It is New Hampshire's largest lake covering 72 square miles (44,000 acres) of sparkling clean water due to being mainly spring fed and surrounded by mountain ranges and is some of the most spectacular scenery in New England. The lake was formed by glaciers and contains more than 240 habitable islands. The average depth is 35 feet with the deepest point exceeding 200 feet.
We took a drive to Weirs Beach located on the lakeshore not far from the town of Meredith. It's a big tourist area offering boat cruises of the lake and islands, a larger boat that offered a Dinner/Dance cruise on the week-ends, and you could even take a train ride. It also had a "beach" on the lake for swimmers.
The "beach area" below is much larger than it looks in this picture.
The building in the picture below is where you buy your tickets for boat trips and train rides. It was built to look like a train depot and also has a gift shop! :)
Take a ride on the train shown below and you can enjoy a scenic and nostalgic ride along the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee on tracks that brought vacationers to New Hampshire Lakes Region beginning in 1890.
Boat cruises.....
We decided to take the Dinner/Dance cruise that was scheduled for the next evening. It's a sunset cruise with dinner and dancing to live music. Each weekend is a themed cruise. They were having a "Lobster Fest" this particular weekend......they also offered Prime Rib for us land lovers :). It also had a full salad bar and buffet including dessert.
Below is a picture of the Motor Ship Mount Washington. It has a long history dating back to the Steamship Mount Washington, launched in Alton Bay in 1872. Today's Mount Washington is 230 feet with a steel superstructure on 4 levels with 3 dance floors and a capacity of 1250 passengers. The evening we went they had live entertainment in two of the three dance floors.
In the picture below you can see a line of boats....there was a constant line of boats going through a canal to another part of the lake. We saw a couple of Law Enforcement boats that would cruise up and down the line to keep people from butting in line. It was Labor Day weekend and there were hundred of boats around.
There were several smaller tour boats like the one below (on left). There is also a "mail" boat that delivers mail to many of the islands in which you can also tour the islands in.
It took a little while to board the ship. They had a photographer at the front of the line to take your picture and a security guard that searched purses and bags. We decided there had to be several hundred people that sailed that evening.
Our "selfie" after we boarded the Dinner Cruise.
The dinner was delicious!
Alan said this may have been the best tasting lobster yet! He said that about all of them though! :)
Carving the Prime Rib!
After getting your food you could sit in any of the dining rooms (like the dining area in the background of above picture) or take it outside to the front or back of the ship. There were plenty of tables set up outside if you preferred to eat there.
Inside there was live entertainment and dancing in two locations aboard the ship!
Some of the houses we passed along the shore were spectacular....and huge!
Some not so big....but quaint.
Beautiful shoreline with mountains in the background.
Some of the many islands.
A beautiful sunset!
A wonderful dinner cruise.
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