A Little Murder Tour – Lake Winnipesaukee and Alton Bay, Part 2

So where were we on this tour? We were on a boat on a lake, correct? This time no boat. Well, most likely there will be boats, we’re still by a lake after all, however, we will no longer be riding in one. It’s okay! We’ll still have fun. There will be lots of ice cream and I may share.

In case you didn’t know, I read the edge-of-your-seat book, A Little Murder, by Cindy Davis. This book was mostly set in Alton Bay in New Hampshire, which is on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee. I highly recommend coming here for a visit. It’s a perfect and relaxing little getaway.

In my last post, which you can read here, you read about our boat ride into Alton Bay and got to see some sites from the book. I couldn’t fit it all in one post, so the rest is coming now!

Here we go!

This time we had to drive to Alton Bay to see all the sites we’re going to. We’ll be venturing away from the lake, but don’t worry, you may get to see a gnome or two.

As we’re driving, I saw something out the window at a distance and yelled at my father, “Stop the car! I see swans!” I have a feeling that my father, being more familiar with New Hampshire, was just humoring me when he stopped.

Look what I found:

Plastic swans! I guess swans don’t live on a lake? What a let down!

New Hampshire has quite a scheme with putting fake animals on the side of the road to get you excited and then crush your soul. I’ve seen fake moose, bears, chipmunks…okay, not the last one but I have seen fake moose (or meese?) and bears.

Ho hum. Buh bye plastic swans. We’re hungry and we want to eat!

The place we chose for breakfast was straight out of the book. If you’ll recall from my review, the main character, Angie is trying to figure out who murdered the boat captain. The suspects were on the boat and as she digs into the life of one of the suspects, she discovers he had a girlfriend who could help her figure out his story and what he might be hiding.

The girlfriend agrees to meet with Angie at this diner:

This little diner is too cute for words.

Check out the interior!

And for the best part:

This was one of the tastiest omelets I’ve had in a long while, no lie. It’s a veggie & cheese omelet, which I have to admit, sometimes aren’t too tasty. This one, however, did not disappoint! It was seasoned to perfection, satisfying my tummy.

Again, as the self-absorbed eater that I am, if food is in front of me, especially if cheese is involved, I have no idea if my restaurant companions are enjoying their meals. I can guess that my mom probably thought her meal was average because she’s never impressed with anyone else’s cooking beside her own and my father probably thoroughly enjoyed his. He had army days where he had to mix mayonnaise and ketchup to make salad dressing, so he’s always satisfied with his meals. He once thought he was eating blue cheese to only discover it was moldy cheese, and he said, “Well…I’ll just go on thinking it’s blue cheese.” And he kept on eating it. That’s the kind of guy he is!

Did anyone notice that my brother is missing from this portion? Yup, he didn’t join us for part 2 because of a “conference call.” Suuuure. Let’s take a moment to boo him. Boo you brother! Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Okay, glad that’s done.

I almost forgot! On the way, it was a bit of a drive, so my father had to make a pit stop. It actually worked out perfectly because our title character Angie works as a nurse in the ER and let’s just pretend, this is where she worked:

After breakfast, as we’re driving around, I recall that Angie actually does a lot of driving in the book. She drives around in Alton Bay, goes to Wolfeboro a couple of times, and to Nashua.

So you’re probably dying to know what the roads in New Hampshire look like, amiright?

Did I lose you? I just want to give you a full picture of the book. She goes to a grocery store too. Ya wanna see that? No? Okay.

I’ll keep it moving.

As you know, Angie is estranged from her husband and stays in a couple different motels throughout the book. I found one that I’m going to pretend was the one she stayed at.

Nice view, right? Angie should have just stayed here and relaxed instead of getting into all that trouble.

Downing’s Landing is mentioned at least a few times in the book. One of the times Angie met up with Val here. Val, if you recall, is the wife of the murdered boat captain and Angie is trying to help clear her name.

This spot is a public boat ramp facility.

Moving on! The next spot we head to I was excited about because we were going to go search for Angie’s fictional home. This is fun for me because the book gives clues and then I go hunt for it in the hopes that the fictional spot was inspired by a real spot. In the book, Angie lives on Bay Hill Road, which is a real road in Alton! Yay! Angie’s house is yellow and has a pool.

Let’s see what we find!

We found her street!

Here are spots across from her street:

Pretty nice, right?

Now for the house!

There’s no pool but this house was the closest to yellow that we could find. I think the boat in the front yard is a nice touch. Do you want to know what’s really cool? I was chatting with author Cindy Davis via Twitter DM and she confirmed that this is the actual house that was her inspiration for Angie’s! I can’t believe we picked the right one! That made me so happy.

Okay, so after Angie’s place, we wanted to find Val’s. The directions were taken right out of the book- “Drive down Bay Hill Rd., turn left, and left again on Main St.” Val’s house has daisies, buttercups, and a fence.

I think this house screams Val. I have no confirmation of this but I think I could be right!

After I snap my picture, we head to our next spot, but first, here’s the Gnome Village I promised you.

Now I have to create a Gnome Village to rival this one. Maybe it’s something I can bring back to NYC? 🤔

On these tours, I like to follow the path of the book, but also use the book to inspire my own path. This time my family and I were both inspired. My father showed me an article in the paper about Gilman Pond in Alton. This pond sounded exactly what we were looking for…beautiful scenery, check…nature trails, check…wildlife, check! Let’s go!

I’m such a model.

I saw a couple of frogs, snakes, and one chipmunk! The nature trail around Gilman Pond I would say is easy, but my mom was intimidated by one hill in particular. So maybe it’s a trail that’s a tad higher level than a beginner?

Here’s the hill:

Oh, the struggle!

After you climb up this hill, there’s also some rocks to navigate, but I’d still say it’s pretty easy. My mom refused to go much farther than this hill though. However, fast forward a couple weeks later, we went back with my brother and she did the whole walk. Remember when I said she has her favorite? That was no lie!

So two people in their late 70s could handle this nature walk. I think you could too! For more of a challenge and very pretty views, you could do the popular hike up Mount Major that’s also in this area.

Look at my mom booking it out of there! She’s like, “Get me away from all this beauty!”

After a nice nature walk, I always crave some ice cream (when don’t I crave it?). New Hampshire does not have a short supply of ice cream. In fact, you can actually do an ice cream trail throughout New Hampshire. That’s totally on my bucket list! One day I will complete the trail. They even have a map and at each spot, you collect stickers to add to your map. Maybe next summer I’ll conquer it?

Until then, I’ll enjoy my scoops of peanut butter oreo from Morrisseys’.

Delicious!

After the ice cream, we hit the road again and finally…we saw some pooches! Yay! No tour is complete without at least a couple of dogs.

Here are two out on a lovely stroll.

This was the end of day 2 but on the 3rd day, we had one more spot that’s sort of from the book that we wanted to check out and enjoy.

There’s a restaurant in the book that figures predominantly in the storyline called WG’s. Angie notices something shady going on there that she wants to investigate.

WG’s is not the name of an actual restaurant in New Hampshire. However, we do have clues to find a place that could be the inspiration for it.

Clue #1: WG’s is in Wolfeboro. A lovely lakeside town in New Hampshire.

Clue #2: Large, paved parking lot.

Clue #3: Surrounded by shrubs and scrub oaks.

What did we find?

Wolfeboro ✔️

Large, paved parking lot ✔️

And it’s called Wolfetrap Grill! WG’s! ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️

Love it when stuff like this happens on my tours. Serendipitous book tour moments.

It’s right on the water. Check out the view and that sweet boat!

Let’s see what’s on the menu. Unfortunately, as a vegetarian, I don’t have too many options here. Only healthy options. Salad, salad, or salad. WOMP Womp womp.

The summer salad as it’s called looks pretty and looks like it could be tasty, but truth be told, it was kind of bland. At least, there’s cake! My mom and I shared the flourless chocolate cake, which wasn’t half bad. However, Wolfetrap, if you’re reading, please have some other options for vegetarians. I like anything with lots of melted cheese! Throw in avocado and I’m in heaven. I think the meat eaters were happy though, so if you’re ever in the area, this is a nice spot to go.

What WG’s is lacking in vegetarian options, they make up in ambiance.

So pretty!

That dessert was just an appetizer for more dessert because Wolfeboro is home to a very special place. I’m going to take you there…

Yum Yum Shop!!! 😋

They’ve got all sorts of baked goodies here and of course ice cream. They have more than just scoops or cones here, you could also get a chocolate taco or create your own ice cream cookie sandwich. Oh my god, I could live here.

Okay, I am living here. I got a sugar cookie chocolate peanut butter ice cream sandwich.

Ooooooooooooooooooo mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next time I need a chocolate taco!!! If I could rewind and not eat half that cake, I would have gotten both!

It’s okay, I will be back. Update: just after writing this draft, I got the chance to go back. The chocolate taco was yum. 😋

So that’s my tour! I hope you enjoyed it. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend reading A Little Murder by Cindy Davis. It’s definitely a fun page-turner! Thank you, Cindy Davis, for inspiring a fun tour. My family and I had a great time without too many squabbles. I appreciated them indulging me in this tour and supporting it. It was cute whenever I saw something cool while we were driving and they’d stop the car so I could get a closer look. Like that cute, little Gnome Village. That was fun to stumble upon.

Thank you all for continuing to support and for reading my little book adventures. I appreciate it!

It was a fun escape from NYC. Hopefully, there will be more book tours in my future that take this city girl out of the city. Lord knows I need it!

I’ll end this tour here, but first, one last look at Winni in Lake Winni…

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Thank you!