In June, my husband and I took a weekend trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to celebrate his graduation milestone. Addy was curious to explore the history of the area and we learned about the mountain range from the Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective. Kawdahkwaj, which is the Algonquian name for Mount Washington, is situated on the ancestral lands of the Abenaki people. We stayed at the Omni Mount Washington Resort, which was opened in 1902 by Joseph Stickney and his wife, Carolyn Foster Stickney, who goes on to manage the hotel for decades after her husband’s death . After settling into our room, Addy enjoyed reading on the veranda with beautiful views of the mountain range. We also made s’mores at one of the fire pits on the property.
Everyone at the hotel told us that the sunrise over Mount Washington was gorgeous and Addy insisted that we wake up to see it! We were thrilled that she did as it was breathtaking. Afterwards, she explored the hotel’s Alpine Garden with some native New Hampshire plants. Addy also learned that the World Bank was founded at the hotel in 1944. Later in the day, we took a gondola up to the mountaintop and Addy further enjoyed the views of the White Mountains.
We wrapped up our trip with a tour about the hotel’s history, and Addy learned some interesting tidbits, including that the hotel has the twin chandelier of one that was on the Titanic. She also enjoyed hearing about the tradition of the Grandfather Clock in the lobby. For nearly a century, the first guest of the summer season would wind up the clock and the last guest checking out would stop the clock. Nowadays the hotel is open year round so this no longer happens but is a cool tradition nonetheless!
