Clark's Trading Post

If you are in the White Mountains of New Hampshire one of the fun family attractions is Clark’s Trading Post. The main attraction is the trained bear show, which lasts for about a half an hour. The whole family will love watching these trained black bears perform. They walk on barrels, swing in a swing and do a multitude of other tricks.

There is another show to enjoy as well The Seyranyan Family Circus you will be delighted by the extraordinary acrobatic and hand-balancing performances of these award-winning Russian artists a family of acrobatic contortionists that will absolutely blow your mind. In all my life I have never seen any individual do what these people do.

The great thing about the shows is that they happen twice a day so you don’t miss the fun or even if you just want to see it again. There is no extra charge to see the shows. This was helpful because my two year old fell asleep in my arms minutes before the first Bear Show. Thank God there was a second show for her to see.

You can also go for a 30-minute ride on the old-fashioned steam locomotive but beware the Wolfman an old prospector who chases the train off his claim. Watch the kids get excited as the Wolfman drives his old beat up car to chase the train and shoot his gun.

There are only a few rides a Clark’s but they are enjoyable the first of these is Merlin’s Mystical Mansion. Go inside this house and Merlin will turn your world upside-down. An allusion the will get your brain spinning.

Then go threw Tuttle’s Rustic House. It is the crooked house that is lots of fun to go threw. Watch balls roll uphill. And see lots of other amazing things in Tuttle’s crooked house.

Then for those who are feeling a bit athletic you can go for a climb. Ascend the 30-foot, quarter-scale replica of New Hampshire’s famous Old Man of the Mountain. Six climbing stations offer varying degrees of difficulty.

My children’s favorite is the bumper boats. But get ready to get soaked because these wonderfully fun bumper boats come armed with onboard water guns. Travel around the pond bump into each other and squirt people in other boats or unsuspecting people walking by.

There is a lot to keep you occupied for the day. They even have a giant sandbox for the little ones to enjoy.

The go threw the American museum on Main Street. This brick museum on Main Street is chock full of old time Americana. It contains treasures from our early electrical, mechanical, and advertising past such as fully restored nickelodeons, steam and gas engines and early household appliances.

There are lots of lots of fun gift and specialty stores as well. There are five shops to choose from the Main Gift Shop, Kilburn’s Photo Shop, The Main Street Candle Shop, The Maple Cabin, and the Liberty Press.

The Main Gift Shop is loaded with all kinds of souvenirs and is excisable from the out side as well. Clark’s has the largest and most well stocked gift and souvenir shop in the White Mountains. Inside you will find a wide selection of candy, home-style fudge, T-shirts, jewelry, moccasins, cedar crafts, toys, mugs, stuffed animals, knives and more!

You can visit the Main Street Candle Shop. Indulge your senses as you browse through a large collection of candles, curiosities and comforts for the home. While you’re there, treat yourself to an exciting experience by creating colorful candles at our dipping stations.

The swing by world famous The Maple Cabin a get some real maple syrup. Visit this rustic cabin to stock up on quality maple products, Salmon Falls stoneware and New England crafts. While you’re there, grab a popgun for your journey into Wolfman’s territory on the White Mountain Central Railroad.

Then go to the Liberty Press on Main Street. Put your name in the headlines or on a “Wanted” poster in just minutes. While your customized print is rolling hot off the press, you can shop for a variety of other personalized items like dog tags, license plates, stationary, plaques and beads.

My family’s favorite was Kilburn’s photo shop. You can dress up in old fashion clothes and have your picture taken. We dressed up in Civil War clothes and had a sepia old fashion family photo. You can also have the pictures in color if you like. You can get period clothing in Western, Civil War, Victorian or even 1920’s gangster.

And don’t forget to get some lunch atone of several very tasty snack bars. There’s the Whistle Stop Snack Bar, Pullman’s Pizza and Subs, The Popcorn Wagon, the Peppermint Saloon.

Near the entrance at the train station is The Whistle Stop Snack Bar. From burgers and fries to sandwiches, the Whistle Stop is the ideal place to spy a steam-train while you dine at the outdoor picnic tables adjacent to the White Mountain Central Railroad. Thick shakes, soda, coffee, and soft serve ice cream are also available.

Not far way is The Popcorn Wagon, a favorite stopover for a quick snack en route to the show arena. Munch a bunch as you watch the Bear Show and Seyranyan Family Circus performances.

Then down on Main Street we have two more eateries. For food you will find Pullman’s Pizza and Subs a Main Street staple for home-style pizza. If pizza doesn’t pique your palette, try a freshly made submarine sandwich and wash it down with a cold soda. Soup, cookies, chips, and other snacks are offered as well.

For the best ice cream you ever ate you could wonder down Main Street to The Peppermint Saloon. Build your own White Mountain of ice cream with all the fixings and toppings for a monumental sundae masterpiece. Let us mix you up an old-fashioned root-beer float! The ice cream parlor is a perfect place to cure your cravings for something cool. Hard ice cream served here.

If you enjoy eating your meals outside go to The Picnic Pavilion. Enjoy your meal from any of our food service options in the shade overlooking the Pemigewasset River. The Pavilion also serves as an alternate location for the Seyranyan Family Circus during inclement weather.

With very reasonable admission prices Clark’s is a fun day in the White Mountains of New Hampshire located in Woodstock it is a must see day trip when visiting New Hampshire in the summer.

2007 Admission Prices

Age 6 & Up - $15.00
Age 3 to 5 - $6.00
Under 3 - FREE
Senior Citizen (65 and over) - $14.00
Adult Season Pass - $49.00

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White Mountains,Vaction,Theme Park,

Six Flags Adventure

Image via WikipediaWell last week we told the kids we would take them to Edaville Railroad in Carver, MA. on Sunday. To my dismay Saturday night I looked online to see what time they opened. They don't open till mid June. That's really stupid considering everybody else is open this weekend. So we decided to bite the bullet and spend the extra money and drive the extra miles to Six Flags in Agawam, MA. This was a two hour ride each way.

We spent a ton of money but we had a ball. There are three kids areas Loony Toon Town, Wiggles World and Thomas the Train Town. Loony Toons was all themed for Bugs Bunny and the gang. The Wiggles of course was the Wiggles T.V. Show, and Tomas the Train was of course all thomas stuff.

We saw two cute shows at the park. One was a Wiggles show with the Wiggles characters, the real wiggles were not there but will be in June. The second show was a Lonny Toons version of American Idol. Joy was happy because she got her picture taken with Tweety.

Visit London England

If you’re into history like I am then one place you need to go is London England. There are lots of cool places to explore, the tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and London Bridge. Also sites like Piccadilly Circus.

Besides the site seeing London has many fines restaurants and culture to absorb. There is plenty to keep you busy. Then at the end of your long day of exploration you will want to relax in one of the London Hotels. They’re lots to choose from.

London Hotels can range from very expensive luxury establishments to reasonable price decent respectable hotels. Just try to figure out your budget and what part of town is best for you. Personally when I travel I choose my hotel location by proximity to good food. After all sight seeing makes me hungry.

Maybe your different maybe you go by proximity to sightseeing locations or hot nightspots. God knows London England has lots of all of these. London has clubs and bars; it has tourist locations galore and oh yes great restaurants all over. London England is a great place for a family vacation. Plus it is a great location from which to explore other English towns and villages.

Summer Vacation in New Hampshire

Summer is almost here and the kids are getting excited to go on our annual trip to New Hampshire. We normally go up to North Conway because it is close to one of our favorite day trips, Story Land. In case you have never herd of Story Land it is a park for kids with story book themes. What I like about Story Land as that the parents can ride along with the kids on all the rides.

One of our favorite rides was the Bamboo Chutes which is a flume type ride. You should have seen the kids faces when we went down the first time they had no idea what was going to happen. Neither did my wife Joy. Because she is originally from the Philippines she had never been to an amusement park.

One highlight from Story Land for my daughters was meeting Cinderella. The girl who played the part was wonderful. Story Land has tons of great rides for the littlest kids to even kid rides us adults can enjoy.

We love to go to North Conway because it has some awesome shops and restaurants. There is a shop with all Christmas stuff. It is full of life sized dolls that move and lights and trees. It's like Christmas in the summer. There is a scenic railroad and Tram ride that goes up into the mountain. North Conway is also located in away to go to some of the other great day trips.

Some of the other places we love to go to are Santa's Village and Clark's Trading Post. Like Story Land Santa's Village is an amusement park with at Christmas Theme. They have a huge flume a Rudolph roller coaster, and really cool monorail set up as Santa's sleigh. Clark's Trading post another family favorite has trained preforming bears. The bears swing on a swing walk on barrels and even ride a bike.

But because it is a four hour ride for us to North Conway we always stay overnight at the Comfort Inn right in down town. It's great because you get free waffles for breakfast and there is a Pirate Themes miniature golf course attached to the hotel. We usually book the hotel from Hotels Combined. We get a good deal and it's easy to book the hotel for the days we want. The great thing about North Conway is there are lots of hotels to choose from. You can go for super luxury to family priced. I personal go for family priced so we can stay longer and have more fun.

Spring is here

Image via WikipediaAt long last winter is over and the nice weather is starting to appear. The kids are playing outside thank God. The flowers are starting to bloom. I know some people love the snow and we did have a couple of fun afternoons sledding with the kids, but overall winter is a drag.

I much prefer the warm weather and fun in the sun. I look forward to taking the kids to the zoo, the playground, and maybe an amusement park or two. Maybe we will go to Story Land in New Hampshire or maybe Santa's Village. Maybe Edaville Rail Road here in Mass. Oh Yes the Summer Fun.