Mount Washington Valley News Brought To You By Horsefeathers

Listed as one of the most often chosen activity on a trip to New Hampshire, shopping is an important aspect of a trip to Mt. Washington Valley. With literally hundreds of choices from outlets to boutiques to craft and antique shops, Mt. Washington Valley features something for every shopper, no matter what their age or interest! The Mt. Washington Valley is known as one of the top New England shopping destinations. Boasting over 200 nationally-recognized manufacturers outlets, boutiques, antique and craft shops, it attracts visitors from all over the world because of the tax-free shopping!

Outlet Shopping Settlers’ Green Outlet Village Plus and a few other outlet malls are at the forefront of the outlet shopping available in Mt. Washington Valley. Offering more than 100 nationally recognized brand name manufacturer outlet stores between the two, shoppers will find some of their all-time favorites including L.L. Bean, Nike, GAP, Brooks Brothers, Polo Ralph Lauren, Orvis, OshKosh B’Gosh, Jockey, Brookstone, Chuck Roast, and many more. With newly expanded retail space, Settler’s Green now occupies two locations across the street from one another on Route 16.  In addition to those found at Setters’ Green, look for local manufacturers including Ragged Mtn., Framed Art Outlet, and Lennox. They can all be found along a one-mile strip of Route 16 in North Conway.

Specialty Shopping Much of the specialty shopping including boutiques and gift shops is found in North Conway Village, just north of the “outlet strip”. Choose from such wonderful purveyors of New England Products and gifts as Zeb’s Country Store (the largest collection of New England specialty products in the country), On A Clear Day. You’ll find beautiful hand made jewelry and goods at the League of NH Craftsman, Beggar Pouch, Spectrum Gifts and Essence of Art. The Handcrafters Barn is a 365-day virtual craft fair with over 300 booths offering hand-made items from throughout New England. Sports Shops With all the options of on the outdoors Mt. Washington Valley offers, there are a wide range of sports, bicycle and ski shops throughout the Valley. Ski shops turn their focus to cycling, hiking and outdoor gear in the summer. Look for a wide range of summer and winter sports equipment and apparel at Joe Jones, Stan & Dan’s, Dave’s Golf Shop, Jack Frost Ski Shop in Jackson, Eastern Mountain Sports, Ragged Mountain Equipment, Sports Outlet Shop, specializing in biking, paddling and kayak equipment in the summer months. There are also 10 antique stores carrying treasures throughout the Valley, and galleries galore too.

Outside North Conway The Villages of Jackson, Freedom, Tamworth, Eaton, Madison, Gorham, Conway Village and Bartlett all offer quaint antique and country stores. It’s worth the scenic drive to visit these villages to poke around through their galleries and country stores.

For more info on the myriad of shopping possibilities, visit www.mtwashingtonvalley.org and click on shopping.

The Mount Washington Valley is home to several open mic jam sessions for music lovers and players. On almost any given night, one can find musicians and poets performing or reciting their work for appreciative audiences, who love to see artists grow each time they take to the stages of the area’s establishments.

The Wildcat Inn and Tavern (383-4245) features Hoot Night with Jon Sarty of the White Mountain Boys every Tuesday beginning at 8:30 p.m. The valley’s original Hoot Night is alive and going strong every Tuesday evening at the venerable Wildcat Tavern, located off Route 16 through the Honeymoon Covered Bridge in Jackson Village. Show up at 8 p.m. and tell Jon you’d like to play some tunes that night, and he’ll take it from there. Tuesdays are also “Bring Your Dog to Dinner Night.” It’s also All-Tou-Can-Eat Southern Style BBQ Buffet Night in the tavern
Hot and spicy — thats what Tuesday nights are now at the Tavern, both for food and music,

The Wildcat features Dinner for Two every Wednesday evening for $23.95.

Also offering a Two-Fer every Tuesday is Decades Steak House and Seafood Restaurant (”in the heart of North Conway Village”) is truly a “Valley Original”…and the only restaurant in town with a 1959 Caddy out front. The 2 For TwosDay offers two entrees for two people at one great price. Just $22.95.

Our custom menu for this weekly event has become so popular that reservations are strongly encouraged. All of our entrees are served with your choice of potato, vegetable and homemade bread.

When the nights lengthen and the trees begin to turn, it is the time of year when the spirits rise and roam the grounds of Cranmore. Daring visitors are invited to walk the grounds and take the chairlift to the summit to see tortured souls, knowing they are protected by the guards of the Ghoullog.
The tour starts in the Eating House lodge at the base of Cranmore Mountain and includes a night-time stroll through a haunted walkway to the Quad. After the 7-minute ride to the 2,000-foot summit of Cranmore, visitors tour the Ghoullog, where haunted happenings are sure to frighten and surprise the hardiest souls.
While at the summit, night-time views of North Conway Village below are sure to delight all comers. At the end of the tour, visitors enjoy a ride down the Quad chairlift to the base with a breath-taking vantage of the Moat Mountains and Mount Washington at night.
Event dates are Oct. 2 through 4; Oct. 10 through Oct. 12; Oct. 17 and 18; Oct. 24 and 25; and Oct. 30 and Nov. 1. The attraction is recommended for ages 10 and up and parental discretion is advised.
Tickets can be reserved online or by calling the resort at 356-5544. Only a limited number of tickets are sold each night so visitors are advised to reserve theirs in advance.
Tickets cost $25 for all ages. Tickets purchased online in advance will be available for $23.
Residents of Carroll and Coos County, N.H., and Oxford County, Maine, and members of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce are entitled to a special $18 “locals” rate on opening night, Thursday, Oct. 2, and on Thursday, Oct. 30. Large groups are welcome and special group rates are offered on Thursday and Friday evenings.
Cranmore’s ghoul-fest will offer refreshments in Zip’s Pub for the event. New for this year, the Ghoullog will feature an outdoor food court offering fair food favorites like fried dough, sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches, popcorn, caramel apples, pizza slices, hot cocoa, hot cider and coffee. The pub and the food court open at 5 p.m. on each date of operation. The Ghoullog will operate from 7 to 10 p.m. with doors opening at 5pm. For Halloween Weekend only, Oct. 31 – Nov. 1, the Ghoullog will open extended hours with doors opening at 5 p.m., and the attraction running from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The ticket office, Pub and outdoor food court will open at 5 p.m. on all dates of operation.
The Ghoullog activities take place both indoors and outdoors at Cranmore Mountain. Visitors are encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather and the chairlift ride. Operations are weather dependent so call ahead or visit this page to confirm hours.
The Ghoullog is a joint production of Cranmore Mountain and Death Becomes You Productions.

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Other Halloween events

Four Your Paws Only (356-7297) of Main Street in North Conway will host a Howl-o-ween Party
Sunday, Oct. 26, from noon to 2 p.m. for the four-legged members of your family.Join us with your pets in costume, Prizes awarded for the contests and treats for everyone!!!

The Conway Recreation Center (447-5680) will host a children’s costume party Oct. 30 from 6 to 8 p.m., and the Mount Washington Valley Children’s Museum (356-2992) is hosting a toddlers-to-6 year-old party Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The museum is celebrating its new $25,000 treehouse exhibit all fall long.

Sept. 28-Oct. 5: Fryeburg Fair and Sandwich Fair Oct. 11-13 - The Fryeburg Fair, Maine’s Fall Blue Ribbon Classic, returns Sunday to Sunday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 5. The Fryeburg fair possibly hosts the largest display of oxen and ox competitions of any fair in New England. The eight-day Blue Ribbon Classic features six nights of free entertainment in front of the main grandstand. In addition, live music will be performed daily at each of the fair’s five parks. The evening lineup features the Sean Mencher Combo Monday night, the Fryeburg Academy Jazz Combo and Jazz Ensemble Tuesday, Emerson Drive Wednesday, Lady Antebellum Thursday, A Night at the Rock Opera Friday and Little Texas Saturday. Fireworks follow the Friday night performance. For more information on fair entertainment as well as other fair information, go to www.fryeburgfair.org or call (207) 935-3268. The annual Sandwich Fair is one of New Hampshire’s most exquisite rural shows. With competitions for horse pulls, cattle shows, and other farm animals to children’s tractor races, local New Hampshire food sampling, 4H exhibits, photography and crafts - it is 3 days of fun and excitement for the entire family located right in the heart of Sandwich town. Visit the Sandwich Fair Web site (www.thesandwichfair.com) for  more detailed information about rural New Hampshire’s show times, competitions and fun things to do.

Hey: wanna get lost? Nothing personal — just head over to the Sherman Farm in East Conway starting Sept. 20 and continuing weekends through Oct. 26 for the second annual Corn Maize.  The Shermans last year came up with the idea of making the maze a corny oversized reproduction of the state’s Bicentennial coin, which depicts the Old Man of the Mountain, the state’s emblem which slipped off its perch off Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch in May 2003. Phyllis Sherman and Kathy Sherman have revealed that this year’s theme is … the UNH and UMaine hockey team emblems, owing to the farm being located on the Maine-New Hampshire border and that team rivalry being so intense. Other attractions include two cornboxes, sandboxes filled with corn kernels — one for toddlers, and a separate one for the bigger kids. New this year is a corn cannon — corn will be blasted out the nozzle of the cannon at (non-human) targets yet to be announced. For more information or to make reservations, call (603) 455-5475 or go to www.cornfieldmaze.com. Read the rest of this entry »

NORTH CONWAY, NH — The Nashua Mud Gumbys of Nashua won their third straight and fourth overall mud football championship at the 2008 World Mud Bowl at North Conway’s Hog Coliseum Sunday, Sept. 7, defeating the 16-time champion Muddas Football Club in a blue-skied mudfest, 20-14.

The hometown 11-time champion Mount Washington Valley Hogs were 2-and-2 for the weekend in the three-day, 13-game, double-elimination tourney, which is traditionally held the weekend after Labor Day as a fund-raiser for local charities. Led by quarterback Jason Veno and rookie receiver sensation Sean Guinard, the Hogs lost their opening game Friday, Sept. 5, against Muddas, 8-0, but recorded two wins in Saturday’s consolation round, defeating the Peabody (Mass.) Predators, 36-6, and the Cumberland (R.I.) Muckaneers, 20-14, before losing Sunday in their semi-final against the Gumbys, 26-0.

Following the 26th annual Tournament of Mud Parade Saturday, a field dedication was held at Hog Coliseum Saturday prior to the first games. The field was dedicated to longtime North Conway Mud Bowl co-founder Steve Eastman (1948-2008). Past and present Mud Bowlers, including past Mount Washington Valley Hog Hall of Famer veterans, attended the ceremony and p;layed in a scrimmage game to christen the mud in Eastman’s honor.

Tom Eastman
Reprinted from The Conway Daily Sun

CONWAY — The Up Bar is no more. In its place on the second floor of Horsefeathers is the newly-opened “Windows on Main Street” upstairs bar and dining room. The new 100-seat dining area opened Thursday, July 31, according to manager Ken Nusbaum. Construction work was performed by Joe DiFiore and Bruce Grubb Construction of North Conway.
Housed in what was once the former Fay’s [Howard’s] Restaurant, the building has undergone many renovations over the years. Where the downstairs dining room on the north side is located was once a Model T repair garage, for example, according to Janet Hounsell and Ruth Burnham Davis Horne’s book, “Conway, New Hampshire 1765-1997.”
Nusbaum said the main drive behind creating the new dining space was to eliminate 45-minute to two-hour waits during the busy season at the in-town eatery, which was founded by Ben Williams and Brian Glynn in September 1976.
Williams recently founded his own restaurant consulting business, Concept Group.
“This will allow us to decrease our waiting time, and we will also be able to better accommodate large groups of 10 to 12 people,” said Nusbaum.
The newly renovated and decorated room features two large flat screen TVs as well as a new, extended walnut-topped bar. The newly designed upstairs also has a lounge area in front of the gas fireplace that features leather couches.
Making the new dining area possible is the expansion of the downstairs kitchen area for Horsefeathers’ cooking staff, otherwise known as the “Art Department.”
“Before, when we tried to serve food upstairs at the Up Bar, the kitchen could not handle both the dining rooms downstairs and the Up Bar. So it ended up taking longer to serve the area downstairs, so we stopped doing food upstairs. But now, with the addition of a second kitchen area we are able to serve everyone more efficiently for our two downstairs dining rooms and for the new 100-seat dining area upstairs,” said Nusbaum during a tour of the expansive new dining area this week.
New windows have been added to give upstairs diners views of Main Street, Schouler Park and the Moats. An antique pharmacy wall has been moved to the far end of the room where the Up Bar music stage once was located. The wall formerly was located on the second floor of Zeb’s.
That second floor of Zeb’s was recently enlarged, with Nusbaum noting that the former offices at Horsefeathers and Zeb’s have been moved to the second floor of the T-shirt business owned by Shawn Duncan that is located between Zeb’s and Horsefeathers.
Horsefeathers was painted a new coat of two-toned blue. Meanwhile, neighboring sister restaurant, Decades, formerly red, received a  new coast of green.
Horsefeathers is open daily from 11:30 a.m. for lunch and dinner. For further information, call 356-6862.

Looking for some live entertainment? Mount Washington Valley is the place to be, with the Wildcat Inn and Tavern (383-4245) presenting live music Fridays and Saturdays. On Tuesdays , the tavern presents Hoot Night with Jon Sarty of the White Mountain Boys.
Below are some other live entertainment offerings in the valley. Go to www.mtwashingtonvalley.org for further information about valley events.

Whether it’s spring, summer or fall — but especially autumn — Mount Washington Valley offers the ideal location for scenic drives.
Call the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce at 1-(800) 367-3364 or visit their web site at www.mtwashingtonvalley.org for lodging suggestions and information on availability. Best of all, you don’t have to wait until fall to view ride these scenic roads. Come anytime of year, and witness beautiful scenery in the midst of the 770,000-acre White Mountain National Forest.

Among selected rides are:
•West Side Road From Route 16 North in Conway, with an outlet in North Conway Village onto Route 16, or continue North to Route 302 in Bartlett: This is a popular alternative to the Route 16 “strip” through North Conway’s business section, as it parallels that road. This country road takes you through farmland, past the White Horse and Cathedral Ledges, and past farms and farm stands bearing local produce. The Bartlett section alone is worth the trip for views across the river and the Intervale.

•Cathedral Ledge Road From the North Conway/Bartlett section of West Side Road: Park at the top and walk out onto the ledge to see all of Mount Washington Valley before you. This is one of those rare scenic overlooks that you can drive to!

•Jackson Loop From Route 16 North, go through the Jackson Covered Bridge to Route 16B: The road loops left just before Black Mountain, then goes left again down Carter Notch Road back to Jackson Village. Scenic spots include the picnic stop along Jackson Falls, and the New England Church and gazebo in Jackson Village.

•Eaton From Route 16 in Conway, head east on Route 153: You can continue south to East Madison on Route 163 or turn left at the head of the lake and go east through Snowville to Brownfield, Maine and return via Route 5 through Fryeburg, Maine (note: be advised that Fryeburg Village is extremely congested during Fryeburg Fair Week, Sept., 28 through Oct. 5). Crystal Lake with the Little White Church of Eaton is one of the most often requested photos from this area. Take this scenic drive and capture your own photo to remember it by!

•Bear Notch Road: Access from Route 302 in Bartlett. Turn left onto Bear Notch Road (not open in late fall or winter) and drive south over to Kancamagus Highway (Route 112) or when on the “Kanc,” head north on Bear Notch Road over to Route 302 in Bartlett. For some, this is considered a by-pass; for most it’s considered incredibly scenic. This is also a great location for moose-and-bear-spotting in the early morning or dusk hours.

•The Notches - Pinkham Notch
(on Route 16, past Jackson); Crawford Notch (on Route 302, past Bartlett) and Evans Notch (from East Conway) Each of the notches offer scenic glory and ideal picture taking opportunities. Look for fabulous views of Mt. Washington from Pinkham Notch and gorgeous flowing waterfalls and rock formations at Crawford and Evans Notches.