Favorite part of summer 2016?
 

Now that summer is winding down, please share your favorite moment(s) of this past summer. Favorite new experience? A new find?

Now that my daughters are older, we have been doing more hiking. I loved the waterfall trails at Castle in the Clouds!

After living all our lives in CT, we have now retired to the lake.

We came here for the friendly people, fresh air, fine scenery and of course, the lake.

It was our hope that all this would lure our adult offspring to come spend time with us.

IT WORKED!!!

We saw them twice as much and in a great setting!

So, to answer the question...

Just about every minute!

Favorite part of summer is right now, after labor day when the lakes feel like you own them.

Played fishing guide for my son & his friend for a day
 

Learned enough in a season+ to 'play' fishing guide one day for my experienced son & his 'rookie' friend. They got smallmouth up to 16", largemouth to 17", and pickerel to 21" on a Sat. afternoon.

Highlight of our Summer was week on Lake Champlain. VT and NY go out of the way to encourage boaters to visit for multiple days and it was great. Since overnight anchoring is encouraged, there are always empty slips at marinas so if you need a transient slip for a night, they are easy to get. VT and NY also have many free and excellent public boat ramps with vast amounts of parking.

We cruised a total of 325 miles from marina to marina with lots of stops at ports and parks in between. We spent one beautiful night at a lovely anchorage in Willsboro Bay with 35+ other boats around us and it was quiet and peaceful.

This moment.http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...c15d97fdec.jpg

Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

My Favs
 

Enjoying early morning on lake

My Fav
 

Sunset cruise

Having a new pup to bring out to the island.

Fantastic
 

That is awesome! How come you didn't post a pic of him / her in the pet section??

Congrats!!

Dan

Tough story, earlier this year we lost our former dog suddenly at 8 years old to a stroke. She died on the way to the emergency vet. The following day we got a new pup, her, (pictured) but it's one of those things just didn't really care to share the story at the time. Suppose I might as well add to it now....

Sorry to hear about your 8 year old... that is sad...but I bet you gave her one hell of a life for 8 years!!

Glad to see your giving another deserving pup a chance at the same kind of life!!

Island life and dogs just go hand in hand!!

Good luck with your new family member!!

Dan

So sorry. I know how hard that is! The new puppy is adorable though-have fun with her.

Ah. Contentment. Great pic. Even at a very early age, islands are peaceful.

My favorite part of summer (and it continues presently) is Floating & Boating!

Monday through Friday (until about 3pm)

Peter, thank you for the positive, upbeat topic. I loved everything about being here and managed to get here in early summer and again at the end of August. I loved the cruise on the Winnipesaukee Belle.

trying to post a couple of pics of the cruise out of Wolfeboro on the Winnipesaukee Belle......

Catching this small mouth!

Favorite part of summer 2016
 

From someone who would "park" the last two weeks of August into LD weekend in West Alton at my uncle's property.....spoiled I was!

Just knowing that I am planning on dragging the boat from Melrose to Silver Sands gives me the 10 year old in the penny candy store excitement. Anchoring anywhere, Braun, off Governors, at Ellacoya is a recharge that can not be duplicated for me. Popping in an out of the water, enjoying the "lunch" in the boat with family and friends, the smell of the fresh water, sights and sounds that pulsate with vibrancy all around the lake, Good God.....thank you for any and all of it!

No need for words ................


.

Meeting new people through boating. That I now consider my friends for life...........

Dancing Fools
 

Mine is DJ ing the dance party going on right off the swim platform of "The Breeze" just outside the swim line in front of the Silver Sands Motel. Great day on the water and we had the whole motel out dancing with us!! It's become a yearly tradition usually around the 14th to the 16th of July.

The Breeze
Wave 'cuz I'll be wavin' back :D

And before Memorial Day.

Dave R reminds if the time when anchoring was allowed on the lake. Then there were transient slips available and overnights were allowed at public docks. It was fun staying overnight at the various ports and marinas. I lot more fun than today where the only thing to do on the lake on weekends was to hole up in your backyard.

First summer boating exclusively, on Winnipesaukee and my wife and I are thrilled to be here. The anchoring spots, the destinations and their array of foods, the places like Ragged I.
Since Labor Day we have enjoyed numerous outings fishing (caught a fat landlocked) and learning the lake with all of it's bays and hazards (avoided all of them, knock on wood).
The other day, a "real fisherman" out of Meredith Marina too, who always asks how I did trying to troll from my tritoon, invited me to go out with him tomorrow
for one of his final, fishing forays and of course I accepted!
Hospitality and unselfish, friendliness like that is rare in this day and age...hell, I even had a first cousin, years ago, that wouldn't share where he got his stringer of trout with me, and now a complete stranger offers his boat and his knowledge to me, a learning, fisherman...if that is what Lake Winnpesaukee folks are like, that, is where I want to be!

Tonight at 6:45 PM
 

There are many favorites, in fact all of the summer. Every day I look out at the lake and appreciate how lucky I am to be here. Really. When family members are here, even better!

But tonight, it reminded me of a sign I saw in front of a house on Marco Island. "It don't suck" That guy gets it!

Attachment 12373

My Happy Place all summer!!!

Favorite things
 

There are many things we love about summer at the lake but three of our favorites are:

The views, the views and the views!

Fresh, sweet corn, straight from the field.

Ahh...

At The Lake for our annual visit. Out in the boat. Stop to take a swim. My son and his girlfriend jump in the water. She looks a little apprehensive. She's used to California, the ocean shoreline, not used to deep, dark water. Tell them "there's nothing in The Lake that can possibly hurt you." No sharks, no nothing.

That night, at Church Landing, getting ready for dinner, look out at The Lake. I point out to my son a huge, huge dog swimming along the shore right toward us. Then it begins to dawn on me, "that's not a dog, that's a bear." Sure enough, juvenile bear swims right on past us, looking for shoreline. Finds it about 100 yards past us right by Meredith Marina, goes ashore, and is gone.

Son turns to me. "So, there's nothing in The Lake that can possibly hurt you, huh."

Ah, but you could outswim a bear, even if you can't swim, I'd bet.

My favorite part was the total of 2.5 weeks we spent up there this Summer. There is never a bad time at the lake. I don't care if it's raining out...I'm at the lake!

My second favorite part of Summer is the end of it. The southern heat is unbearable!

We enjoyed the lake every weekend from May until now.
Kayaking with a coffee or adult beverage and talking to neighbors and meeting new people.
Listening to happy kids laughing and screaming as they play, ski, tube or boat ride.
Listening to the few kids cry and scream.... (Not our's we don't have children);)
Sunsets on the boat
Reading with a 60lb poodle that thinks ALL poodles are lap dogs.

But my BEST memory of 2016 was when I safely bumped to a stop in the parking lot of the Tilton VIP after finding out on the exit 20 ramp that the truck had blown a brake line. :eek::eek:
As an aside: I had 2 dogs and a cat and the VIP staff were great as I tried to find a way to the camp.

There is nothing more relaxing than finding a protected little area on the lee side of an uninhabited island, throwing the anchor overboard, and swimming, snorkeling and sleeping in the sun. My wife and I are in healthcare and have very stressful jobs. When we can get up to the lake, it totally recharges our batteries.

Lots of memories from Summer '16!

*Canoeing on Waukewan with a makeshift sail mounted to the middle brace of our canoe
*Riding our motorcycles to Tamworth to visit the Remick Farm & Doctor Museum
*Early morning walks by the Town Docks
*Walking down to the town docks to watch the Mt Washington drop off passengers from its cruise on Friday nights (it looks huge docked at the town docks)
*Trips to Pond Hill Ranch in Castleton, VT for the rodeo (Every Saaturday night @8PM Memorial Day through Labor Day)

I hated the humidity this year though. I'm very glad fall is in the air and I'm looking forward to a beautiful winter with ice on lake Winni this time (crossing my fingers!)

Late afternoons on the boat...
 

I put together a short video capturing a few of our experiences:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oCkzE4V1T1U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCkzE4V1T1U

Note: All pics/videos captured via cell phone....we are hacks :)