Jackson, New Hampshire and the White Mountains

Jackson Falls

 After a short while we moved on to a town in New Hampshire called Jackson. It was gorgeous here, but I don't think the mountains are quite for me... Plus, it was very hot, especially as we were staying in a log cabin without any air-conditioner. Sometimes it was cool and sometimes it was very, very hot. I absolutely loved it though! It had to be the most unique place I've ever stayed, and inspired a lot of When the Summer Ends chapters.

The house is very cozy with an adorable rustic charm; so very obviously New England! Downstairs has shades of cranberry and browns, upstairs is rose pink and sugar white, with patchwork, lacy, embroidered duvets and cushions. I literally wanted to take all the decor home with me, but I think the owner would have noticed, wouldn't she? *laughs* I had to share a bedroom with my brother and sister, but I really didn't mind at this point, as my siblings were so worn out from all the walking that they went to sleep very quickly.

On the outside porch there was a hot tub and rocking chairs, so we spent some time in that, which was very pleasant (until the smell of chlorine kicks in and gives you a migraine, but that can't really be helped).

Despite being in the wrong state - I never did get to go to Vermont this holiday, next time, I suppose - this really was the ideal setting for When the Summer Ends as Aika's home is in the forest. Also, I could imagine Cherry living here very happily!

In the evenings my father and I took out our astronomy binoculars (we have a big telescope at home as stargazing was our hobby in the past, but obviously we couldn't bring it here) and looked up at the stars behind the trees. As there are no artificial lights up in the mountains, or smog from the cities, everything is so clear in the night sky.

Whilst in Jackson we did a lot of walking; the Jackson Falls, Diana's Bath and Flume Gorge. We also went to Clark's Trading Post, which is a very strange but entertaining place where American Black bears perform, riding scooters, eating ice cream, clapping, and "bearing it all"! I loved it there, although my brother and I found the Wolf-man very scary (him, because, well, what four year old wouldn't be scared of a yelling man with guns, army cars and missiles?, and me because I'm a wimp and can't stand loud noises like guns being fired). There were also Chinese acrobats, which I absolutely adored. Then we saw the bears, and I realised that they're really well cared for.

Taken from Clark's Trading Post website.

Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery

I'm pretty sure that this has to be the highlight of my trip to Massachusetts! Located in Salem, it is the whole reason we went! This post will be using photos from the gallery's website, as photography was prohibited inside.

 

Count Orlok's was so creepy and gothic with organ music playing, displaying life-sized models and face casts of famous movie monsters and film producers/actors! It was so atmospheric that I almost wanted to live in there! *laughs* Though I suppose it would be rather unsettling at night. I saw Dracula, Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Mother and Alfred Hitchcock from Psycho, Carrie, the man from the Shining and many more from movies I still need to watch. My all-time favourite display was of Pennywise! This museum has to be one of my favourite attractions of the whole holiday.

My dad bought me a really beautiful bag with all the classic movie monsters on! You can see this in my Poupeegirl website. After that we went into the nearby graveyard to the witch memorial sight, and then to a shop where I bought more postcards to add to my now massive collection.

 

Horse-riding in the White Mountains

On our final day we went horse-riding in New Hampshire's White Mountains, and it was AMAZING! I've been wanting to do horse-riding for ages, as it was a sport I was really into when I was younger but stopped because of how costly it can be.

My horse was white and was called Oppy, and he always ate the plants and flowers on the mountains against my will! I was nervous (especially going down hills) but I had so much fun. The view was so beautiful! We went through hilly fields of yellow flowers, through parts of forest, and saw a lot of wildlife. I was some beautiful dragonflies and butterflies, and the lady in charge pointed out where the bears have flattened down the ferns by sleeping on them! I was surprised at the amount of homes situated in the mountains. Actually, I really want to get back into horse-riding again!

My brother also went for a ride, on Tinkerbell.

Kennebunk, Maine

Today we packed up and drove to Maine, one of my favourite states. On the drive I saw a lot of really cute clapboard houses, as my grandmother mentioned, and the weather was quite cloudy overhead. It was so pleasant to just look out of the window for a couple of hours and take in the scenery.

After a quick stop for food we booked into our next accommodation, which was a motel that I found very American-styled, with all the flags and deck chairs painted red, white and blue. Abi and I had our own bedroom with a massive king-sized bed (which basically took up the whole room). As a whole, the motel room looked very vintage and rustic, although it hadn't been updated in years. Don't get me wrong, I loved it even more this way! After settling in and unpacking we went for an exploration around Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, and I took a lot of photos.

The town is cute, quiet and quaint, with a lot of fancy Victorian clapboard houses that remind me of a fairytale. They were all in such lovely pastel colours, and I wanted to take photos of every single house! Maybe I will take residence in Maine when I'm older?

I was really excited to be in Maine as that's where Stephen King's books are set! The whole area reminds me of IT and I hadn't even seen a storm drain yet! There is forest and sea surrounding it, adding to the beauty.

At some point we stopped the car outside the nearby beach and we all had a go at flying our kite.

 

There are a lot of psychics in Maine, I noticed.

We also went whale watching one day.

I want to live here!

Then we looked around more and found George Bush's house that looked more to me like a fortress on an island. Still, he is the president, so I suppose it's pretty convenient for him.

The Bush Compound.

Out of all the houses, one of my favourites was the Wedding Cake house, which, according to my mum, a captain built for his wife as he missed their wedding reception due to work.

Wedding Cake House

For dinner we ate at the Maine Diner, which has a lot of that red lobster symbolism that seems to be everywhere in Kennebunk!