Bear Mountain Lodge

Our Christmas Tree Tradition & How It All Started

2011-11-14T09:20:00.001-08:00

Before we ever thought about owning a B&B, we stumbled upon a great little tree farm that started our family's tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree. Who would have thought that 3 years later we would sell everything we owned in Massachusetts and build our dream B&B in that same little Town of Bethlehem.

You see, our daughter Emily was born the week after the horror of September 11th. It was such a joyous time for us but all of the news and talk everywhere was of 9/11. It was too depressing for me as a new mother, so I checked myself out of the hospital the day after she was born so that we could go home and tune out the world and enjoy Emily and help Connor get used to being a big brother. After a couple weeks, I was online and saw that eBay was having a bunch of auctions from which all of the money would go to help support the families of 9/11. So figuring that it was something I could do to help, I went on eBay and looked at the listings and found a weekend getaway donated by The Mt. Washington Resort. I kept bidding on the weekend until I ultimately won, and the first week of December Michael and I packed up the kids and headed to New Hampshire. The resort was beautifully decorated and we got some cute photos of Connor trying to hold his little sister Emily up for my Christmas card that year. When we were checking out, we asked at the front desk about where we should go to get a Christmas tree with the kids. They offer packages with The Rocks Estate, as we do now, and suggested we go there.

As we were heading west on Route 302 we had no idea that we were passing by what is now the current driveway to Bear Mountain Lodge. Less than a mile from The Rocks Estate, Michael spotted a sign that said "Finnegan's Fine Firs" and asked me if I wanted to try it as it sounded like a smaller place and maybe not so busy. So he turned right and when we came upon Finnegan's we knew we'd made the right decision. It's on a residential side street and surrounds the Finnegan family home. After Connor checked out the donkey and goats, we headed down a little path marked with cute sayings to find our tree. My video of that day is priceless -- as Michael is pointing out trees to Connor to help him choose, I'm recording this all while carrying Emily in my other arm all wrapped up in winter gear. At one point, Connor yells "I found it Daddy, I want that one." As I turned the camcorder in that direction, I started laughing as I saw the huge 10+ foot tree that Connor picked out. I told him that it was a beautiful tree but that our ceilings were only 8' tall and that he'd have to pick another one. After a half hour or so of wandering through the fields, he settled on a great tree and we headed to the main building to pay for the tree and some kissing balls.

Here's where the best part happened. I went to pay with my credit card and Mr. Finnegan informed me that they didn't take credit cards, cash or check only. I said that I didn't have either and Miles looked at us and said "No problem. Here's our card with our address, when you get home just send us a check." We were in shock and said that this would never happen back home. We vowed that Finnegan's Fine Firs in Bethlehem NH would be our family tree farm from now on. But the next couple of years got really busy for us at work and with two little kids that we didn't make it back to NH to get our tree, we had to get one locally in Mass.

Then in 2004 when we were looking for the land to build Bear Mountain Lodge, our broker said he found a great piece of land for us in Bethlehem. On our way to view the land, we passed that same little sign saying Finnegan's Fine Firs and laughed at Connor saying he wanted that huge tree. We knew that once we built the Lodge he could pretty much pick out any tree he wanted for the great room since the ceilings would be almost 15' tall. And the rest is history. We moved to Bethlehem in 2004 to build Bear Mountain Lodge and we've gotten all of our trees and wreaths from Finnegan's since and all of them have been at least 12' tall. In fact, the year before last when we were at Finnegan's I saw the perfect tree. I called over to the kids and said I wanted this one to which they both replied "No, it's too small!" The lady beside me started laughing as the tree was about 10' tall and I told her this was important business for the kids to get the most beautiful, huge tree they could find at Finnegan's every year. And here's my favorite photo in front of our 13' Finnegan's Fir from 2006, the year after Bear Mountain Lodge opened.

So as the leaves are falling from the trees and all of our guests are enjoying beautiful foliage, we all start talking about a trip to Finnegan's the day after Thanksgiving to get our perfect tree. And now I'm prepared as I never forget my checkbook!

To learn more about our two great tree farms in Bethlehem, you can go to:

www.finnegansfinefirs.biz
www.therocks.org

B&Bs For Vets and Honoring Our Military

2011-10-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Each year we participate in the B&Bs For Vets program. It's a group of B&Bs/Inns across the country that donate free nights on the evening of November 10th so that the Veterans - active duty, reserves and retired - can wake up and celebrate Veterans Day with a great breakfast in their honor. My husband Michael proudly served in the Marines for 8 years and is so committed to supporting the Troops that we will be doing this as long as the program lasts. Like last year, our four rooms filled up lightening fast.

We had so many calls last year from those who missed out or were on duty or couldn't get a weeknight off, that we decided that we'd give all Veterans the ability to stay with us anytime they wanted the first couple weeks of November and pay for one night and get their second night free. We figured that we'd get a few takers but the response was overwhelming and it was awesome having so many Veterans stay with us during that two week period. And the gratitude that they showed to us for putting this special together was incredible. Especially the active duty guys who maybe can't afford to stay here for two nights in a beautiful jacuzzi room given their pay rate.

So this year we decided to extend the period a week longer - from October 23rd to November 13th. So if you know a Veteran who wants to escape to New Hampshire's White Mountains and enjoy the comradery of Marine Innkeeper Michael and other Veterans visiting us, tell them they can go online to our website and see what's still available. Semper Fi and God Bless our Troops!

Carol

NH's Leaf Peepers Are In For A Treat

2011-09-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

I've always found the changing of the leaves an amazing event and the process of nature creating fall foliage is pretty cool. When a leaf has an abundance of chlorophyll, which is green in color, the leaf is green because that chlorophyll hides the other colors and pigments in the leaf. But as daylight hours shorten and the temperatures drop at night, the veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf close off causing the intake of water and minerals into the leaf to decrease. That's when the chlorophyll levels begin to decrease causing the leaves to turn. You can see in this leaf that the veins are still green while the leaf turns red.

My favorite time of foliage is the first couple weeks since red is my favorite color. I'm always telling guests if they want to see those beautiful red colors from the "sugar maples" that they should book their foliage trip early and not wait until Columbus Weekend. The red color comes from pigments in the leaf cells called anthocyanins which are the sames pigments that color cranberries, red apples, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. Unlike the carotenoids, which are the yellow and orange pigements always found in a leaf, these red pigments develop in late summer in the sap of the cells of the leaf. Their formation is caused by the breakdown of sugars in the presence of bright light. And we've had some spectacularly clear bright days this past week so the reds are really starting to pop.

So each morning I find myself being a "leaf peeper" out my own kitchen window to see more and more of the red sugar maples in the backyard and on the hills across to Mt. Washington changing. And no matter how many years I've lived in New England, I'm thrilled to experience New Hampshire's fall foliage. I'm excited about this year's foliage and can't wait to share it in the next 3-4 weeks with our guests. I hope they'll all pickup a leaf and take a little part of Bear Mountain Lodge home with them to enjoy.

Carol

Your Innkeeper Is Really Thankful This Year!

2010-11-19T05:40:00.001-08:00

With Thanksgiving upon us, I was thinking this morning why I'm thankful. As a Mom, I'm thankful that my kids are happy and healthy and enjoying dance, riding lessons and basketball. And I'm very thankful when Connor picks up his sax and plays with Emily who is trying so hard to learn the trumpet - if you've ever sat through a beginning band concert you know what I mean. I'm so thankful that Michael finally got away from the Lodge for a week away hunting and got himself a gorgeous buck, no one deserved this more than him. Our guests know just how hard he works to please them and he certainly deserved the elation of being in the woods and being successful.

As an Innkeeper, I'm so thankful that this year was so great for our business. We've put our hearts and souls into making Bear Mountain Lodge a great place for guests to get away from it all. All of those long, long days are paying off. We won another Top 10 B&B award from bedandbreakfast.com which is based on the reviews of our guests and TripAdvisor noted that we achieved a 5 Star Rating on their reviews. There is nothing better than getting an email with a link to a review and a guest expressing that they enjoyed their stay - that's our goal each and every day to make sure everyone who stays with us creates wonderful memories.

But what I'm most thankful for this year is having had the pleasure of having so many couples elope with us, many of them military couples. We had a fabulous couple elope here two weeks ago. He flew home from Iraq on leave to get married here at the Lodge. I can barely express how touching it was to stand in the greatroom and watch through the windows as they exchanged their vows on the deck with him in his dress uniform. I've never seen a man smile so much - he certainly had lots to be thankful for this year. It sounds silly but each time someone gets married here it just makes the Lodge more special to us. This isn't just a building that we've put up to make money as most Innkeepers will tell you that isn't the daily goal. We had a dream of having people enjoy our magnificent log home and feel like it's their home while they're here. So I hope you all have reasons to be thankful this year and remember those little things that make you smile. And of course I'll really be smiling this year because I don't have to cook on Thanksgiving!!!!

Carol

NH's Maple Sugar Season - The Sap Is Running!

2010-03-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weekends, we've had many guests take part in The Rock's Estate Maple Sugar program. This year we were lucky enough to get time to take the kids and experience it ourselves.

The program starts with a video about the history of maple sugaring and the evolution of the process from the rustic ways of the Native Americans to the use today of tubes that use gravity and let the sap run from all of the trees to a central collection spot. After the video, you can take part in tapping a tree, visiting the Maple Sugar Museum and watching syrup being made in the sugar shack. The program is fun, educational and best of all a great opportunity to get outside in New Hampshire's White Mountains - the views from The Rocks are spectacular.

And let's not forget the kids favorite parts - a wagon ride pulled by some beautiful Belgium horses and freshly made donuts to dip in some fabulous medium amber maple syrup made from the sap collected at The Rocks.

The day before we went, they had collected 1100 gallons of sap. Since it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup, that 1100 gallons will only yield 27 gallons of syrup. No wonder Michael calls it liquid gold every time we go to Fuller's SugarHouse in Lancaster to purchase it for our guests. I don't care how much it costs, there's nothing like great NH maple syrup and only the best goes with my Orange Challah French Toast, sorry Mrs. Buttersworth!

So if you've never visited a NH sugar shack and experienced the making of maple syrup for yourself, I recommend you give it a try next spring.

Snowshoeing NH's White Mountains

2009-12-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

Michael and I had the perfect end to Christmas Day. With his parents visiting with the kids, we slipped out for an evening snowshoe hike through the property. This was my first evening trek and it was incredible. The temperature was in the teens, the evergreens were covered in a blanket of snow and of course the ground was glistening white. We did have our headlights but at one point Michael convinced me to shut it off. After a minute of protesting, I agreed and I was so happy I did. It was so peaceful and now I can see why our guests love these hikes. I can't wait to go out again.

Time To Get The Wood - Firewood That Is.

2009-11-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

This week while we had no guests, it was all about wood at Bear Mountain Lodge. When you live in the North Country and foliage winds down, it's time to get into the woods and grab those downed trees before nature's white blanket covers them over never to be seen again until Spring.

It started back in April when Michael grabbed his chainsaw and headed into the backyard to cut down some trees that were starting to block our view to Mt. Washington. It was a funny day because I was standing on the deck with a walkie-talkie and Michael was walking around with his chainsaw saying "Is this the one" and shaking the tree. If I replied "yes," down she went. So this week he got in his tractor, hooked a chain to each of the trees, and pulled them out of the woods so he could cut them up. That was just the first step to ensure we have enough wood all winter to keep the soap stone fireplace blazing in the great room for guests.

Because Connor had just a 1/2 day of school yesterday, he came home and helped Dad. At one point, I went outside and the John Deere tractor was coming down the driveway at me. Inside was my 10 year old who was so proud that Dad lets him drive the Deere all by himself. He and Michael would fill the bucket and then Connor would drive up to the front of the Lodge, lift the bucket high into the air, and drop the logs into a pile. Load after load they kept going until the front door was almost invisible.

After reminding Michael that guests would be checking in today at 3pm, he got to work splitting and stacking the logs. Just as our first guests were pulling in at 3:01, the last log was stacked neatly in place and he had begun cleaning up his mess.

With 11 more trees stacked up in the driveway, it looks like we'll be working on wood for at least another week. It's a ton of work, but there's nothing better than a warm, crackling fire when it's close to or below zero degrees. So if you're coming to the Lodge, don't worry -- we'll have plenty of wood to keep you toasty warm.

Carol

Yummy Pastries with Ciril Hitz - What A Great Baking Class!

2009-10-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Michael held down the fort while I slipped away to King Arthur Flour's baking school in Vermont. I was one of the lucky 12 or so who got a space in this class with world-renowned Artisan Baker Ciril Hitz from Johnson & Wales. I'm so glad I treated myself and I highly recommend if you get a chance you take it as well. He is a great instructor and a very down-to-earth guy.

While I'm considered a good baker by many, they have no idea what it takes to be an artisan baker. It is science afterall which I was terrible at. (I have to admit I still am today - just ask my 10 year old son Connor who asks me for help and is immediately directed to Dad.)

This wasn't just a demo, it was a hands-on 9 hour class learning how to make the perfect dough for some great recipes - laminated doughs for croissants and danish, whole wheat bagels, berry muffins, and Stollen which is a German fruit cake that has almond paste running through the center. In class I made three loaves of this with my partner Leon from New Jersey and I served it to my guests for a starter course on Sunday morning. Not a crumb was left on any plate and my kids declared it "yummalicious!" I saved the other loaf as Ciril says it makes great french toast. I'm going to make it when I only have a few guests so I can try it myself.

A main part of baking is developing that perfect gluten window which is very hard for someone like me who has little patience. I thought it was the funnest part of the class because I got to play with my dough. If you can stretch your dough out and make a little window that is almost see through, you'll have happy bread! And from the raves of my guests and kids my Stollen was very happy bread.

So now my plan for the rest of the year is to make a recipe each week from Ciril's new book which I had him autograph to me and my daughter Emily -- the next great baker in our family. As reviews come in from guests, I'll post them here.

Here's to lots of happy doughs and guests here at Bear Mountain Lodge.

Carol

Bear Mountain Lodge Awarded As Top 10 B&B in New England

2009-10-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Bedandbreakfast.com has announced the winners of their 2009/2010 awards and Bear Mountain Lodge ranked among the Top 10 New England B&Bs.

We're so excited to receive this recognition as it's based on the reviews of our guests and the staff at Bedandbreakfast.com. It's a huge accomplishment for a new B&B as we've been open less than four years and there are so many other quality B&Bs in New England. It's an honor that we greatly appreciated and we'll continue to ensure that our guests have the best time during their stay.

May - Weddings & Romance Galore At Bear Mtn Lodge

2009-05-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

May 2009 has certainly been the most romantic month in Bear Mountain Lodge's history.

May 17th -- our first large wedding took place with a rainy start. Michael, always the Marine attitude, decided that the bride wasn't going to walk through soaking wet grass to the pergola so he got out his commercial leaf blower and blew dried the grass. The bride was absolutely gorgeous and her little flower girl was so adorable - don't they all run at the end of the aisle right to their Moms? After the ceremony the couple had pictures taken in the backyard and they were so happy when the DJ announced their entry into the greatroom. Great food and dancing filled the Bear Mountain Lodge and the newly weds celebrated with their loved ones.

My first post on eloping may have been skewed as we'd just had one the day I decided to start our blog. Seeing this family celebrate the beginning of this couple's new life and their faces beaming with joy made me realize that weddings certainly are meant to be a family event.

May 29th -- Three couples check in. One is getting married here this weekend with several family members attending the ceremony. Another is celebrating their first anniversary. And on Saturday morning the other couple headed out to Cannon Mountain to do some hiking. Unbeknownst to her, he had an engagement ring in his pocket and couldn't wait to get her to the top to pop the question.

May 30th -- The wedding is taking place. She's radiant and again Mr. Rain showed his ugly head so the leaf blower made another guest appearance. The ceremony is just about to start, our anniversary couple is watching from the greatroom, my 7yr. old daughter Emily and her friend Carly are in the dining room giggling saying "her dress is so pretty" and the newly engaged couple has made it back from Cannon and is showing us her ring -- three couples, three wedding stories all in different stages on the same day. The only thing missing was an older couple who'd been married for many, many years. I guess Michael and I qualify somewhat as we're celebrating 12 years this August.

Many, many happy years to the couples who have entrusted us with their weddings, anniversaries and engagements!!!

Carol

Elope - It's The Honeymoon That's Memorable!

2009-03-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Early March, with plenty of snow still on the ground, was the start of a new beginning here at The Bear Mountain Lodge. Our second elopement took place this past weekend and it was for an incredible couple from Maine. As they began their new life together and Michael captured it all for them on film, I was taken with how lovely the ceremony was. How simple, how beautiful, how romantic. She was radiant in her gown and beautiful arrangement her mother had designed for her, and his Army dress blues and medals were picture perfect. Although it was just the two of them, something bigger was taking place in our great room. Their love for each other and smiles filled the entire room and I got goosebumps hearing them recite their vows.

As we talked throughout the weekend, it became clear to me why people elope -- no stress, no family quarrels over who gets to attend, and of course the cost of today's weddings - a typical wedding now costs $20-50K.

When Michael and I got married in August 1998 we had just 60 people at our wedding. We had wanted to elope but our mothers were not happy about it. So we kept it simple and refused to spend more than $4K for EVERYTHING, yes including my dress and flowers. It was tough getting the list down (we really would have liked to have about 20 but some family friends NEEDED to attend as the saying goes) and my-brother-in-law started his toast with "Congratulations to those of you who made the cut." Planning, decisions, stress - it's all coming back.

What wasn't stressful was the planning of our honeymoon to Alaska. The wedding wasn't as important to us as how we'd spend those first glorious 16 days together as husband and wife. With no stress and time away from everyone who knew us, we could enjoy just being newlyweds Michael and Carol while we had the most amazing trip ever. I can't remember all the details from the five hours of our wedding reception, but I can still remember every detail of our Alaskan experience -- our stateroom on the cruise ship and those awesome chocolate croissants every morning while we drank coffee on our balcony; sailing through the inside passage with the most incredible scenery ever; flying in a float plane up through the Misty Fjords to flyfish in a beautiful lake near Ketchican; sea kayaking and climbing Mt. Roberts in Juneau; horseback riding to an old mining town in Skagway; the train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks, stopping along the way at Denali National Park and the majesty of Mt. McKinley. And of course the riverboat ride in Fairbanks - when we saw an incredible log cabin and said "Someday we'll have one just like that." I could go on for hours talking about our honeymoon, yet I'm not sure how long I could talk about the wedding and keep anyone interested.

This wonderful couple is in Hawaii for a phenomenal honeymoon which we can't wait to hear all about. They're off right now creating memories that will last forever and we wish them an incredible life together. We are so thankful that we got to be part of it - another reason Innkeepers do what we do.