Getaway to the Mount Washington Hotel

Hubby and I got away for a couple of nights earlier this week to the stately and historic Mount Washington Hotel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We have an ongoing passion for these grand dames of the hotel heydays of the late-19th century to early-20th century, and we have stayed at quite a few over the years. But the Mount Washington is definitely one of our favorites!

We arrived under stormy skies and rain, which is a bit unusual for February in New Hampshire.

We checked in and immediately caught the history tour that was already in progress.

We learned that the hotel was built in 1902. Entire families would come here for the summer. Among one of its noted moments was to host the meeting, near the end of WWII, that set up the International Monetary Fund. We learned the small chandeliers are original to the building and were personally designed by Thomas Edison. The large chandeliers were installed in the 1920's...good call! The Windsor chairs are original to the building, and the carpets were custom made for it.

Hubby is a night owl, and I am a morning person. Hotel stays can be problematic, because I'm wide awake by six, and he'd like to sleep until nine. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you negotiate around it? This time, I busied myself with a long, hot shower and photographing the exquisite period details in the bathroom...marble floor tiles and aged brass doorknobs on the original mahogany doors. Details like this make me so happy!

And then room service was delivered. Yes! Chamomile tea and orange juice to accompany my journaling and reading is such a gentle way to start the day. Bliss.

Headed down to start the day! 

It was a beautiful day, and we visited the nordic center and set off on our snowshoes for about four miles worth of trekking on the resort's cross country/snowshoe trails. The snow was more like packed ice due to the rain the day before. But we enjoyed the meandering trails and the almost near solitude of our trek.

After a tasty lunch, he settled into a comfortable chair to read. And I spent a few hours at the spa. The spa at the Mount Washington is sooo relaxing! Can't say enough good things about it...positively rejuvenating!

And late that evening, we decided to bravely try the outdoor pool. The air temperature was 18 degrees. And the pool is heated to 92 degrees. May I just say that 92 degrees does not feel like 92 degrees when the air temperature is that cold! Brrrr. And then there's that little bit about having to get out. Cold. Just SO cold. We recovered ourselves by jumping in the indoor pool as soon as we were back inside. The indoor pool at the Mount Washington was the first ever pool in a hotel in the United States.

The next morning, we had breakfast in the main dining room.

Breakfast out is such a rare, rare treat for me. And in all honesty, I'd rather have breakfast out than dinner. This breakfast buffet included: made to order omelettes, made to order Belgian waffles, cranberry-almond pancakes, French toast, oatmeal, cereals, eggs, fingerling potatoes with onions and herbs, bagels, toast, bacon, three different types of sausage (including blueberry sausage, which was delicious!), a choice of three different types of salsa, three different types of butter (goat butter, cultured butter, and "Presidential butter", which Hubby says, "Tastes like...butter."), three choices of honey, and so much more! 

After thoroughly enjoying this feast and several cups of chamomile tea, it was time to check out. It was delightful to get away for a couple of days and really relax! Until next time, Mount Washington, it was great!