Waterville Valley

So, by popular demand the Live Free or Die blog is back. For awhile my excuse to myself was that I hadn't done anything in New Hampshire but that has long since stopped being true. My Granite State visits have included another hike up North Pack Monadnock (sans snow), Pemi River Campground (kind of expensive and close to the highway but still a good time tubing down the river), kayaking the Merrimack river from Franklin to Boscawen (great time, saw my first bald eagle), back to back trips to Smoke Shack BBQ in Boscawen and Yankee Smokehouse in West Ossipee (both great, too close to call).

This past weekend I ventured up to Waterville Valley for my annual hockey tournament there that the Hockey Academy puts on. The two losses in three games didn't take away from the good times had by all.

The cool thing about the "Town Square" at Waterville is all you need is right there. It's all overpriced of course but you got a grocery store, pizza shop, restaurant, bar, ice rink, golf course, and ice cream parlor.

The Town Square condos offer fairly affordable accomodations right upstairs from all the action. The best part of that deal is all the free perks you get with the room. Free round of golf every day. Free 2 hour mountain bike rental. Free chairlift ride. Free kayak rental for an hour to take out in the pond they have there. I didn't get to do any more than play one round of golf since we had hockey games to play but one could easily get a full day out of the free offerings. An hour could be spent just walking around drinking in the breathtaking views the area affords.

If you're looking for a nice resort to spend a weekend with the fam you should definitely take a look in Waterville's direction. You can just park the car Friday and you won't need it again until Sunday.