August events in Fryeburg and North Conway

Phew!  July certainly blew through here at a rapid pace.  We can’t believe that Maine Camp visiting weekends are over for another year and that we’ve said farewell to some guests we’ve now known seven years and whose kids have grown up before our very eyes.  Next year we’ll see some new faces around the breakfast table.

The main headline of course, is the weather.  Just how much rain can we possibly get?  If you don’t mind getting a bit wet though, its a really good time to visit us here in Fryeburg and get out into the beautiful mountains, where water is simply cascading off our waterfalls, and the rivers are providing a much more fun kayaking experience than is common at this time of year.  Of course, the traffic through North Conway is horrible, but we can certainly show you the short-cuts and ways around the worst of it.

Two new restaurants are open in town.  Right in the heart of North Conway village is Wine Thyme.  This combined wine/cheese shop and tapas style restaurant has a great patio from which you can people-watch.  And the food isn’t bad either!  Or try the Black Cap Grille down by the new LL Bean store.  Organic local ingredients, a put-it-together yourself burger menu and a contemporary modern decor make this place unlike any other in the valley.

August is bringing a whole host of events to the valley too.  Here’s just a selection:

• Summer theatre is in full swing with “Hello Dolly” at the Eastern Slope Playhouse, Aug 4 – 16
• The annual Mountain Bike race, 24 hours of Great Glen, takes place Aug 8 & 9.  Come and cheer on the racers and enjoy the festivities under the event tent.
• If you have a bumper sticker with “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington”, August 8 is the day to put it back on your car for a free pass up the Mt Washington Auto road to celebrate its 148th birthday.
• Comedienne Paula Poundstone is back at SMAC, August 15.  Why not make a weekend of it by staying here with us and using your 10% SMAC discount.
• Discover the secrets of really good home brew with our own Derrek Schlottmann, Aug 22.  Book your spot on our Beginner’s Brewing weekend
• The 21st Annual Bach Festival takes place in the Pavilion, Cranmore Mountain Aug 23, 28, 29 & 30.

And the Tweet goes on ….

As many of you know by now, Derrek and I aren’t fazed by technology having come into the world of innkeeping from various ends of the Tech world.  However I have to say that the whole Social Media craze is somehow baffling me.  Facebook is great and we love it, both for the inn, where we’re able to distribute news and things of interest to our growing band of fans, quickly and efficiently, and our own personal pages where we’ve connected with friends we haven’t heard from in many years.  But Twitter … well what can I say, except that quite honestly, I’m bored.  The concept is great and appeals to my attention span at least.  But when all I seem to get from those I follow is either a litany of ads, one after the other (yes certain other innkeepers, that’s you) or constant tweets from other consulting professionals harping on about their latest irritations (do you have nothing better to do?) then I start to wonder what its all for.  As with all the marketing we do, we measure.  And so far, the Twitter bug hasn’t caught our guests (or is it the other way around?) potential or otherwise.  And that, folks, is the only reason I’d keep it up – as a means of quick and useful communication between them and us.  Maybe I’m following the wrong people but honestly, I’m far too busy with our guests that are here and with what’s going on in my own backyard to be interested in what other bed and breakfasts served for their guests that morning or what the weather is doing in some far flung corner of the continent.  However, the tweets will continue for now, until I’m absolutely convinced of its uselessness.  Anyone beg to differ?

A ride round western Maine

One of the things we love to do during the Spring is get out and about and see what’s happening outside the confines of Fryeburg.  We always joke with our neighbours that we all seem to go into hibernation here as we never see anyone between January and when the snow melts, so the recent nice weather and relative lack of guests was a great excuse to leave and go see some friends.

Recent guests of ours, Lauren and Steve Letourneau, have a beautiful nursery just over an hour north of North Conway, so last weekend we took ourselves up there to see them and get some ideas for the garden this year.  Not only do we now have a list of plants to get next trip, but we also managed to see 3 Moose and some wonderful scenery on our trip that took us home the pretty way, via Lake Umbagog.  This beautiful lake straddles New Hampshire and Maine and the views over it are magnificent, especially from the Maine side.

Click on the photo for a little taster of our trip, and thanks to Derrek’s Garmin, here’s the route.  Why not check it out for yourself the next time you’re here!

Admiral Peary House goes 21st Century!

Well, we’ve finally made it into the 21st century.  A bit late really considering both Derrek and I are former tech geeks, but over the past month, not only have we made it onto Facebook, with a fan page especially for the inn, but we’re also both Twitterers!  See – look right.  There we are, tweeting away.  Anyway, if you’re a social media buff too and you’d like to  become a Fan and/or follow us on, Hilary is at HilaryJonesME and Derrek is jderreks!  Look forward to seeing you in cyberspace!

Spring is springing

Spring is springing…or at least the snow is melting. We’ve been busy cleaning up what I missed before the winter. This weekend we saw the return of Mr. And Mrs. Duck to our lawn/pond. We were worried that it might dry up before they arrived, but, no worries, they have plenty of swimming space still. The cardinals have also returned, I may have to believe that spring is really here, even if it is early April.

Jonathan and I are beginning the planning for our Cinco de Mayo dinner at the Oxford House. If you want to have the best Mexican food in the Northeast (not that I’m biased), book a table early and enjoy the evening.  For those not in the know, its on May 5th!

Hilary and I are also getting ready for our Spring Herb tour and thanks to Lauren and Steve, very recent guests, I now have a great supply of sage for my culinary creations. And speaking of culinary stuff, I’m still brewing beer and I think that soon I’m going to ditch the kits and begin building my own recipe. I think a Pebbles’ Porter and an Emmy Ale will be forthcoming. For all you curious about brewing, let me know if you’d be interested in a brewing weekend with me, I’m sure we could have some great fun coupled with craft beer and some good food. And, speaking of beer, We’re going down to Virginia Beach for a huge brew festival next week, that should be fun.

I’ve also been riding my bike already, seems strange that I’ve already been up the Kanc in March. Hilary has also been out on here sweet new(ish) road bike. If anyone is curious about basic tune-up bike maintenance let me know, I’m sure we could work out a nice package with some maintenance clinics, some tools, a great Park Tool maintenance manual, and of course some good miles to test the bikes in North Fryeburg.