There’s nothing like celebrating love in the freezing cold surround by an enchanted ice castle. Our little trip was the perfect getaway and I am still blown away by this place. We decided to visit the Ice Castle in New Hampshire for a little Valentine’s Day celebration. They have several locations but this one was the closest to us. And by close, I mean five and a half hours away. If you aren’t familiar by now, we are always out for some sort of adventure.
We rented a condo through HomeAway which worked out great for us and was all the space we needed. These sites are quickly becoming my favorite and offer a really nice alternative to a traditional hotel. Now let me start by saying this area is a small town and mainly known for skiing. The ice castle is a huge attraction for them, but if you aren’t into skiing or keeping it very low key, this location might not be the best place for you to visit. I mean that with all do respect, it’s a very beautiful place but quiet with little going on. We knew that going into it and were completely fine with it. The only thing we were disappointed about were the antique stores were closed for the season (whatever that means) and we were really looking forward to finding some treasures.
I would highly recommend getting tickets online prior to a visit because they sell out quick for the ice castle. You also have to choose a designated entry time. Once you go in, you can stay as long as you want, but there is no re-entry. We picked an early time slot which was perfect for us because it was not crowded. By the time we left there were a lot of people there and we probably would not have been able to get half of the pictures that we were able to capture if we decided to go later.
When we first pulled up, I thought to myself, uh oh this is it?! It is very deceiving from the outside and does not look that big. Once we got inside it was pure magic. If you ever get a chance to watch videos of how they make these—amazing. When you’re there it feels like you step into a dream of some sort. It started snowing right before we went in and for the rest of the time we were there. It was like an added special effect that made it feel even more magical.
We enjoyed watching the boys play and slide down the different slides they had there. They recommend for you to bring a sled in to pull the kids around, but they barely wanted to stay in it. Little nugget was actually more excited about pulling his big brother and refused to let anyone else help him.
There all of these different coves you can walk through and explore, and they even have a dancing water fountain. They also had a hot chocolate bar that we all enjoyed a cup from. The boys didn’t like it so so hot and added in some snow to make it the best cold hot chocolate, ever (their words, of course).
After visiting the ice castle we decided to find an area that we could take the boys sledding and snow tubing. There was so much snow here. The mounds that lined the side of the road where taller than Eric and every where you turned you were surround by sparkling white powder.
We couldn’t visit a ski town without checking out one of the mountains. We went to Loon Mountain to watch the skiers and take in the beautiful views. A was very adamant about trying out skiing and even tried to run off with someone’s skis. It started to rain while we were there so we told him we would take him next time. Eric skis, and me, well, I try my best. A has been talking about it ever since, and with the Olympics on, he wants to go super fast. We might take him to the Poconos around here. We had a great time celebrating and exploring new adventures and celebrating a weekend of love. I hope everyone has a great Valentine’s Day! Until time, New Hampshire!
