North Conway, NH 5.24-5.27.13

One of the reasons Jay and I started this blog was that when we decided to start camping with our very young children we had a hard time finding tips and tricks to camping with them. It has emerged to cover all our traveling as finding hotels that are kid friendly is our goal. We own a timeshare in Animal Kingdom Disney World (DVC) and Eastern Slope Inn (ESI) in North Conway, New Hampshire. Both timeshares participate in the RCI program. We purchased the ESI after camping at Cove Campgrounds a few times in the past and fell in love with North Conway. In addition to our weekly timeshare rentals we also purchased what is called the PEP program. It allows owners to stay 21 days a year without using their timeshare weeks and for a housekeeping fee. Ok now that we have a little background, let’s chat about what we did last weekend.

Memorial Day weekend 2013, we used part of PEP program and stayed at the Eastern Slope Inn. It is a beautiful white building located right in the heart of downtown North Conway. Right across the street from my favorite place, White Mountain Cupcakery, winners of Cupcake wars and home of the best Snowball cupcake ever! … Back on topic, ESI has a pool, playground, Flatbread Pizza all located on site. It’s close to shopping, hiking, the Cog railway and stands proudly in front of the Saco River.

Last December we used our PEP program for a weekend getaway and stayed in the Main Inn (hopefully, more on this stay later). However, this time we were located in Randall House which is located right next to the main inn. We had a 1 bedroom, 2 bath 3 levels with a great little balcony that overlooked the center of town.  Master bedroom is located upstairs with a Jacuzzi tub right in the suite. However, there was no door to the room so consider the little ones walking in if you use the tub. The second floor is open room with a murphy bed located in the combined living, kitchen and dining room. This layout is similar to the layout we had in the main inn but is located on the second floor. This is no way handicap accessible. However, Stroller accessible has options. There is a main foyer that houses two rooms such as 3A and 3B.  Then each room has its own keyed entrance. Ours lead us into a nice foyer again with peg hooks on the wall. Perfect for leaving a stroller, ski or snowboarding gear as well. Sadly, we do not have any pictures to show you as I forgot my camera and we left early.

Why did we leave early? Mother Nature was very mean. It rained Friday, Saturday most of the day. It lightened up a little bit on Saturday just enough to get out and check out the craft fair on the main lawns of the railway and playground. Sunday didn’t look any better, so we left Sunday morning, headed to Kittery Trading post for some shopping then back to Boston. That is why I have no pictures. 

I do want to mention a few restaurants and places we visited in the past.

Peaches: We had brunch here one time while camping, so yummy. But there is always a wait at breakfast. But I’d say it’s worth it if you can keep your kids entertained. No way is this place stroller friendly on the inside, but there is outside seating.

Merlino’s Steakhouse: This place is terrible, don’t waste your time. The food was horrible. Although our waitress was super nice she’d disappear for a while. Downstairs is loud with the bar and upstairs was a lot of stairs with three small kids. I won’t even link it for you.

Moat Mountain Smoke house & Brewing Company: This place has a lot of character, the food is outstanding. The only word of caution is that you better be prepared to wait when it’s normal lunch/dinner hours.  The BBQ Ruben Reuben is to die for.

As mentioned we love White Mountain Cupcakery, this is stroller friendly. However, I’d be doubtful it’s allergy friendly as they sell peanut butter cupcakes. I love the snowball, it’s white cake, raspberry filling and coconut covered buttercream frosting, yum! 

There is also an array of the big chains, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, Dunkin Donuts etc.

Since I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about it in the past, I’d like to also mention for the stroller friendly options, Diana’s bath is stroller/hp accessible. It’s hard packed gravel (I think) up to the bath where you can picnic and take a dip in the ice cold mountain waters. It is located right down the street from ESI.

What we liked about Eastern Slope Inn: Location, by far. It’s right in the center of everything. Being a member also we get to use the facility anytime we are by it.

What we didn’t like about Eastern Slope Inn: Multiple floors and open staircases; something to consider when you have little ones.  The other thing about the layout is that the roof was tilted in on the second floor. If you tried to get in or out of the bed, you either had to crawl over someone or risk banging your head on the incredibly low ceilings.

What we like about North Conway, NH: Everything, always something to do. (StoryLand and by Mt Washington road is down the street).  The most shops are have very nice people who can give you advice (Eastern mountain) to just local talk (the jewelry store we visited)

What we didn’t like about North Conway, NH: Traffic and crowds, during holiday weekends it gets crowded. We’ve been during July 4^th, Memorial Day weekend, and Father’s day weekend which also lands on Bike week.

Final thoughts: We love North Conway; we will be there MANY, MANY,MANY more times. Hopefully with a camera, nice weather, and more reviews on stuff to do, places to eat, and what to see.