We're Goin' to Jackson...Look Out Jackson Town!

 

For our 19th (!) wedding anniversary in September, we had a quick (but lovely) two-night trip to Jackson, NH. Jackson is just north of North Conway, NH, which is a very popular New England destination for tourists.

My Mom volunteered to watch Murray so we wouldn't have to put in him in a kennel (thanks Mom!), so that was comforting knowing he was at home and with someone he knew. My Mom came over on Sunday, September 11th and brought with her the Boston Globe. Interestingly enough, in the Globe Magazine, there was an article entitled, "Perfectly Picturesque New England Destinations." One of the destinations featured? Jackson, NH!

The next day, we drove to Jackson. That's one of the nice things about New England- you can drive to another state in a reasonable amount of time and "get away." It took a little over two hours to get to the area. We pulled over at a  "Scenic Outlook" on the way but honestly? It wasn't that scenic, so no photos.

Since we couldn't check into our room until later in the afternoon, we stopped for lunch at Moat Mountain Smokehouse & Brewery in North Conway, which was recommended by a friend. It was a beautiful day out so we sat outside. We knew we'd have a big dinner that night so we got two appetizers- Long Horn Nachos (smoked brisket) and Moat Mountain Potstickers. Both were delicious but the nachos? Amazing!

(That's a watermelon martini in the photo. Let's just say you didn't want to light a match near my breath after that... 😆)

Next, we drove up to the Christmas Farm Inn in Jackson, where we stayed (and incidentally was featured in the Globe article!)

They have a variety of types of lodging- rooms in the Main Inn or the Barn, standalone cottages, and suites with porches. We had a suite with a porch. While it was somewhat old-fashioned looking, the little porch was nice (and would be great during foliage season) and the electric fireplace was awesome! I sat in front of that reading and staying toasty while John napped.

And if there was any question we were in Northern New England...

(Yes, this was in our room, along with the tourist brochures...lol)

That night we ate at the restaurant at the Inn. It was our anniversary dinner (even though our anniversary wasn't until the next day) and it was great! (The restaurant in the Inn was not open on Tuesday night, so we decided to have our "fancy" dinner the night before. That's something that I noticed- many places we wanted to try to eat at were either closed the entire time we were there and only open at the end of the week or closed Tuesday, not open Monday, etc... All that to say- research these things ahead of time!)

I didn't take any pictures as I wanted to be as free from my phone as I could be, but I'll describe. John had Sangria and I had a Cosmo to drink- both good. For appetizers, we got Grilled Brie (delicious!) and Bacon-Wrapped Scallops (also delicious!). John had Veal Schnitzel (which he said was excellent) and I had the turkey dinner. OK- I know that sounds weird, but that area is known for turkey farms and can I just say that was THE freshest/most delicious turkey I've ever had? We had Tiramisu for dessert, which frankly pushed us both over the edge- we were SO FULL! (Luckily we made it up the hill back to our room!)

The next day we did some sightseeing- we went to Diana's Baths Waterfalls in North Conway and Cathedral Ledge State Park in Bartlett. Both beautiful places (again, I bet they're amazing during foliage season) at which we enjoyed nature and the surrounding vistas.

We had lunch at Horsefeathers in North Conway, which was OK. It's a local pub with sandwiches, etc... We did a little shopping while we were in downtown North Conway and picked up some goodies at one of the many old fashioned general stores.

Next we headed back to the Inn, as we were scheduled for foot soaks and foot massages at the spa. I have to say I was somewhat disappointed with this. The foot soaks were in regular pedicure tubs (vs. fancy bowls with rocks in the bottom, which I've gotten at foot spas). On top of that, one of the pedicure chairs was broken, so no massage and the jet was broken in the other pedicure tub. (I will say that they gave us a 10% discount because of that.) The masseuse was basically like- want me to throw some oil in there? (Again, I'm used to choosing a specific soak.) The foot massage was decent, but again, not what I envisioned.

That night we ate at the Red Fox Bar & Grille in Jackson. It was good (but not as good at the first night's meal).  We had frozen margaritas with raspberry puree (I loved it, but John not so much- and it was the cause of frequent brain freeze!) He started out with French Onion Soup (which he said was one of the best he's ever had) and then I had Mediterranean Haddock and he had ribs & shrimp. The entrees were just OK. We also split maple bacon Brussels sprouts, which again- just OK.

Wednesday morning we packed up and headed out, but not before a visit to White Mountain Puzzles headquarters right down the street from the Inn. There were so many to choose from, but we walked away with these two:

All in all it was a wonderful vacation to celebrate 19th years of wedded bliss!