Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire! {New England Vacation}

After spending 5 days up in Maine, we headed over to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire for some lake cottage fun!  We spent two nights in a cute little cabin near the water and had a great time!

We rented kayaks again (and I remembered my camera this time!!)...

We also headed up into White Mountain National Forest (which was only a short drive away) for a little hike (oooor what we thought was a little hike)!  We hikes to two mountain peaks (Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty) and the mileage wasn't too bad - it was the vertical climb that was insane.  We were literally rock climbing for a good portion of the trail.  We had no idea it was going to be that vertical.  But once we made it to the peaks, it was totally worth it.  Awesome views for miles.

(Here's a view of the two peaks from down on the road!)

We made sure to get in a lot of lazy beach hangs (and duck visits?!) to make up for the crazy hike ;)

And to top it all off, there were beautiful sunsets, arcade games (!!), and delicious eats...

Lake Winnipesaukee is such a beautiful lake.  I wish it was a little closer to home so we could visit more often.  But regardless, we had a great couple of days there!

Up next: Woodstock, NY!

Portsmouth, New Hampshire! {New England Vacation}

Hello and happy Wednesday!*  What do ya say we jump right into a few recaps of our wonderful New England vacation?  We just got back about a week and a half ago and I have finally had some time to sit down and recount our great trip!  So here we go...

We broke the trip up into a couple different places that we planned to visit: Portsmouth, NH, Portland, ME, Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, and Woodstock, NY!  On the Friday that we left, we drove straight to Scanton, PA (with a stop in State College for dinner) since it was a good mid-way point on the way to Portsmouth.

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early ready to start our first full day of vacation!

Portsmouth, here we come...

Of course, not without a Dunkin Donuts stop for some road trip fuel first... ;)

On the drive up to Portsmouth, we started looking for fun stops along the way.  And oh what do ya know, we were really close to a brewery (Smuttynose Brewing Company) and of course decided to stop!

We took a really great brewery tour which ended with a tasting and lots of beer talk.  Really cool brewery!  And obviously we couldn't leave without a 6 pack of delicious Smuttynose beer!

Then it was time to hit the road again to Portsmouth.  We arrived in the afternoon and spent a lot of time walking around the cute little town.  There was a lot going on, with live music and little arts festivals, and we just strolled around and took it all in.

Before dinner, we decided to stopped for a beer at Portsmouth Brewery because the fine people at Smuttynose gave us vouchers for a free beer there.  Score!

Then it was time for dinner!  We ate at the River House which was located right on the water.  We dined on their deck overlooking the harbor and timed it perfectly to witness a beautiful sunset.

After dinner, we roamed around the town a little more and even stopped at a cute ice cream shop (called Annabelle's!) along the way!  Yum!

And oh oops, we ended up back at Portsmouth Brewery for another beer before calling it a night...

Great start to vacation!

Up next... Portland, Maine!

Home Sweet Home...

We are back from vacation!

While I compile all the pictures from my real camera, here are some of my instagrams from the trip...

We had such a great time exploring the North East coast and everywhere in between!

Definitely a trip to remember.  Be back soon with some real recaps! :)