Holiday report

Just returned from a wonderful holiday in North Conway.

Driving from Boston was easy the roads were clear and dry. The hotel,Comfort Inn, was ok nothing special but good value. The skiing in Cranmore was great, the instructors couldn%26#39;t have been more helpful, we weren%26#39;t very good and we ended up getting one-to-one tuition which was excellent. The Muddy Moose Restaurant had great atmosphere but the food was only ok, Bellini%26#39;s was expensive and I felt we were seated in a corridor, not a restaurant. Mae Kelly%26#39;s was excellent, and we discovered that the owner originally lived two streets away from where we now live, so small world. Zebs store was amazing, everyone staying in North Conway should visit it. As for Settlers Green, we shopped %26#39;till we dropped.

This was one of the best holidays we%26#39;ve ever had, thanks to everyone on this site for your advice and hopefully we will be back next year!

Holiday report

Great to read you had a nice visit. Hope you can return someday.

Holiday report

Thanks for the report and glad that my friend from Dundalk, England (not Maryland) had a great time. I hope that you had some clear days to see the mountains.

Now, come back in the summer when it is just as much fun. (And my daughter loves Zeb%26#39;s also)

MrsRedPony and I make an annual visit to Zebs. She swears it%26#39;s the only place where she can buy her Jordan Almonds. We buy 5lbs and bring them home. She has a jar on her desk all the time. When it%26#39;s empty, it%26#39;s time to go back to North Conway.

Sorchap --

Thanks for the trip report -- always nice to hear how trips turn out.... From our experience in North Conway, your restaurant comments are ';spot on'; -- we always make May Kelly%26#39;s a ';must-do'; even if we don%26#39;t have the geographic connection you do -- talk about a small, small world. Glad you had a great trip -- and agree, you need to come back and see it (and Maine) in the summertime.

What is Zeb%26#39;s store? What kind of store is it?

It is difficult to describe Zeb%26#39;s. Part penny candy store (nothing costs a penny), part gift shop, part general store, lots of chachkas (if you don%26#39;t know what it means, you will have to look it up), part local food and crafts emporium, all around very amusing, entertaining, and fun place to wander--many times. In the end you will find you had to buy something. It has nothing you need but everything you want.

Thank you for the answer to my question-my favorite kind of store, then. I will look it up!

As someone who lives outside the USA the best description I can give of Zebs is - its like walking into Ike Godsey%26#39;s General Store from the t.v. show the Waltons ( if anyone%26#39;s old enough to remember that).

I think Zeb%26#39;s would be pleased with Sorchap%26#39;s comparison.... They%26#39;ve tried (with partial success) to create the feeling of an old-time (early 1900%26#39;s) New England general store.... but have also added some modern-day merchandise (music CD%26#39;s, T-shirts, etc.) Lots of ';specialty'; or regional soda-pop type beverages you won%26#39;t find very many other places in New England but that some of us remember savoring when wewere kids; a huge glass-fronted wooden case of ';penny-candy'; (again lots of things we treasured as kids that aren%26#39;t generally available and more -- think root-beer-barrels, jaw-breakers, wax figures with colored, flavored water inside); a variety of specialty cheeses; a separate room devoted to candles and scented sachets; old-time signs that make great decorations for camps or family rooms; a huge selection of cooking hot-sauces; a fairly good display of books by local authors or of regional interest; and even a corner upstairs of merchandise designed especially for your dog or cat. It%26#39;s a fun place to visit anytime, but especially useful for killing part of a rainy or icy-cold day if one comes along while you%26#39;re in North Conway. We%26#39;ve reached the point where a trip to North Conway isn%26#39;t complete unless we%26#39;ve been to Zeb%26#39;s.

There are very few places left that are able to successfully create that timewarp as we cross the threshold from the main street to that nostalgic place that fewer of us remember when it was current. Zeb%26#39;s is one. The Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT is another. I skiied for many years at Stratton and the Winhall Market, while not as extensive always had great food cooking. I enjoy the questions here because it makes me do some research. There is a website that attempts to catalog these gems. visitingnewengland.com/holiday-shopping.html

One mentioned there is Hebert%26#39;s, where my family always stopped for chocolates after a visit to Sturbridge Village. One whose passing I lament is Spag%26#39;s which many of my TA friends from Mass will remember fondly I am sure. The point is that these are not just shops but treasures without whom visitors like Sorchap could not continue.