New Hampshire: Summer on the Lake

Amidst a sweltering hot summer here in New England, Jordan has his annual week-long vacation from daycare, so we decide to bring him up to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire for an extended weekend getaway. For me, it’s an opportunity to introduce Jane and Jordan to the environs of Lake Winnipesaukee, which Lindsey and I explored in the autumn nearly two years ago. We’ve rented out a little two-bedroom condo beside the lake in Weirs Beach, just a couple doors down from the building that Lindsey and I stayed in. There’s some nostalgia here for me - in part because of that 2023 trip, and in part because the dog days of summer always seem to bring some wistfulness for the good ol’ days. A far cry from the grey and quiet but beautiful foliage season that Lindsey and I experienced that October, “Lake Winni” is a madhouse here in mid-July - the little condo village full of families unloading coolers from their minivans, dragging hyperactive toddlers and furry friends up and down the sidewalk between our building and the community pool. The boardwalk at Weirs Beach, all but abandoned and shuttered when we visited two years ago, is a hubbub of kids and their legal guardians running between pizza parlors and ice cream shops and the local Family Fun Center indoor arcade.

We arrive late on Saturday afternoon after a fun two-hour drive up from Boston, me in the backseat with Jordan, playing silly games and chatting about zombies (his latest favorite thing) the whole time. After we grab a few nights’ worth of groceries at the nearby Hannaford in Gilford, I make a last-minute decision to stop by the boardwalk before checking into our condo - even though Jordan is exhausted after having refused to nap at all in the car. Jordan immediately perks up and goes running off into the arcade (chased by Jane), while I hang around and photograph the lakefront. Jane and Jordan wander on down to the boat pier before we make the short drive up the hill to our accommodations. For dinner: rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, mac and cheese, cornbread with butter, and creamed spinach, along with fresh berries and fudge-swirl ice cream. After watching some TV (even though we don’t own a television, whenever we’re on vacation Jordan has genuine knack for locating Bluey on Disney Channel no matter what time of day it is) and taking a bath, Jordan announces “this is fun!” and promptly passes out in his travel crib. We all have an early night.

On Sunday, Jordan’s awake super early (like 5 AM early), probably as a result of having fallen asleep at 7 PM the night before. After a quick breakfast, we drive a few minutes out of Weirs Beach to the Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center, where Lindsey and I took a stroll through the woods during our autumn trip. That time, having initially missed the trailhead into the forest, we stumbled upon the nature center’s child play area, replete with tree forts, slides, and an outdoor kitchen and music set (pots and pans hammered onto a few tree trunks). Jordan falls in love with the place as soon as he realizes where he is: “playground in the forest!” he yells out. “Daddy, come here! Watch me slide!” He’s taken to talking to me largely in English, probably an artifact of his increasing chattiness at daycare, as well as the fact that I’ve admittedly been doing a worse job at maintaining Mandarin conversations with him even though I’m more fluent than Jane. But with some coaxing and encouragement, his Chinese is improving rapidly as well. Jordan runs around the treehouse/bridge structure for awhile before taking an interest in finding large sticks to bang on the nearby music set. All the while, Jane and I chase him with picaridin lotion, spray, and bug-repellent patches. I’m thankful that there’s finally someone in the household who is as delicious to mosquitoes as I am.

Back in the car, we head over to Beans & Greens Farm to play with the farm animals (goats, ducks, and a happy Bernese mountain dog) and have a hearty second breakfast. Jane and I get coffee, cider donuts, and two bagel sandwiches. Jordan devours the majority of my sandwich, having a slight tantrum when Jane unwittingly takes a bite of sausage patty without his permission. He says 太辣辣! (Tài là là = “Too spicy!”), which Jane erroneously interprets as no longer wanting the sausage. Big mistake. This is soon followed by cries of 修理! (xiū lǐ = “Fix it!”). While Jordan’s single functional neuron keeps firing over and over again, Jane patiently tries to explain that she cannot regurgitate and put the patty back together; she’s still learning how to respond to the toddler tantrum. I (having had a little more time around the block with learners of many ages and stages) give him a hug and remove him from all semblance of breakfast until he calms the fuck down.

After breakfast and abundant playtime in the farm’s backyard, we head back to the condo to take a brief rest. Jordan is exhausted after a busy early morning, and winds up taking his first mid-morning nap in over a year. Before noon, we head down to the lake shore for one of the highlights of the weekend: a scenic ride on the Winnipesaukee Railroad, which Lindsey and I saw steaming by with its (mostly geriatric) passengers that fall. The clientele today is not much different, though there are other kids and sightseers mixed in. We buy a bag of kettle corn on the train and enjoy the slow ride along the lake between Weirs Beach and Laconia and back again. Jordan will be talking about the “big red train by the lake” for quite a long time.

After lunch of leftovers (and a mango smoothie), we rest up at the condo for most of the afternoon (at least, I do - Jordan skips his afternoon nap and Jane takes him for a walk around the village). In the early evening, we head back to the Weirs Beach boardwalk for a very special sunset trip on the M/S Mount Washington - a princess-themed dinner cruise. I tell Jane that (given how much I hate cruise ships in general), this will probably be the closest we ever come to taking a Disney cruise as a family. All in all, it’s an enjoyable evening, well worth the $50pp price (Jordan at two years old was free) to gorge ourselves on somewhat shitty chicken tenders, mac-and-cheese, and pink lemonade while enjoying the breeze and the summer scenery. We each wander off onto the upper decks of the boat, Jordan excitedly climbing all the stairs he can find, while I move back and forth looking for nice light as the golden hour approaches. With the aid of my long lens, I get some nice landscape compositions involving beautiful side-lit trees, secluded islands, and distant mountains and shorelines under sunset light. Jordan meets Ariel and we take a photo of them together. He’s never seen the Little Mermaid. We head back uphill to the condo in the evening after filling up on gas.

On Monday morning, we head out early again (after Jordan’s breakfast of bread with cream cheese, peaches, and berries), this time headed north on a clockwise loop around Lake Winnipesaukee, in large part reprising the afternoon drive that Lindsey and I took here two autumns ago. We stop by Moulton Farm just east of Meredith, where unfortunately they only serve hot sandwiches on the weekend; we nevertheless grab a blueberry turnover and cheese-and-crackers to go, which Jordan promptly takes a liking to. We next pause at the south-facing beach in Center Harbor, where Jordan attempts to run onto the pier by himself while refusing to hold our hands (more parenting; a bit of whining and crying). All is well a few minutes later as he plays on the nearby playground set and watches “duck family” swim by at the water’s edge.

Our next stop of the morning is on the eastern shore of the lake, a short climb through the woods to the Abenaki Tower, a scenic fire-tower-looking structure overlooking Moultonborough Bay. Jordan is able the climb the three-story tower all by himself, even telling us “I’m not scary!” [I’m not scared] on the way back down the steep wooden steps. On the less-than-five-minute walk back downhill, I grab some of my favorite woodland photos of Jane and Jordan from this summer - them walking underneath a lush hardwood canopy, Jordan’s tummy poking out as he struts forward confidently - even as I flee back to the car to avoid biting insects.

On our final stop for the morning, we pause by the Nineteen-Mile Bay, where Lindsey and I stopped for portraits against a bank of retreating storm clouds and lovely afternoon autumn light. This morning, it’s still fairly overcast, but the morning sun is glaring and the air is thick with humidity. The only thing that is the same from two years ago is the little triangular sailboat anchored in the bay - oddly enough, it seems to have not moved an inch in the intervening years. I take a cute photo of Jane and Jordan here - Jordan cradding Mama’s chin for some reason - before we complete the loop, cruising through Wolfeboro and Alton Bay on our way back home. I take-out a fried seafood platter and lobster roll from Weathervane on the boardwalk while Jane and Jordan settle in for an afternoon rest. We spend the rest of the day lazing around, heading to the community pool to soak and swim, and watching a rollicking thunderstorm pass by over the lake. All good fun - an enjoyable summer getaway with the little one before the busy season kicks off in earnest.

New Hampshire: Return to the Lakes

After a week out west in Colorado, I return home to a busy but beautiful month of foliage viewing here in New England. This year, my parents (Jordan’s 阿公and 阿媽) are visiting from California, so in addition to spending time together in Brookline, I bring the entire family on a pair of extended weekend trips to New Hampshire and Western Mass. Over the Indigenous Peoples’ holiday weekend, we take a ride up to New Hampshire’s, to the region surrounding Lake Sunapee. Since Lindsey and I took a mid-week jaunt to the Lakes Region last year, I’ve wanted to return and explore a different part of the state. After moving Jordan’s car seat to their rental car and packing the trunk, the whole family jumps in for the two-hour ride on Saturday afternoon (the traffic out of the city is bad, but not nearly as bad as 2022’s Friday night rush hour apocalypse). Jordan alternately naps, snacks on cranberries and “pizza” (Jane’s latest invention: a white-bread sandwich with egg, ketchup, and cheese), and has Jane and my mom sing him nursery rhymes and songs on the ride up north. The ride is mostly uneventful, and the traffic fades away after we turn off I-93N just before Concord.

We check into our lodging, a rented cabin along the shore of Chalk Pond, a small freshwater pond in the hamlet of Newbury, just a few miles from Lake Sunapee. After exploring the waterfront and saying ‘hello’ to the mechanical owl on the nearby dock, Jordan settles in and begins playing in the downstairs basement, which features kids’ toys, figurines, and a cute little karaoke set. My mom and I head out to do groceries at the Hannaford’s in the town of New London, a few miles up the road; on the menu for tonight is a quickly salt-cured and butter-grileld flank steak served with ponzu-scallion chimichurri; a rustic ratatouille of cubed autumn vegetables; a pot of ditalini pasta with ham and corn (for Jordan), and fresh bread. After dinner, we relax in the living room, and Jordan gets to partake in a nice Yeh family vacation tradition: access to television! After setting some boundaries, we let the kiddo watch some of his favorite Youtube videos (wildlife documentaries, helicopers, and firetrucks) as he munches on sliced pear. At night, after everyone has gone to sleep, I set up my tripod from the comfort of the house and shoot some long-exposure scenes of the brightly lit cabin across the pond. The view from our house, framed by beautiful, flame-red sugar maples, will be a frequent subject over the next few days.

In the morning, the weather is misty and drizzly. Ater a lazy breakfast and a little more shooting out the back porch (from both upstairs in the living, and downstairs in the basement, which offer different perspectives on the lake with slightly different frames of foliage), Jane, Jordan, and I head out to circumnavigate Lake Sunapee and take a first pass at exploring the area while my parents relax. We stop first on the south shore of the lake, where despite the moody weather, Jordan is in excellent spirits and unusually cooperative with my efforts to grab a family photo. Sunapee (Algonquian, Soo-Nipi: "Wild Goose Waters"), though not nearly as large as last year’s Lake Winnipesaukee, is still quite impressive, and similar to New England’s other large lakes, it is a massive freshwater remnant of the last glacial retreat ten thousand years ago. Just a few feet down the road, we stop again to let Jordan toddle around the Bell Cove Caboose, which usually houses a one-room historic museum in its interior (not open this Sunday morning, though Jordan obviously does not mind). After he has his fun running up and down the nearby wheelchair ramp multiple times, we continue northward to Sunapee Harbor.

Parking by the waterfront, we take a look around the area; Jane and Jordan climb into a nearby ski lift car (for fun), while I admire the foliage. We wind up taking a brief walk along the Sugar River, which forms the outlet for the main lake and eventually flows westward into the Connecticut River. By the river, there are beautiful maple trees with deep red and orange hues; I photograph the trees, their reflections, their leaves fallen in the water, and some poorly tolerated attempts at family portraits on the nearby covered bridge. We make a mental note to bring Grandma and Grandpa back here later in the day.

After stopping in a nearby bakery/deli and purchasing a handful of treats for home (some maple donuts and whoopie pie), we finish our trip around the north side of the lake, returning back to Chalk Pond in time for Jordan (who is gradually melting down) to eat a quick lunch of leftover pasta and go down for his mid-day nap. Jane and I follow suit after a lunch of open-face sliced turkey sandwiches with crushed walnuts and cranberry jam.

In the afternoon, after the entire family is awake (and after some obligatory photos from the back porch, where Chalk Pond is now beautifully calm and reflective), we pile back into the car, this time with the grandparents, to re-visit Sunapee Harbor. Along the way, we stop near Herrick Cove to admire the scenery and photograph the nearby lighthouse. I take some cute photos of Jordan with his grandparents on the nearby dock, Jordan nonchalantly ripping off his jacket hoodie (the child is less impervious to unwanted clothing than he is to the cold, apparently). At Sunapee Harbor, my parents walk around the Sugar River bridge and admire the foliage, and we take a tripod portrait of all five of us together, beneath the covered bridge with the river and foliage as a backdrop.

By this point, the sky is growing dark, and the weather no less rainy and threatening, so we complete the loop (going the opposite direction as we did in the morning). Along the way, we decide spontaneously to stop off at Bubba’s Bar and Grille, in Newbury at the south end of the lake. Jordan being a toddler now, it’s nice that we can be spontaneous and go to restaurants together as a family — although he must travel, of course, with his little lunchbox that includes bibs, towels, baby utensils, and a healthy helping of pre-washed berries and snacks. The food tonight is decidedly average; I have a fried seafood platter and my mom has a hot lobster roll that are roughly as advertised; Jane has a bizarrely vinegarey risotto; and my dad has a fairly undercooked bison burger. Jordan, with his kid’s menu order of Kraft Mac and Cheese, makes out the happiest, scarfing down his meal along with some donated lobster from his grandma. After filling up the car at the nearby gas station, we make the short drive a few minutes back to Chalk Pond Road and settle in for the night.

New Hampshire: Around Sunapee

On Monday, our last full day in the Sunapee region, we again awaken to foggy, rainy conditions on Chalk Pond. After breakfast at home, we again climb into the car for a bit more exploring, heading north again along NH-103A. This time, we park in the large park-and-ride lot near the town of New London, and cross the street into the short forest trail that climbs up to Clark’s Lookout. The walk is chilly but pleasant, with the birch and oak forest providing a good bit of shelter from the faint rain. At the top, we see a foggy but beautiful overlook of Lake Sunapee’s northern reaches, framed by colorful oak canopies and blueberry bushes in the undergrowth. We take some family portraits here: Jane and me with Jordan, and again all five of us with a tripod shot. Jordan, for his part, happily cooperates as long as I keep him entertained by dancing and making a fool of myself for a few seconds as the camera timer counts down toward the shot.

Back at the car, we continue east onto Newport Road and soon turn off onto Little Sunapee Lake Road, to go poking around the smaller lake that is Sunapee’s more intimate, quiet cousin. At the boat launch on the lake’s western end, I photograph a beautiful maple tree, along with distant shots of mist rising from the lake and partially obscuring the colorful foliage of the opposite shore. Then, we continue our drive, winding up at Spring Ledge Farm just outside of New London. Jordan has become an old hand at these New England farmstands: he happily goes bouncing between the piles of pumpkins displayed outside of the farm store, and I take a photo of him and Jane standing beside a derelict tractor (“trac-tah!”) just outside of the farm’s sorghum maze. After exploring the premises and documenting some of the beautiful foliage in the nearby woods, we buy Jordan a little baby pumpkin. The folks minding the farmstand are incredibly gracious when we ask whether they still have any cider donuts on sale (for the grandparents have never had these before, and I was hoping to have them try); they wind up digging into the back storeroom and giving us a box of day-old donuts (leftover from the weekend rush) free of charge! A glowing example of small-town New England kindness, and one of the reasons I love traveling in this region so much.

Back at home, after a sampling of the donuts and another lunch of leftovers, it’s naptime again (for, basically, the entire family, as we are all running on the toddler’s one-nap schedule).

Post-nap, we awaken feeling refreshed. After some family photos on the back porch with Chalk Pond’s foliage in the background, we again set off around the shores of Lake Sunapee, this time winding our way south, poking into some lakeside drives, and detouring over to Lake Sunapee State Beach, which is deserted for the season. Here, Jordan instantly runs off to go check out the nearby playground (unfortunately, the slide is wet), while I pace along the water’s edge, photographing the distant boathouses. Near the parking lot, one of the most colorful, ruby-red maples I have seen all week (which is saying a lot) is putting on a show; I take some time carefully composing both horizontal and vertical shots featuring this tree’s beautiful foliage.

To close out the evening, we drive back up to Sunapee Harbor, spending some time exploring the harbor area that my parents missed in yesterday’s rain. Out on the dock, we take some family photos (Jordan gradually less and less cooperative, as he just wants to explore and see the boats). Jordan and the rest of the family wind up watching a local dude take his boat out of the water with his pickup truck, while I head into Harborside Trading to peruse the gifts and pick up our trip magnet. With the sun beginning to set, we do a loop along Lake Avenue to see more of Sunapee’s waterfront houses, before ultimately taking the scenic route home, northward along Jobs Creek Road. After another fantastic home-cooked meal (baked salmon in ponzu, and grilled boneless shortrib marinated in garlic soy), we head home to Boston the following morning; my parents buy a cake to celebrate Jane’s birthday before they head home to Plymouth.