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Looking for information about possible vacation...

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SoundQ SVT

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Hi all.

My wife and I are contemplating heading up to New Hampshire for a week's vacation. We will be doing an exchange through RCI and are looking at possibly staying in North Conway at a place called the Eastern Slope Inn. The current hope is to arrive on Saturday of Labor Day weekend and leave the following Saturday.

Is anyone familiar with that area and what activities there are to do? Usually when we go some place we've never been, we just like to go see what there is to see. We're not into fishing or hiking, but I would like to play a little golf if possible. She loves to shop, of course, so that will be a must do too.

Also, for transportation it looks like flying into Portland and driving up would be the best bet from what I can tell. Am I missing an option that is better?

Do you have other suggestions that would be "better"? Neither of us have been that far northeast (I've been to New Jersey a couple times, but that's about it in that direction from home...) so we are open to suggestions.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.
 
Check out flying into MHT Manchester-Boston Regional airport as well. You may get cheaper rates than flying into Portland ME, and the drive from Manchester to North Conway isn't much different than the drive from Portland to NC, timewise (roughly 2 hours).

Cueball and BeachBum are our resident golfers, so hit them up with a pm for suggestions on where to golf up in that area.

North Conway has plenty of shopping, so your wife won't go wrong there.
There are outlet stores gallore.

There's a lot of scenery in that area, so you may just do a lot of driving through the mountains and do some site seeing.

This link may be a helpful resource for you http://www.northconwaynh.com/
 
If its a timeshare you might want to check out Attitash Bear Peak. Great Place, I stayed there with my family for like 4 or 5 summers for a week. Attitash has a cool concrete slide which is always a fun experience.
Alpine Slide: http://www.attitash.com/alpineslide.html

There is also arethusa falls: http://www.nhstateparks.com/waterfalls.html

The conway scenic railroad is awesome too:http://www.conwayscenic.com/

In Center conway there are a decent amount of stores. Zeb's, and the 5 and 10 store are classics. Real shopping, thats further down, there are a lot of outlets up there.http://www.zebs.com/

There is a ton more to do up there.

OH MAN. You NEED to go to Glen Junction Restaurant and the Scarecrow. Glen junction is great for breakfast, The scarecrow great for dinner.

If you have kids, maybe Storyland, Santas Village, Heritage New Hampshire.

There is also the Saco river which is great for tubing, swimming, etc.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

Since we are using RCI to book our place to stay, it will be a timeshare. We traded in a week from our vacation club to try something in an area we do not have resorts of our own to use.

And no, we don't have kids... its just the two of us.

Also, another possibility looks to be a resort in the Birkshires, in Hancock, MA. It just popped up on the available list to trade into. Anyone familiar with that area? I need to talk to my wife, but I think I'm leaning more toward the Birkshires area rather than the White Mountains area. Unless of course those of you in the know suggest otherwise...

Thanks again.
 
Hi: The Berkshires are fine if you are 75 years young. (Nothing there)

Another area with plenty of activity is Lake Winnipesaukee (Laconia, Gilford, Meredith, NH). It is only 1 hr north of Manchester airport and there should be some RCI properties there. Better Golfing too.

Good Luck
 
RCI may also be able to swap you into locations at Attitash Mountain Village on Rte. 302 in Bartlett.

Either way, when you're up in the Mount Washington Valley, there are a few things you should do:

Eat dinner at the Red Parka Pub in Glen, NH, on Rte. 302, some 1000 feet after (to the north) of the junction of Rte. 16. They open at 4 and fill up quickly, especially on weekends. Go on a weekday if you prefer a more peaceful meal. Have the steak marinade, and order it rare. Beer is served in mason jars, so don't let the threads cause the suds to end up on your shirt. :cool: Also, sit at the bar. It's got a lot more personality.

If you're at the Eastern Slope, you'll be near Horsefeathers -- another restaurant and pub known for good times. It's usually pretty busy at night, and should still have live entertainment around the time you go.

For shopping, check out a leather store called The Beggars Pouch -- it's right across from the scenic railroad. Afterwards, cross the street and hit up the Ben and Jerry's for some fresh ice cream with a side of fat. If you really need to send the wife off for a while, The Settler's Green is a huge assortment of outlets. Mikasa, Dansk, Gap, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, etc. They're all there. That's at the south end of the North Conway strip (Rte. 16).

If you shoot pool, there's a place just north of the outlets on the right called The Club that looks cool, though I've never gotten around to getting in there.

For golf, check out Indian Mound Golf Club. You can be there in 40 minutes from the Eastern Slope. From memory, it's in Ossipee. It, too, is on Rte. 16, as are many things in the area.
 
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Thanks again everyone. Well, I put myself in a position last night where I had to make a choice. I based it on the feedback from people that had actually stayed at the resorts in question and I decided to go with Vacation Village in the Berkshires.

Its remote location from everything did worry me a little bit, but many of the reviews about it said it is not as remote as it appears on the map and there is plenty to do within 30-40 minutes in most any direction. It is across the road from the Jiminy Peak ski area, if any of you are familiar with that area. Also, the rooms at the resort itself are bigger and better than what Eastern Slope Inn was able to offer. The comments were basically the location was an excellent base for exploring the whole area, including southern Vermont, the Albany NY area, and perhaps even a day trip to Boston or NYC (140/180 miles away, respectively).

Thanks again for all the feedback, and if anyone has suggestions for things to do/places to eat in western Massachusetts (even though our unit has a full kitchen in it...), I'd like suggestions from the locals.
 
North Conway is great. Not "A TON" to do there, but enough to keep you busy in between gettin' busy, if ya know what i mean.
 
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