A Weekend in the White Mountains

This past weekend Rain and I had the pleasure to stay at a little treasure right on the border of New Hampshire and Maine. In the town Fryeburg, we were the guests of The Admiral Peary Inn Bed and Breakfast. Our stay there, allowed us to research and review activities that we thought our readers might enjoy themselves during a free weekend or longer.

The weekend consisted of where to stay, what to do, and where to eat. These three are usually what people have the hardest time making decisions on. On top of that, we know firsthand that sometimes when you research places to stay or things to do, you are not given the whole picture or maybe it’s just unclear on what to expect.

This is where we come in. Rain and I travel around for you; we put the trips to the test to make sure you have the best experience, as well as providing you with accurate expectations. When traveling to the White Mountains region, you can expect a week, or weekend filled with outdoor adventures. This ranges from hiking and skiing, to fishing and canoeing, or camping and swimming and many more. What some people aren’t familiar with are the activities that are offered in the neighboring town of Fryeburg, which we will explain in this post.

Where We Stayed

If you need a place to stay, whether it is a long weekend, short weekend, or an entire week, you will not be disappointed by staying at the Admiral Peary Inn B&B. The owner, Donna, makes you feel right at home. She wants to make sure that you are cozy, comfortable and having the best experience. With a large common area, and kitchen you won’t feel the need to sit in your room during the times between your excursions. With seven unique rooms to choose from, ranging from the African Serengeti, Paris, France, Asia and late 1800’s America.  We had the pleasure of staying in the Serengeti Room, which was filled with leopard print, elephants and bamboo shades. Each room has its own character and style taken from different corners of the world that Donna has traveled to, aside from the Admirals Quarters. The Admirals Quarters is a room based on what Admiral Peary and his family would have stayed in on the ships during expeditions.

The common areas include a large living space with plenty of seating, a TV, a pool table and a pantry where the guests can help themselves to food/snacks and drinks throughout their stay. On the other side of the house, you have three additional rooms that include a dinning room, another living room, and a personal library! The Library has bookshelves from floor to ceiling and has a “Take one – Leave one” Policy. If you have some down time or you’re looking to pass the time you might find a good read from the hundreds of options.

For all you fur baby lovers out there, our Hostess has three of her own, Daisy, Gizmo, and Sasha. Daisy and Gizmo are both dogs, with Daisy being a big teddy bear filled with love and cuddles; Gizmo on the other hand has the life of the party energy at all times. So don’t be thrown off with his short stature, he has the love and energy to keep you occupied for more time than you think. Sasha is the house cat who enjoys her meals as much as a good petting.

Each of the rooms has their own bathroom, closet, and furniture. They are always perfectly clean and tidy, providing you with comfortable living space while keeping your bags and other accessories out of the way. The house itself has been standing since the late 19^th century, meaning plenty of character and history has passed through its doors. This fascinating little treasure happened to be the home of great Admiral Peary himself, you know the one who trekked to the Arctic North Pole. Yeah, that dude. So, why wouldn’t you want to stay at the house that was housed by the dude who knocked on Santa’s front door?

More information on the rooms and history can be found here https://www.admiralpearyinn.com/

Each room has their own thermostat and deadbolt lock, providing security and comfort throughout the night or day. Below are the names of the rooms with the theme named.

Serengeti – African Inspired

Oriental – Japanese Inspired

The Admiral’s Quarters – Victorian Inspired

Paris – French Inspired

Tuscany  – Italy Inspired

Panama  – South American Inspired

The English Garden  – U.K. Inspired

To top it all off, breakfast is included for each morning of your stay. You can’t really beat homemade food when you’re on vacation. Each morning Donna arranges a breakfast time that works for everyone staying at the Inn. We had the pleasure of having two fantastic meals provided for us each morning. The first morning we were presented with a yogurt parfait, made with vanilla Greek Yogurt, strawberries, and granola topped with warm caramel! That was just the first portion too! What came next were a vegetable frittata, warm carrot cake muffins and bacon. Not a breakfast so easily beat, so we thought.

Our next morning, we had what I could only describe as blueberry heaven. It was a blueberry French toast casserole with a blueberry glaze syrup, and topped with more blueberries. Let’s just say I had to contain myself on the number of servings.

Places To Eat 

Staying in Fryeburg there are a few places to eat. The Oxford House Restaurant and the 302 West Smokehouse and Tavern, and a few pizza places, personally we liked Frye’s. Both all are equally delicious! The Oxford House is also in conjunction with its own inn, but thankfully the restaurant is open to the public and not just guests of the inn.

Whether you’re snowmobiling, exploring the outlets stores in North Conway, or taking and extravagant adventure in the White Mountains, there are a few good options for food. If you’re looking a nice place to sit down and have a meal the Oxford House is a good place to start, however, if you are just in the mood to grab and go, I would recommend going to Frye’s which is about 10 minutes from the Admiral Peary’s Inn. This is similar to a pizza shop, with all the comfort food options your heart could desire. Not to mention the staff there were great! They offer pizza, subs, burgers and even lobster rolls!

What We Did and What You Can Do

The Kancamagus Highway separates the two larger towns in the White Mountains, Lincoln and Conway. Spending time on the Eastern side will give you access to the outlet shops, hiking trails, restaurants and a massively extensive trail system for those looking to ride ATV’s or snowmobiles.

If you don’t have an ATV or snowmobile, I would strongly encourage you to check out the North East Snowmobile and ATV Rental. Their Fryeburg location was only a five-minute walk from the Admiral Peary Inn. They also have three locations! (Fryeburg and Gorham, Maine and North Conway, New Hampshire) Not only will you be having a fantastic time on the trails in any season, but also you can’t beat the customer service. The guys there are amazing, extremely helpful and prioritize that you and your group have the best experience as possible. Rain and I had the pleasure to renting a snowmobile from them for a few hours during our weekend.

If this is something you are interested in, it is advised to you book in advance of your trip, as these guys are really busy at times. When you arrive, you fill out the basic release forms and finish all the payments. Don’t forget about that last part, when make your reservation online (highly recommended and ahead of time) you are only charged for a small deposit for you time slot. When you arrive, you will finish the remainder of the fee.

After that, they show you the trail system and what trail loop you should follow that best suits the time slot you have booked. They provide a pocket size map for you to bring and highlight the loops for you and mark all the locations that you need to look for. They also provide a GPS locator for you in case of any small emergencies or assistance needed, like breaking down or getting lost, or even small medical injuries. If you get lost they give you the number to call them and use your location to guide you back on track. In addition to the GPS locator, you are also given a distress beacon that works via satellite for any serious emergencies; which in turn will dispatch multiple, professional rescue teams. There is a $500 fee for every use, so don’t use it for a flat tire or if you get lost. Use this distress beacon for real emergencies like a serious injury.

Other activities within the White Mountains include; hiking any of 48 peaks or tons of walking trails, camping, swimming, kayaking and canoeing through the Saco River, skiing at Loon mountain, the Fryeburg Fair in October, wine tastings, the cookie tour in December and shopping at the Settlers Green Outlets in North Conway. The area offers lots to do for any season.

For us, because we were traveling during the winter season, we chose to do snowmobiling, dinner, and watching the sunset and stars over the White Mountains. We wanted to take advantage of the low light pollution on the Kancamagus highway to take star photos; our results were not disappointing for our first time. We have been trying to catch the stars with our camera a few times before this trip, but hadn’t gotten all the settings right on our camera. When we finally got the star photos over the mountains we were jumping in excitement!

The weekend stay started Friday night for us, and we spent all Saturday exploring and snowmobiling. The last day of the weekend we stayed all cozy in the Admiral Peary’s Inn where we had an excellent breakfast, watched the snow fall and took pictures of the Inn. All in all, it was great time and excellent experience. We would recommend if you had a spare weekend and are looking for some adventure, book a night at the Admiral’s and take a trip through the trails on either an ATV or snowmobile!