Inn at Pollard Brook trip report (review of resort in Resort reviews):
Arrival Day-drove up from Cape Cod and arranged for a private tour of Cantebury Shaker Village (they were closed for the pandemic, but you can book a private tour). Beautiful, serene spot with the heady scent of apple blossoms and lilacs. Stopped In at Fox Country Smoke House in Canterbury and picked up an assortment of smoked cheeses and a couple of bacon varieties. Checked into Pollard Brook after stopping at Price Chopper in Lincoln. Picked up a pizza at GH Pizza in Lincoln which was surprisingly decent and waited for the arrival of friends who were visiting us for the weekend.
Day 1-Had a delcious breakfast at Polly's Pancake House in Sugar Hill, where you can try several flvors of mini pancakes. Their maple bacon biscuits were amazing. After breakfast, we stopped at the Garnet Hill outlet store and I bought a t-shirt. We continued on to Franconia Notch State Park where we hiked the Flume, a series of waterfalls that was incredibly pretty. We followed our Flunme visit by a walk up and down the main street of Littleton and browsed. After that, we drove over to Bethlehem and had coffee at a great little spot called Maya Papaya. Amazing whoopie pies there. Drove over to the Omni Mount Washingto-our friends wnated to see it, and we got a preview of our stay later in the week. We went back to Pollard Brook and vegged for a while until heading to nearby Woodstock for dinner at Woodstock Brewery. Food and beer there were just Ok.
Day 2-Breakfast at Arnold's in Woodstock. The quintessential small town diner in a tin can with warm service and great food. Looked like a real nighborhood hangout-the kind you don't see much anymore. Our friends headed home after breakfast. I checked the weather for the Cog Railway and discovered it was clear at the summit-so we booked tickets online and made a beeline over there. Barely made it, but had a great trip. The views are amazing, although the railroad is a bit pricey. Had leftover pizza for dinner and hung out on our beautiful balcony overlooking Loon Mountain.
Day 3-Attended the morning orientation breakfast hosted by Jack, the Pollard brook activities director. It was very well done-no pressure to sign up for anything or buy a timeshre week. Pollard Brook has a nice activitie schedule. We went for a brief walk on the walking path by Pollard Brook and across the street and vegged the rest of the day. Had dinner at LaVista in the RiverWalk complex which was very good. They had a wood burning pizza oven and an interesting pizza list. We did not try the pizza, but a woman at the Pollard Brook front desk said that people raved about them.
Day 4 Drove the length of the Kancamagus Highway-a beautiful drive with several secenic overlooks and a few short hikes-walks. We did 3 short walks. The Sabbaday Falls hike was particularly pretty. We continued into Conway and North Conway, stopping at the outlet center and at Zeb's General Store. We looped around through Bartlett and drove on the Bear Notch Road to do a litle shortcut back to the Kanc. We had dinner at Black Mountain Burger in Lincoln, which was quite tasty. After dinner, we joined the Pollard Brook Sunset Tour-highly recommend-we saw a beautiful sunset and heard lots of interesting stories about the area from Jack, the Pollard Brook activities director.
Day 5 We walked around at the resort and vegged before having dinner at the Common Man in Lincoln. We had a great dinner and loved the fact that our waitress told us what to avoid on the menu! After dinner, we joined the Pollard Brook Sunset Tour-highly recommend-we saw a beautiful sunset and heard lots of interesting stories about the area from Jack, the Pollard Brook activities director.
Day 6 We went back over to Franconia Notch State Park and visited the Bowl-also hiled a portion of the Basin Cascade Trail which is very pretty, with a series of waterfalls. A fair amount of roots and rocks, though. Pollard Brook had an afternoon hike to a beautiful spot that is on private land, so you can't go without Jack. I was disapponted-we could not go because I had committed to an online volunteer commitment which conflicted. We had a lovely dinner at the Adair In in Bethlehem. Good food and warm service, with a nice atmosphere.
Day 7-Had another fine breakfast at Arnold's Diner and then checked out the Christmas Loft and the General Store in Woodstock-i decided that I did not need any more Christmas stuff, and the General Store dd not have a lot of merchandise. We left the Lincoln area and drove the the Frost Place in Franconia, which is Robery Frost's former home. The museum at the site is closed, but you can sit on the front porch and soak in the scenery. There is a pretty trail behind the property which has Frost poems on posts throughout the trail-I walked a portion of it. We also drove back to Bethlehem and stopped in at the Wren Cooperative, which operates a non-profit designed to show rural women how to start home-based craft busineses. I bought a couple of cnadles there, and grabbed a book at the used bookstore down the way. Also made another stop at Maya Papaya for a coffee drink. We then set out for the Pondicherry Audobon refuge-but wound up on a dirt and jagged gravel road and finally gave up without finding it. We continued on to the Omni Mount Washington, where we had booked a 3 night stay. We were upgraded to a larger room and were gifted with a lovely bottle of champagne and a large charcuterie plate in honor of our 25th anniversary. We had dinner in the main dining room at the Omni-it is very pretty, with beautiful views of Mount Washington. However, the food is overpriced. My husband enjoyed his fliet mignon, but I would have needed tweezers to loacate the lobster meat in my lobster pot pie. After dinner, we went outside for a while and sat on the Omni's beautiful sweeping veranda,
Day 8-Had breakfast at the Omni main dining room-they ended up comping both of our breakfasts after I demonstrated that you would have needed a hacksaw to cut the English muffin of my Eggs Benedict. After breakfast, we did a 4 mile hike on the Omni property alongside a lovely stream with granite rocks and waterfalls. After the hike, we grabbed 2 of the Adirondack chairs on the Omni lawn and rested/took in the scenery, which is breathtaking. Our dinner was at the Notchland Inn, about a 17 mile drive from the Omni. Wonderful food at a great price, with the bonus of a loveable inn dog named Mia who will come out and greet you during dessert.
Day 9 The Omni buffet breakfast was better this time. We wandered around the property and also watched a beautiful Hindu wedding from the veranda and from our room. There were 7 weddings at the Omni that weekend! No chance of getting a spa appointment as a result. Since it had cooled off, we discovered a place to read indoors with amazingly comfortable chairs and great views. We spent the bulk of our day there before heading to Stickney's pub at the Omni for dinner. Food was just OK.
Day 10-time to head home! Stopped and had lunch with beloved nephew (a Manchester resident) at the Firefly bistro, which had great food. The drive home from NH to NJ was a bit nighmareish due to construction in Connecticut and again in the Bronx.
The White Mountains of New Hampshire are beautiful-we hope to go back some day.
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