax at the end of the day.
In the morning, Lynn was nice enough to make us a second round of oatmeal while we did some last minute planning and headed out for Maine!
In the morning, Lynn was nice enough to make us a second round of oatmeal while we did some last minute planning and headed out for Maine!