Merrimack Christian Film Festival

The 18th Annual Merrimack Christian Film Festival is returning to the Merrimack Valley.

Location:

Cinemas 7 & 8
Rt 114 at Rt 495 Ex 42B
Lawrence, MA 01843

Contact Number:

(978) 686-4242

*** STARTS TODAY ***

Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday (28 March - 4 April 2010)

As always, ALL SHOWS ARE FREE

Check out details here

See you at the show!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Owen and Ollie's

This was our first time ever going out for a St. Patrick's Day meal and celebration. A really great idea from my wife! The goal was to listen to some good Irish music, have different types of Irish food, sample some different beverages, along with being family friendly. After driving through downtown Lowell and seeing the VERY populated and congested pubs & restaurant we chose something a bit more quiet. Owen and Ollies in Dracut, MA met all our objectives and did not disappoint.

We expected a crowd so we arrived around 4PM with absolutely NO wait. Had our pick of a table. By the time we left at 6PM there was a small wait and a larger crowd in the open lounge area. We sat in the front .

For our Irish beverages my wife chose the Magner's Cider Beer. She enjoyed it so much she ordered another one! To stick with the St. Patrick's tradition I had a Guinness with my appetizer and a St. Patricks for dinner/desert. The Guinness beer is quite dark and different (for those who never enjoyed one). The St. Patrick's bear is a bit crisp.

Dinner

For dinner my wife and I ordered the Corned Beef and Cabbage special and I ordered the Bangers and Mash with the agreement that we would share.




I didn't care for the Bangers (sausage) while my wife enjoyed this when she had it with the brown gravy. We both liked the Mashed potatoes. Those were very tasty. The brown Irish bread that came with the meal was very good!

The Corned Beef and Cabbage was VERY good and tasty. The boiled potatoes and carrots were good too. Just what you expect at St. Patricks Day. PERFECT. We all shared. My 15 year old choose a non Irish meal - a cheese Pizza but didn't care for it. I have it for left over lunch tomorrow. I thought the sauce was a bit different (a little sweet). My 5 year old didn't like his pizza either. My daughter got a Chicken Caesar wrap. She enjoyed it. It was large enough that she has something for lunch tomorrow.

We all loved the Brown Irish soda bread.

We ordered desert. The kids had sundaes and cake. My wife and I split the Maple Pumpkin Pie trifle which was garnished with a gingersnap and walnuts. That was very rich but very good! We ate every bite.




The restaurant is in an old but renovated mill (near Beaver Brook) in the Collinsville section of town. From the outside it doesn't look like anything special. However it is absolutely gorgeous and modern inside. Most of the comfortable seating has a TV where you can play and watch Keno as well as watch TV if you choose. Very nicely decorated for St. Patricks Day and they had an Irish singer "Shamus Pender" . I absolutely loved the high ceilings and mill environment. Even though we were at the farthest point from the lounge we still got to enjoy the Irish music yet were able to have a nice conversation. This place is NOT loud. Perhaps its because of the very high ceilings The lounge area is very large, spacious, open, and modern. They have wifi as well. I have yet to bring my computer to a restaurant and don't plan to start now.

The service tonight was exceptional for a holiday! No waiting for anything!




Overall a great place and a nice setting for our St. Patrick's Day celebration. I love being Irish!!!

Doggie Travels - Campground Limits

We've been looking for NEW campgrounds to visit this summer in the northern New England area. I've been finding some of them have the most craziest rules such as NO Air conditioning, fires only for cooking in day time, but one that I find a bit outrageous is the number of dogs you can bring to a campground. Ames Brook in Ashland, NH, Mountain Lake in Lancaster, NH, and Flat Rock Bridge in Maine are examples that told me they don't want my business because I have not 1, not 2, but 3 small dogs (even explaining to them that they are well behaved and weigh less than the average dog).

Anyways... this got me to think about the following review that I read on TripAdvisor.com about the Hampton Inn in Colchester, VT that we recently stayed at.

Another plus was that they charged no fee for the dogs. Many of the other hotels wanted up to 75.00 pet fee which I find ridiculous. Sorry but I think kids do a lot more damage and disturbance than pets do in hotels. I have never seen a dog run up and down the halls knocking on doors and screaming. Dogs don't eat pizza in bed and dump soft drinks all over the bed. Dogs also don't stomp on the floors and pee in the pool.

Unfortnately in the 10+ years I have been camping I believe this is true for children at campgrounds as well! I have witnessed children being naughty in many situations! Leaving messes on common area picnic tables, children under 2 with no diapers in the pool, seasonal children loitering from one transient family to another, children chasing after campers as they are leaving the park, and the list goes on and on. My kids are not angels either so I know first hand of questionable behavoir.

Other than the seldom barker (and I do emphasize seldom) I have never seen a badly behaving dog. Most people that I know own 1 or 2 dogs at most. Should campgrounds start limiting children? Perhaps I can understand them limiting certain types of dogs. We had a pitbull / boxer / lab mix and in the end she didn't get along with people.

Anyways, why are dogs getting the bum wrap at campgrounds?

Cranmore Tubing

This winter we went tubing at Mt. Cranmore in North Conway, NH which is definately one of my favorite skiing locales for its long ski slopes with varying difficulty, high speed quad, and great views of Mt. Washington and the presidential range. Not to mention its is in a VERY convenient location! This year we decided to go snow tubing here instead of skiing. This worked well as my 5 year old (who isn't ready for skiing) could join in on the fun.

Tubing is $22 for 2 hours at Cranmore (a bit pricey when compared to King Pine ($15) and Pat's Peak ($16) and to speak the truth I can't say much about either of the competition slopes). Check with your hotel as I was able to get a discount tickets from our local lodging facility(cash only).



Cranmore does have two separate runs (with about 3 to 4 lanes each) with beautiful views (which may justify its slightly higher price). We arrived around 1030 and the second uppper run was just being opened.

There are plenty of tubes in your choice of blue or red to choose from. The staff is great and really friendly. They will help you get off spinning if so desired. I always said strait but ended up spinning anyways. Fortunately it is very minor so you won't get motion sick. Also will help you setup your tube for the lift. You can double up tubes. At one point all 4 of us went down. Now that was interesting!

The lines are very long here on a busy Saturday but tolerable. If you don't have to wait in line for the lift (about 5 minutes or so) then you will have to wait up at top. They may really consider how many people they allow on the course (or do better ticket checking). You of course can walk if up if you don't want to wait in line.

Overall tubing was fun but i think I prefer skiing better. I really did enjoy the pictures that I got so that was a big bonus for me. :->

Sleigh ride at the Farm by the River

My wife and I took a lovely kid-FREE late afternoon private sleighride from the nice people at the Farm by the River in North Conway, NH on one sunny but snow-covered late afternoon this past winter.

Krystal was our guide and the beautiful horses that pulled our sleigh were named Jim and Bob (how appropriate). LOL!

Our package was $99 which included a 45 minute sleighride with chocolates and nice bottle of Champagne. A warm blanket is provide as well. There was also a large group and another couple in a private open sled but they were appropriately spaced. The ride starts right at the farm and includes a 30 to 45 minute ride through the woods. Bring a camera as there is great view of Mt. Cranmore, Catherdral Ledge and the trail goes right up the side of the Saco River. You may even see tracks of live animals.

I'm not sure if I would recommend the inn for lodging itself but I definately recommend the Victorian sleigh rides. May look to go horse back riding there in the summer.

The Farm is located right on West Side Road.

Krystal was a great hostess and she gave us some insight about the area and the farm (including the story of the 3 legged wolf that resides on property).

NH Camping Show this weekend!!!

New Hampshire Camping show is going on this weekend!

http://www.ucampnh.com/campingshow2.php

The Hampshire Dome, Just off Route 101
Milford, New Hampshire




SHOW HOURS
Friday March 5th, 1pm - 9pm
Saturday March 6th, 10am - 9pm
Sunday March 7th, 10am - 5pm

ADMISSION

Adults $7.00 Children under 12 - Free with an adult

Hampton Beach Fire

We tend to visit Salisbury beach state park vs. Hampton Beach (although both my wife and I have great memories of Hampton in our distant past). We stopped by to check out the damage from the fire.

There was also a lot of roof/shingle damage from the excessive winds.