Join us this week as we head to Gillette Castle in East Haddam, CT. This beautiful castle was built in the early 1900's for William Gillette, best known for being the first person to be Sherlock Holmes in theater. His home is amazing and is free to walk around. Tours are available from daily during the summer, and weekends throughout the fall. There is even a cool holiday showing. We went when they were closed for decorating for the holidays.

The hike around the grounds was a lot of fun. Gillette was passionate about trains and even had his own electric train that went all around the property. A train, some stations, and some amazing stone bridges are still on the walking trails to check out. We did a little over 2 miles, but you can choose-your-own-adventure here and make it longer or shorter if you wish.

This one is dog friendly (on a leash). You can even fish by the boat launch on the Connecticut River! The state of Connecticut owns this park and it is open from 8am to sunset everyday. There are even nice bathrooms available year round. There is about 350 feet of elevation gain if you walk down to the river and back.

After the hike, we checked out our first ever cat-cafe. We went to Two Wrasslin' Cats Accord. The atmosphere was adorable with cat decorations everywhere! We unfortunately did not have time to visit with the actual cats, but we really enjoyed the iced maple latte, iced mocha latte, and raspberry coffee cake. All of it was amazing. CHeck them out!

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This week we head to Bridgton, Maine to check out Pate Mountain Reserve. Be sure to listen to hear how to pronounce it! ;) This area is maintained by Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT)and they do an incredible job! It's a great hike to get a variety of trail experiences.

Bald Pate reminded us a lot of Mount Agamenticus in York, Maine. Listen to our podcast about it here.

The Bridgton Maine area is a very cool. It's home to a ski mountain, Pleasant Mountain, which we can't wait to check out soon! It's also not far from Naples, Maine where our friends go camping every summer at Loon Haven Family Campground. Perhaps we'll join them this summer!!

Of course we had some dinner in town after the hike, and it did not disappoint. We had some amazing burgers and beers at The Standard Gastro Pub. Don't skip on this place. It was an amazing way to cap off a fun day hiking!

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Join us as we hike out 8th New Hampshire 4,000 footer, Mount Hale. Located off 302 near Bretton Woods, Zealand Road is a seasonal road that accesses several great hiking trails including this hike.

The road is closed in the winter, so check conditions prior to arriving. The road closure would practically double the mileage on this one! When we did this one, it was November. The road was still open but there was plenty of snow on the trails. The road actually closed about 10 days after we hiked this one. We checked the conditions prior using several sources like All Trails, The Higher Summits Forecast, and New England Trail Conditions.

The best bathroom options are the AMC Highland Center. There are bathrooms at the entrance near 302 and at the trailhead of Middle & North Sugarloaf, but they are closed in the winter.

After the hike we decided to check out North Conway. We loaded up on dessert (for the couch that night) at Cafe Italia. This place is LEGIT! Check them out for awesome atmosphere, amazing Italian treats, and good Italian coffee.

Now that dessert was secured, we moved on to the main course. We went to Wicked Fresh Craft Burgers, and this place is another gem! The hand cut fries are awesome and their smash burgers are great! Definitely check them out!

We also have a hard time going through Conway without stopping for a beer or a pizza at Tuckerman Brewery. This has been a favorite of ours for a long time, and they even occasionally have a non-alcoholic beer of their own!

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