Saint Philip-a-Jesus

This morning Karen was about a quart low following last night's dinner and hotel bar episode.  She thought it was the too-rich Venison Bolognese she ordered (and we all agreed was duh-lish-iss), while others in the group who were at the scene of the crime, offered theories regarding the potential impact that several hours of steady consumption of fermented grapes may have had.  Just sayin'.

In the interests of full disclosure, I must report that Sherry also weathered a full night of wine tasting.  When she finally rolled back into our room she soon realized that she'd lost one of her bracelets.  In spite of much repetition, we concluded we did not know where the bracelet had been lost.  As a dutiful husband I offered to go back to the hotel bar and see if she'd lost it there.  I found no bracelet but did pick up a sweater from the floor and told the bar tender about it, leaving it draped over a bar stool.  Turns out she DID lose a sweater there and that sweater was hers.  I refused to go back...so she had to go.  When she got there the bar was loaded with revelers and she had to pry the sweater away from one of the bar flies.  And ultimately she found that the bracelet was right where she left it...in a bag in our room. Alcohol makes us soooo smart, don't it?

So KC, Sherry and I dined together for breakfast; Karen joined us for water as we finished our food.

Fly fishing is a big draw to this area

We packed, loaded and checked out of our fantastic lodging...spending time at The Whiteface Lodge has been a memorable experience.  From the hotel we drove past the Olympic sports venues we'd visited over the past couple of days and headed towards Lake Champlain.  Soon enough the lake appeared off to our left and surprised all of us with its size and dramatic wave action; the winds were at 20-25MPH and waves were 1-2'.

We pulled straight onto our ferry and within minutes the lines were cast off and we began a twenty minute trip across the lake.  Once away from the shelter of the shoreline, we felt the brunt of the wind and the ferry treated us to a noticeable roll on the full blown lake waters. I asked a young lady to take our group photo and learned that she's a student in Michigan on a surprise visit to her boyfriend, a student at a Vermont college.  I suggested that she might want to give him a heads up before knocking on his door unannounced.  Just sayin'.

The balance of the trip to our next venue was along two lane Vermont and New Hampshire roads.  The foliage was still way behind what I expected...at time completely absent, at times maybe 50% of the way there.  The further we went the more "New England-ish" the landscape, buildings and towns became.

In one small Vermont town Karen spotted a Catholic church named Saint Philip of Jesus.  Saint Philip was one of the Twelve Apostles, kind of a "made man" in the Catholic religion, but we all thought the church name was a bit odd.  However, the way Karen pronounced it came out sounding like "Saint Philip-a-Jesus.  The rhythm of her dialect made us smile and want to say it like her.  Soon, we were all saying Saint Philip-a-Jesus and laughing.  Go ahead...say it.  Out loud.  You'll see what I mean.  Not saying Saint Philip is funny.  Not saying Jesus is funny.  Just saying the way it sounds WAS funny.

Moving right along now.

By 3:30 we located the Omni Bretton Arms Inn and eased through our check in process.  This a charming 100+ year old New England country inn with a Historic Landmark designation located in the heart of New Hampshire's White Mountains.  It's an easy drive to Mount Washington which is on tomorrow's agenda.  The Inn has a restaurant that is reputed to be excellent, so we'll give that a try tonite.

Dinner was a complete success.  Three of us had $56 Filet Minons, cooked Pittsburg/medium rare with Bernaise sauce.  Sherry had the Rack of Lamb.  Everything we ate was "duh-lish-iss"...maybe the best steak I've ever had.   We followed us this morning with breakfast in the hotel and it was amazing.  Pancakes were superb, KC's biscuits and gravy were fantastic, Eggs Benedict were first rate.  Damn...this restaurant is crazy good.  We'll eat there again tonite!