YUMMY PANCAKES AND LOT OF THINGS TO SEE

Wednesday, September 25

We had a full and busy day today.  

      Me, Jenna, Eunice, Earl, Linda, Lyle, Mary & Ron ready to eat pancakes.

At 8:30 we all met to ride share to Polly's Pancake House for breakfast.  Polly's Pancake House was established in the 1930's and serves breakfast from Mother's Day until mid-October.

 I had six 3" pancakes - 2 each of buckwheat, cornmeal, and buttermilk-oatmeal stuffed with walnuts, blueberries and coconut with REAL maple syrup made in New Hampshire.  They were delicious!  Jenna had three blueberry pancakes and bacon.  I think she liked it too.

      Carol, Eunice and Jenna pose across the road from Polly's Pancake House

After breakfast we went down the road about a mile to the Sugar Hill Sampler Museum.  

     The large bushes behind the chairs and car are hydrangeas.  The are huge up here. 

This was basically a large gift shop with a small museum about the Sugar Hill area.  It was probably the best gift shop we have been to, and we have been to a few on this trip.  Sugar Hill is the name of a small community in New Hampshire and the museum told of its history and the people who have lived there.  It was located in an old barn that has been converted into a store.  The used huge timbers to build the barn's framework.  The floors were uneven and it was very rustic, but a neat place to visit.

We went on down the road another mile or two to Harman's Cheese and Country Store.  

This was an old, old general store that mainly had products from New Hampshire - lots of cheese, syrup, jellys, etc.  Parking was limited so Earl parked on the grass.  That turned out to be a big mistake.  When we got ready to leave we were stuck in the soft turf.  

Try as much as we did, we couldn't budge his truck.  Earl, Jenna and I all pushed while Eunice tried to drive it out.  Even boards under the wheels didn't help.  Finally, the owners of the store call someone who brought a truck to tow us out.  They acted like this was a common occurrence.  Earl, however, was not a happy camper.

Next we went to the town of Bath, New Hampshire to visit the Oldest Country Store in America.  It was located next to an old Congregational Church

and the longest covered bridge in New Hampshire.   The store was established around 1790 and has been in continuous operation ever since. They sell homemade fudge, books candy, cheese, and a variety of New Hampshire souvenirs. Next to the store is the longest covered bridge in New Hampshire. However it was closed due to reconstruction The original bridge was built in 1794 to span the Ammonoosuc River. It has been replaced 5 times due to flooding and fires. The one lane bridge with a covered sidewalk is 374' 6" long and 24' 6" wide. I was unable to get a good picture of the bridge due to the construction.

       The Cash Cow is a ATM on wheels.  Never seen one like it. 

Next we went to the Rock Christmas Tree Farm. Located on 1400 rolling acres the Rock Estate takes in breathtaking view of the White Mountains' Presidential Range. The estate was purchased by John Glessner, a cofounder of International Harvester farm equipment in 1882. The estate is now a part of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests which maintains an active conservation and education center on the farm.

The director of the program entertained us wth a slide presentation about Moose and Bears in New Hampshire. He told us how these animals live in the wild and how the Society is trying to protect them and the forests in the state. He had acual antlers from Moose that he has collected on the farm. He passed them around so we could see how heavy they are.  He also told us about their Christmas tree program.

They harvest 5000 trees each year and ship trees all over the country. Many people in the New England area also come to the farm to cut their own trees. This whole program was very interesting. 

Another product from the farm is maple syrup. A staffmember from the farm took us to their

sugarhouse/museum where we watched a film about sugarmaking (that's making syrup to you and me). The tap 5000 trees and have 5 miles of plastic tubing to bring the sap to collection points.It is then transported to the sugarhouse and processed into syrup.

       Some of the miles of tubing to transport the sap to the sugarhouse.

We returned to the campground about 5:30 and cooked dinner. It was a long but very interesting and fun day. Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing. We will take an ariel tram ride and visit a flume gorge. More about that tomorrow. Until then, Happy Trails!