Sometimes we need a little winter motivation to get us out in the great outdoors. For those of us who love food, travel and adventure, the Appalachian Mountain Club has provided a fabulous mid-winter mini-vacation package that is a real value.
The AMC is the oldest outdoor recreation and conservation organization in the U.S., according to its website, with 12 chapters from Maine to Washington, D.C. The organization offers a multitude of outdoor experiences year-round, but their mid-week special is particularly stellar:
On Wednesday nights for the next few months, visitors to the Pinkham Notch Welcome Center, nestled in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire, can get an overnight stay at the Joe Dodge Lodge for a mere $49. The price also includes their International Dinner, a dinner and travel program that includes a virtual visit to one of the more exotic locations on the globe; and a sumptuous AMC breakfast. After this, adventurers can head out to the near-by Great Glen Resort and enjoy snowshoeing, cross country skiing or snow tubing with your trail pass.
It’s all included in the mid-week package price ”“ dinner, travel program, breakfast, overnight lodging, and a trail pass ”“ for less than $50. It’s an amazing deal.
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s New Hampshire encampment sits at the gateway to Mount Washington ”“ a hiker’s paradise. (For alpine skiers who plan to visit Attitash and Wildcat, the AMC offers hearty meals and a comfortable overnight sleep for $100.)
The international dinner series, offered on Wednesday nights through the end of March, is currently celebrating its 24th season and was a highlight of my recent stay. Each Wednesday evening, an exotic location of the globe is vicariously explored through photography and storytelling. The Mountains of Switzerland, the ruins of the ancient Aegean, the temples of Hindu India and the mysteries of Turkey are all on the schedule. These programs accompany the fabulous feasts catered specifically for each locale, peppered and prepared with flair for authentic detail, giving participants a real taste of faraway culinary enchantment.
The overnight accommodations at the Joe Dodge Lodge are marked by Spartan simplicity, augmented by honeyed natural pine walls and furniture. The rooms are restful, as the beds and bunks are without television or telephones. The bathrooms are down the hall, but the lodge is comfortable and cheery and features a cozy library with a grand fireplace.
Personally, I found some rare vintage books on the library shelves that I found particularly interesting: Two excellent volumes on the history of skiing that included superb black and white landscape photography of snow, and skiing celebrities of the past.
Breakfast is served back at the Welcome Center dining room between 7-9 a.m. and it is hearty. On my visit, they were serving scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, along with egg-and-cheese burritos. Three hot cereals were steaming in tureens bolstered by a bevy of granolas and grains. Home-baked muffins, pastries and bagels were lined up on the buffet table next to a generous assortment of fresh fruits, coffee, cocoa, teas, and french toast.
For those of us lucky enough to escape to the mountains during the midweek for this AMC deal, here are the upcoming program offerings:
Jan 29: Turkey-Land of the Crescent Moon
Feb 5: Explore Greece
Feb 12: Six Passes and 100 Miles of the Via Alpina in Switzerland
Feb 26: Bhutan
March 5: Discovering Sri Lanka ”“ The Pearl of the Indian Ocean
March 12: Canal Boating in England
March 19: Adventure Travel in Slovenia & Croatia
March 26: France; A French Vacation on the Atlantic Coast.
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