“I Wonder What They Will Be Serving For Breakfast”

“I wonder what they will be serving for breakfast?”

We never got to find out. Hoping to get away for 24 hours to belatedly celebrate Valentines Day, our March and April birthdays, the Moocall attached to Shat Acres Brandy Brooklyn’s tail beeped a message of increased activity at 2:44 am.

What would you do? Knowing we would not be able to sleep worrying about whether Brooklyn calving or needed any assistance, we threw everything together and rushed to the car for the drive home. It was not a pleasant drive—pitch dark and dense fog made the trip seem even longer. We arrived home just as daylight was breaking. Ray ran to change into his barn boots and headed out to the pasture. “Do you have your phone?” I called after him. “I see Brooklyn,” he said breathlessly. “What is she doing?" I asked. “Chewing her cud and standing by the feeder eating hay. She looks just fine.” We probably did not.

Relieved that Brooklyn was okay and no cow or calf were in distress, we shared a few choice words about the Moocall. That 24 hour getaway off the farm--thanks to a half-price offer on Travelzoo--was cut in half by the message on my phone from Brooklyn's swishing tail encircled by the Moocall.

Despite the briefness of our stay, we have nothing but wonderful things to say about the Omni Mount Washington Resort. What a treasure! built in 1900-1902 by Joseph Stickney, it is massive and elegant, its superstructure boasting a steel network unheard of in its time. It sits on land granted by Royal Governor John Wentworth in 1772, named Bretton Woods after Wentworthl's home in England. 250 Italian craftsmen skilled in masonry and woodworking were imported to create the hotel. Its doors opened July 28, 1902 with 350 staff on site. After several different ownerships, 6400 of the original acres were sold to the US Government for inclusion in the White Mountain National Forest.