Snowshoeing NH's White Mountains

Michael and I had the perfect end to Christmas Day. With his parents visiting with the kids, we slipped out for an evening snowshoe hike through the property. This was my first evening trek and it was incredible. The temperature was in the teens, the evergreens were covered in a blanket of snow and of course the ground was glistening white. We did have our headlights but at one point Michael convinced me to shut it off. After a minute of protesting, I agreed and I was so happy I did. It was so peaceful and now I can see why our guests love these hikes. I can't wait to go out again.

Time To Get The Wood - Firewood That Is.

This week while we had no guests, it was all about wood at Bear Mountain Lodge. When you live in the North Country and foliage winds down, it's time to get into the woods and grab those downed trees before nature's white blanket covers them over never to be seen again until Spring.

It started back in April when Michael grabbed his chainsaw and headed into the backyard to cut down some trees that were starting to block our view to Mt. Washington. It was a funny day because I was standing on the deck with a walkie-talkie and Michael was walking around with his chainsaw saying "Is this the one" and shaking the tree. If I replied "yes," down she went. So this week he got in his tractor, hooked a chain to each of the trees, and pulled them out of the woods so he could cut them up. That was just the first step to ensure we have enough wood all winter to keep the soap stone fireplace blazing in the great room for guests.

Because Connor had just a 1/2 day of school yesterday, he came home and helped Dad. At one point, I went outside and the John Deere tractor was coming down the driveway at me. Inside was my 10 year old who was so proud that Dad lets him drive the Deere all by himself. He and Michael would fill the bucket and then Connor would drive up to the front of the Lodge, lift the bucket high into the air, and drop the logs into a pile. Load after load they kept going until the front door was almost invisible.

After reminding Michael that guests would be checking in today at 3pm, he got to work splitting and stacking the logs. Just as our first guests were pulling in at 3:01, the last log was stacked neatly in place and he had begun cleaning up his mess.

With 11 more trees stacked up in the driveway, it looks like we'll be working on wood for at least another week. It's a ton of work, but there's nothing better than a warm, crackling fire when it's close to or below zero degrees. So if you're coming to the Lodge, don't worry -- we'll have plenty of wood to keep you toasty warm.

Carol

Yummy Pastries with Ciril Hitz - What A Great Baking Class!

This past Saturday Michael held down the fort while I slipped away to King Arthur Flour's baking school in Vermont. I was one of the lucky 12 or so who got a space in this class with world-renowned Artisan Baker Ciril Hitz from Johnson & Wales. I'm so glad I treated myself and I highly recommend if you get a chance you take it as well. He is a great instructor and a very down-to-earth guy.

While I'm considered a good baker by many, they have no idea what it takes to be an artisan baker. It is science afterall which I was terrible at. (I have to admit I still am today - just ask my 10 year old son Connor who asks me for help and is immediately directed to Dad.)

This wasn't just a demo, it was a hands-on 9 hour class learning how to make the perfect dough for some great recipes - laminated doughs for croissants and danish, whole wheat bagels, berry muffins, and Stollen which is a German fruit cake that has almond paste running through the center. In class I made three loaves of this with my partner Leon from New Jersey and I served it to my guests for a starter course on Sunday morning. Not a crumb was left on any plate and my kids declared it "yummalicious!" I saved the other loaf as Ciril says it makes great french toast. I'm going to make it when I only have a few guests so I can try it myself.

A main part of baking is developing that perfect gluten window which is very hard for someone like me who has little patience. I thought it was the funnest part of the class because I got to play with my dough. If you can stretch your dough out and make a little window that is almost see through, you'll have happy bread! And from the raves of my guests and kids my Stollen was very happy bread.

So now my plan for the rest of the year is to make a recipe each week from Ciril's new book which I had him autograph to me and my daughter Emily -- the next great baker in our family. As reviews come in from guests, I'll post them here.

Here's to lots of happy doughs and guests here at Bear Mountain Lodge.

Carol

Bear Mountain Lodge Awarded As Top 10 B&B in New England

Bedandbreakfast.com has announced the winners of their 2009/2010 awards and Bear Mountain Lodge ranked among the Top 10 New England B&Bs.


We're so excited to receive this recognition as it's based on the reviews of our guests and the staff at Bedandbreakfast.com. It's a huge accomplishment for a new B&B as we've been open less than four years and there are so many other quality B&Bs in New England. It's an honor that we greatly appreciated and we'll continue to ensure that our guests have the best time during their stay.

May - Weddings & Romance Galore At Bear Mtn Lodge

May 2009 has certainly been the most romantic month in Bear Mountain Lodge's history.


May 17th -- our first large wedding took place with a rainy start. Michael, always the Marine attitude, decided that the bride wasn't going to walk through soaking wet grass to the pergola so he got out his commercial leaf blower and blew dried the grass. The bride was absolutely gorgeous and her little flower girl was so adorable - don't they all run at the end of the aisle right to their Moms? After the ceremony the couple had pictures taken in the backyard and they were so happy when the DJ announced their entry into the greatroom. Great food and dancing filled the Bear Mountain Lodge and the newly weds celebrated with their loved ones.


My first post on eloping may have been skewed as we'd just had one the day I decided to start our blog. Seeing this family celebrate the beginning of this couple's new life and their faces beaming with joy made me realize that weddings certainly are meant to be a family event.


May 29th -- Three couples check in. One is getting married here this weekend with several family members attending the ceremony. Another is celebrating their first anniversary. And on Saturday morning the other couple headed out to Cannon Mountain to do some hiking. Unbeknownst to her, he had an engagement ring in his pocket and couldn't wait to get her to the top to pop the question.


May 30th -- The wedding is taking place. She's radiant and again Mr. Rain showed his ugly head so the leaf blower made another guest appearance. The ceremony is just about to start, our anniversary couple is watching from the greatroom, my 7yr. old daughter Emily and her friend Carly are in the dining room giggling saying "her dress is so pretty" and the newly engaged couple has made it back from Cannon and is showing us her ring -- three couples, three wedding stories all in different stages on the same day. The only thing missing was an older couple who'd been married for many, many years. I guess Michael and I qualify somewhat as we're celebrating 12 years this August.



Many, many happy years to the couples who have entrusted us with their weddings, anniversaries and engagements!!!

Carol

Elope - It's The Honeymoon That's Memorable!

Early March, with plenty of snow still on the ground, was the start of a new beginning here at The Bear Mountain Lodge. Our second elopement took place this past weekend and it was for an incredible couple from Maine. As they began their new life together and Michael captured it all for them on film, I was taken with how lovely the ceremony was. How simple, how beautiful, how romantic. She was radiant in her gown and beautiful arrangement her mother had designed for her, and his Army dress blues and medals were picture perfect. Although it was just the two of them, something bigger was taking place in our great room. Their love for each other and smiles filled the entire room and I got goosebumps hearing them recite their vows.


As we talked throughout the weekend, it became clear to me why people elope -- no stress, no family quarrels over who gets to attend, and of course the cost of today's weddings - a typical wedding now costs $20-50K.



When Michael and I got married in August 1998 we had just 60 people at our wedding. We had wanted to elope but our mothers were not happy about it. So we kept it simple and refused to spend more than $4K for EVERYTHING, yes including my dress and flowers. It was tough getting the list down (we really would have liked to have about 20 but some family friends NEEDED to attend as the saying goes) and my-brother-in-law started his toast with "Congratulations to those of you who made the cut." Planning, decisions, stress - it's all coming back.

What wasn't stressful was the planning of our honeymoon to Alaska. The wedding wasn't as important to us as how we'd spend those first glorious 16 days together as husband and wife. With no stress and time away from everyone who knew us, we could enjoy just being newlyweds Michael and Carol while we had the most amazing trip ever. I can't remember all the details from the five hours of our wedding reception, but I can still remember every detail of our Alaskan experience -- our stateroom on the cruise ship and those awesome chocolate croissants every morning while we drank coffee on our balcony; sailing through the inside passage with the most incredible scenery ever; flying in a float plane up through the Misty Fjords to flyfish in a beautiful lake near Ketchican; sea kayaking and climbing Mt. Roberts in Juneau; horseback riding to an old mining town in Skagway; the train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks, stopping along the way at Denali National Park and the majesty of Mt. McKinley. And of course the riverboat ride in Fairbanks - when we saw an incredible log cabin and said "Someday we'll have one just like that." I could go on for hours talking about our honeymoon, yet I'm not sure how long I could talk about the wedding and keep anyone interested.


This wonderful couple is in Hawaii for a phenomenal honeymoon which we can't wait to hear all about. They're off right now creating memories that will last forever and we wish them an incredible life together. We are so thankful that we got to be part of it - another reason Innkeepers do what we do.