On to Meredith

It was interesting driving going up to Meredith, although we struggled with the road system leaving Cape Cod. We had had the same problem on the way down! But we eventually made it using maps, our sense of direction and Madam, as we have named the satnav. She is becoming more cooperative as time goes by!

We had good driving with not too much traffic and took a circular route around Boston , keeping in the more rural zones. We passed through many familiar places, Chelmsford, Essex County, Portsmouth, Manchester and many more. The tree colours along the route were lovely.

We had a coffee stop just off the interstate and after asking for the toilets, the server realised I was not from USA so started up a conversation. The female server apparently bought her clothes from UK websites, a customer likes visiting Liverpool because of the Beatles but the chap who made my coffee asked, 'now where is the UK? Is it near Russia?!'

Our major en route stop was Canterbury Shaker village which was really interesting. We spent nearly three hours there and it was a glorious day. There are very few villages preserved and only a handful of surviving Shakers. Their philosophy is most interesting, but of course their style of furniture and buildings is their legacy.

We arrived in Meredith late afternoon and understand it is a long weekend for the bank holiday, Columbus weekend. It is quite busy. The hotel is on the lake with great views but there are no breakfast facilities here. There are various restaurants linked to the hotel. We found a little cafe this morning for our sunrise breakfast, scrambled egg that was more like omelette and have been to the supermarket for our next breakfasts which we can enjoy on our balcony with a view!

Last night we went out straightaway as we discovered there was a welcome wine reception for hotel guests which was a bonus. We very nearly joined a wedding party by mistake but it was our attire that would have rather made us stand out; we had on our walking shoes and travel gear! We decided to sidestep all the recommended restaurants that belong to the hotel group and found a very lively little bar where food was far more reasonable. Then Hilary invited a couple of chaps who were queuing, to share our larger table. If we hadn't made a polite exit and said our goodbyes, who knows where that would have led!

Hilary with her rib eye steak!