While it rained most of the weekend, the first Bed & Boxing event proved the mettle of which letterboxers are made! The 32 participants seemed to ignore the weather as they ventured their way at various times on Friday to the coziness of Whitney's Inn - our command center for the weekend. Fog, rain, hunger - nothing stopped this group from making their individual arrivals in Jackson, NH for this year-long awaited event. Guest participants hailed from Chicago, Baltimore, Fairfax (VA) and most states in New England.
New friends made at the Welcome Buffet
Friday night's Welcome Buffet featured terrific food - much better than we could ever imagine. The macaroni & stilton cheese with lobster was our personal favorite. We had expected a sprinkling of lobster meat but were wowed when we removed the chafing dish cover to see chucks of our favorite seafood very generously spread on top of this delectable entree! There was a last minute glitch, though, when I realized Wednesday evening that I had forgotten to put a dessert on the menu! An 8pm email to several great friends, along with Sue's offer (I helped!) to make 6 dozen cookies enabled the Welcome Buffet to feature some great baked desserts to complete the night's excellent fare.
Exhanges, Stamping & a Rabbit
After the buffet, the group exchanged, stamped the great event stamp carved by buddy Jay Drew, and just enjoyed each other's company. The group really mixed well and continued our streak of never attending a gathering where letterboxers didn't get along because of their common affection for this hobby! Everyone got along so well the whole weekend.
Diana's Bath
Sue & I hid a series called One Liners - a series of 6 boxes that were hidden in public places at Whitney's that were clued by just a one line clue (some with just one word.) Many others followed suit with special boxes hidden on the property and in the village. Saturday, after a hearty breakfast, small groups formed and off they went in the rain! Our group headed out in a 2 car brigade to Diana's Bath - a suggestion by Skier4444, our local contact who also hid some special boxes for the event in the village.The views were great but the trails a bit muddy.
The Wet & Soggy Picnic Crew!
Our group came back about 2:30pm when the downpour really began. But before we left, we had a little impromptu picnic with some leftover bundt cake that Tony & Veronica had placed in the trunk from the night before. We enjoyed the cake while we sat on a covered patio at one of the inns; shielded from the downpour and happy to be in each others' company. And we all hailed "the bundt" as we satisfied our wet bodies with the delectable dessert!
All Hail the Bundt!
Back at the inn, after warm showers, the group met at the Shovel Handle Pub, part of Whitney's Inn. This location proved an excellent base from which to operate. Everything was so convenient and the rooms were wonderful. The owner, Don, was more than accommodating. There was nothing he wouldn't do for us. His hospitality and wonderful and friendly staff really added to the enjoyment of all. The pub was built in the 1800's as a barn and features multi levels. Our group was at the top level. Everyone seemed happy with their meals and the local folk singer kept us all very much entertained. Dave & Deanne even harmonized with him while enjoying their meals on several songs.
Returning back to the inn, several of us ended up in the den to play a game. Others joined us and before long we noticed some new people stringing wire and walking around the area. Dave went to check it out and told Tony that they were ghost busters! Trained paranormal experts were spending the night to try and find occurrences of ghosts! This was better than a bonus box!!!
One of the ghost busters, Earle
Whitney's Inn is about 150 years old and there had been some evidence over the past 6 months of paranormal activity. As we started to talk with the staff of 7 professional ghost hunters, several of us were in awe. The owner of this investigating band of 7 and his staff were so patient with us as they answered our barrage of questions. Several of the guest have watched television series based on this kind of investigations and the questions were rapidly fired to the staff. They patiently explained that while many in the profession operated from the theory that they believed in ghosts, these ghost busters were on the skeptical side. A ghost would almost have to shake their hand in order for them to really believe.
We watched as they set up infra-red cameras and mikes in the basement, the upstairs, the dining room and several other locations. "How did this all happen," I asked. It seems that one of the housekeepers comes to work with her 8 year old daughter who has been taking about a friend Betty that talks to her at the Inn. Betty turns out to be the former owner of the inn who died 5 years ago at the age of 100. Besides this new "friendship" other occurrences had happened in the inn's office and in different locations.
The group of investigators were to stay up until about 3am Sunday in hopes to catch some kind of activity or proof that Betty might be walking around inn. This morning, I moved aside our second floor bedroom curtains and saw the investigators were still there. "They must have found something," I told Sue.
As we headed to breakfast, the ghost busters were sitting in the anteroom to the dining room and Sue & I both asked how they did. They told us that they were up until 3am and really didn't see much but only 30% of their investigation happened real time. The balance would have to be done while watching the tapes of the events and other analysis that they would make offsite. I asked if they might come back and they said probably since they heard from interviewing the staff that morning during breakfast that some of the bedrooms seemed to have much more activity than the lower level. "What rooms," I asked. The head investigator smiled at me and said I can't tell you since I don't know what room you're in!"
Sue talked to one of the guys there and he agreed to email the findings to us once they reached a definitive analysis. What an unexpected bit of fun the group enjoyed! As we all said our goodbyes today, we discussed the very real possibility to come back again same time next year to the same location. Hope you, too, can make the second Bed & Boxing - who knows what will happen there! While the weekend proved wet and dreary, it could not dim the spirits of this gaggle of boxers. We made our own sunshine and basked in each others warmth.
As Sue & I say: "Expect the Unexpected" on a Pinecone Adventure! This was one bit of unexpected that even we didn't expect but a blast nonetheless!!!
