Day 5: Canoeing on the Saco River + Diana’s Baths
We went to Diana’s Baths BOTH before canoeing AND after!
(The kids didn’t feel like they got enough time prior to our canoe excusion and since the hike was only 0.6 miles each way no one minded doing the round trip twice!)
Canoeing was hard!!!! I was on a boat with A & G. C had only one functional hand (he spent this trip in a cast for his broken finger) and was with Josh.
A sat in back and did paddling and the steering; I paddled up front, and G sat in the middle. I was sooo anxious at the start (let’s say there was a bit of a steering learning curve) but by the end was proud of the progress our boat had made!
We took a ~5 mile trip down the Saco River with this company. NO ONE fell out but I did lose a hat and the sunglasses that were on top of it (thankfully just a pair of slightly scratched Goodrs).
Diana’s Baths (that is G up there in a bathing suit)! C went entirely in but the water was sooo cold he only stayed in briefly.
(Long enough to almost lose his glasses but he retrieved them!)
For dinner, Josh and I went out alone – a first on a fam vacation (A babysat, and the kids ate leftovers from our dinner the night before)! Based on reader recs we headed to Vito Marcello’s – it was lovely. BUT Josh was a little bit sick and I was starting to feel sick (impending doom). I think incorporating a date night will be a new vacation tradition — by that point a little adult dinner break felt great.
A and I watched several episodes of Ginny & Georgia (the others watched their own movie) and then we all passed out around 11ish.
Day 6: COG Railroad up to Mount Washington
This excursion was cool but expensive – over $400 total for our 5 tickets!! Most of the activities we did were low-cost so I figured the average was fine but I do think this could have been priced a little . . . better. (That said the cars were mostly full so I guess they are doing okay!).
MEANWHILE, as I was up on the mountaintop . . . Taylor Swift WAS AT MY PLACE OF WORK. Someone texted me and I received it at the top of Mount Washington, reacting with a guttural moan that I was in the wrong state. Based on the pix I’ve seen, she spent quite a while there (she had been in town for the Panthers game), delighting patients in multiple units and taking pictures with people I know. And my peds endo colleague even got to be in the same room with her! Ahh well! So super super cool that she did that!
(And super sad that I missed it all!!!!!)
I MEAN REALLY. How bad was my timing!?
She spent a long time visiting multiple units.
She is officially the best and I love her.
For dinner, we were kind of sick (and sick of eating at restaurants) so we just picked up from groceries and ate a simple meal in our hotel room (note: we stayed at the Residence Inn North Conway in a 2 bedroom suite. There was nothing particularly delightful about it, but It was clean, the people who worked there were super nice, and it was fairly inexpensive — so I would say it worked).
Day 7: HOME!!!
Flight was uneventful but with a ton of congestion, I ended up with a POUNDING headache. Last night was rough (chills etc) but I’m feeling somewhat improved today. NOT really how I wanted to feel at the end of a vacation, but it is what it is (and really, there’s no “convenient” time to get sick!).
Upon landing, I learned about the horrible killings that took place in Minnesota earlier that day. I felt incredibly sad and thought of Lisa.
I have more to share about what worked / what didn’t / what I might do differently but will save that for a future post.
10 Comments
Well- your vacation sounds great. You got to see mountains! Definitely a great place to go to get away from Florida. But, I’m so mad on your behalf that you missed TS! Seriously- what are the odds. Oh well. And, I’m sorry you’re sick! I’ve also been sick and it’s NO FUN. Hope you’re feeling better today.
ohhh yes I saw the pinkeye!!! I hope you are feeling better too. I haven’t been sick in SOOO long so I was due but I was also kind of nervous (would it trigger arrhythmias, etc). so far okay.
I cannot believe you missed Taylor! What a bummer! And to be sick on top of it is just insult to injury, but I’m glad the rest of the trip was great!
So much here! 1. Date on vacation is amazing. We’ve done it and it is a new level of treat/experience. 2. Ahh missing T Swift! I can’t believe she was at your hospital. Would you have been there or likely no? Such a close call. 3. I’m in MN; so sad and creepy how targeted it was. And how she gave so much to improve the state for all.
On #2 – probably, because the endo who was on call isn’t even a big fan. She brought with her one of the RDs who is a fan (can’t wait to find out from her what it was like!). As the only Swiftie endo MD in our location, I’m pretty sure they would have let me tag along. (I’ll never know though, so will just assume it would have worked out!).
Please report back with your coworkers take!!!
I’m so sorry to hear you got sick on vacation! What a terrible souvenir to bring back! It sounds like a nasty virus. The vacation sounded great otherwise. But what are the chances TS visited your hospital. That is wild!!
It’s been a sad and heavy weekend for us Minnesotans. I really hope they apprehend him soon. It’s pretty crazy that the police thought to check on the speaker of the house and her husband after they were called to the house of the representative in the area that was shot – and then found the shooter there but unfortunately couldn’t apprehend him. Who knows who he would have attacked next.
totally crazy, it seems more like a movie than real life 🙁 i very much hope he is caught soon. how terrifying!!!
I’ve enjoyed your vacation posts for their own sakes, but also because my husband and I did some of the same things you did when we visited New Hampshire a few years ago, including your first hike and a trip to Mt. Washington. At Mt. Washington, we drove to the top in our rental car and it was harrowing (but much cheaper)! Sorry you got sick at the end and missed Taylor Swift! Life is always a mixture of good and bad, I guess.
Argh! You were so close. 1 degree of separation. But still makes for a cool story and I bet your paths will cross again some other time.
The vacation looks awesome!