Week 17 (Continued) - New Hampshire (Live Free or Die)

Hello Family and Friends,

We are on our way to Niagara Falls, but on our way we spent the night in New Hampshire. We stayed at the Omni Mount Washington Resort and Spa. OMG!!! You guys, this hotel is just a jewel. It has the widests hallways I have ever seen and grounds of the resort are expansive.

This is the view when approaching the property down their private road.

 Entrance to the adult only hotel bar. It was a speakeasy during prohibition.

 Bruce living his best life on our morning walk.

The Ammonoosuc River running along the back of the property. Something about the water and the mountains got me a little emotional.

We were technically there in the off season as the hotel is a destination for skiers who want to ski on Mount Washington. However, we found the hotel because we wanted to ride the Cog Railway. We had no idea the hotel was going to be so amazing and full of history. We found out during our hotel tour that the reason the hotel was built was because of people doing the same thing we were doing, visiting to the Cog Railway. The railway was the first of it's kind to go up a mountain for the sole purpose of making the summit of Mount Washington more accessible. The railway was so popular that there were 40 different grand hotels at one time. Now there are only 5 remaining.

Touring this hotel is walking through history. The wiring design was done by Thomas Edison and installed by his power company. The chandelier in the dining room is one of two custom pieces. The other is at the bottom of the ocean in the Titanic. There is also this room called the "Gold Room". It is significant not because the chairs are painted gold, but it is the site of where the IMF (International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created post WWII. Now I am not a history buff at all, but all the history that was packed into this beautiful space had me wanting to buy the tour book.

The gold room where the United Nations conference was held. It was a gathering of delegates from 44 allied nations that established the World Bank group and the International Monetary Fund. They accomplished this in 3 weeks while being served and endless supply of Coca-Cola (the old pharmaceutical kind).

These are just the little tidbits I remember from our tour. I could explore the grounds for a full day and I might see the highlights.

The actual breaker box for the property is an antique.

View of Mount Washington from the Omni Grand Washington Resort & Spa.

I told Brett that we must come back and spend more time here. Even if you never stay at the Omni, the hotel is a historic building and open to the public. Anyone can take the tour of the hotel, eat at the restaurant, enjoy the spa and walk the grounds. I mean Brett has taken me to some very nice hotels, but this one is like nowhere else we have stayed!

That is just the hotel. The whole reason for our stop over was the Cog Railway, which was also incredible. We started out at the bottom of Mount Washington with a clear 55 degree day. We got to the top of the mountain where the temperature was 22 degrees and 9 degrees with the wind chill. The guide told us that Mount Washington has the worst weather in the country due to 3 weather systems that converge at this location. It is just mind boggling that 3 miles can change the weather that much!

Riding into the clouds up Mount Washington.

The summit of Mount Washington.

Brett just chillin at the summit of Mount Washington.

The view up the mountain as we head down.

The view looking down the mountain once we exit the clouds of Mount Washington.

We are just thrilled that we happened upon this grand treasure. Experiences like these are what road trips are all about.