Carriage House / Stable

View from patio where we ate lunch

Interior of the stable cafe (these are the horse stalls)

View from the garden

Castle in the Clouds

No storms last night. A couple of sprinkles is all. We decided to explore around the area today. Planned on driving around Lake Winnipesaukee which is a huge lake—largest in New Hampshire and fifth largest in the US—according to a local. Saw a sign for Castle in the Clouds and decided to check it out. What a beautiful place! Was built by a guy named Plant who owned a bunch of shoe factories. Completed in 1914, he hired 1000 Italian stone masons out of Boston to do the stone work. He figured one stone mason could lay three stones a day. They were quarried on the property and cut into a five-sided shape—that’s why they could only do three a day. This place is built on top of a mountain. You drive up a winding road past beautiful waterfalls, spectacular vistas and come to the carriage house/stable. This beautiful building has been turned into a café. We had lunch there. Great food at a reasonable price and fantastic views of Lake Winnipesaukee. I had haddock rolled in Ritz cracker crumbs and baked in a lemon butter garlic sauce and a side salad of greens, dried cranberries, walnuts and cheese, and a large wedge of corn bread. Delicious! Mike had a great looking roast beef sandwich. From the carriage house you are taken to the castle by trolley. It’s a self-guided tour and you could wander around at your leisure. After touring the castle we continued our drive around Lake Winnipesaukee. One quaint town after another—and lots of other pristine little lakes. Stopped for ice cream at a place near the campground and then back home. Played cards in the screen room for a while. A beautiful, breezy evening. A perfect day—mid-80s.