Dinner Charter
Table Of Content
It’s had different names and been remodeled and expanded several times, but it’s still the place to go for refreshments after a spin on the lake. The two-story Runals House had a broad front porch overlooking the lake and accommodated 40 guests. A unique evening on the water, surrounded by beautiful scenery and beautiful voices, all to benefit Opera North. Frances and her husband continued to expand the hotel and property, building cottages along the lake and landscaping the hillside with gardens and terraces.
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The former motel on Burkehaven Road is now a small resort, with a garden-encased heated pool and suites decorated in Adirondak-style with log beds and natural wood finishes. Sunapee Stays also has a beautiful Tree House cabin in the woods (literally, it’s built in a tree), but it’s in nearby Newbury and not part of this story. That same year, the Woodsum Brothers began a steamboat service on the 75-passenger Lady Woodsum, connecting the railroad station in Newbury to landings around the lake. With a sure means of bringing in guests, Gardner and Runals built the far grander Ben Mere Inn in 1890 where the Runals House had stood. It was a grand affair, its large parlor equipped with fireplaces, 100 guest rooms, a wide front porch with rocking chairs where guests could look out over the harbor, and a tower for wider views of the lake.
A perfect evening in Sunapee Harbor…
The picturesque Harbor is a great place to stroll or just sit and relax. There are unique shops, an art gallery, eateries, historical museum, and Saturday afternoon entertainment. By the late 1880s, wealthy Victorians from the cities were arriving at Sunapee Harbor on the 600-passenger steamboat Edmund Burke, which also brought tourists to other hotels and landings around the lake. In 1887, the 650-passenger Armenia White was launched, the largest steamship ever to sail on the lake. Kearsarge was launched, and there followed a succession of steamships until automobiles made the steamships redundant. If you don’t see a parking space near the water turn right up Burkehaven Hill Rd. where there are more spaces next to the bandstand.
Scenic Lake Tour
No matter how beautiful the decor in a restaurant, it is inherently static – your view out the window generally doesn’t change all that much during the meal. If you are looking for an experience that combines the best of a sunset sail with a scrumptious buffet dinner, head to Lake Sunapee – we have just the tour for you. Repeat guests bought some of the cottages, others built new ones on the land around the hotel, and the summer community of Burkehaven was born.
The M.V. MT. Sunapee II features an open-air top deck and a fully enclosed lower deck – no matter the weather, you can cruise this picturesque lake in comfort. You’ll see the magnificent homes that have sprung up around the lake as well as the historic sights of yester year. A highlight for many are the three historic, and still operating, lighthouses. While cruising the lake you will be afforded a unique viewpoint of our beautiful area, as well as unimpeded views of local mountains Kearsarge and Sunapee.
The hotel had its own bowling alley and a boardwalk leading to the harbor. The Ben Mere Inn was the harbor’s focal point for 77 years, until its final summer in 1967, with demolition coming the following year. All that remains today is the sloping lawn, now a city park with a bandstand that hosts summer evening concerts. We spent a few days in Sunapee this fall, enjoying the views of Mount Sunapee’s summit and then-green ski trails from the terrace of The Lodge by Sunapee Stays.
Boaters can put their craft in at the public boat launch or rent or charter almost any type of watercraft at Sargent’s Marina. There is a reasonable amount of free parking right next to the waterfront and there are the all-important public rest-stations nearby. The highlight of the evening is an after-dinner serenade by two of the singers appearing in our Summerfest 2023 productions. The highlight of the evening is an after-dinner serenade by two of the singers appearing in our Summerfest 2024 productions. Fenton’s Landing, opposite The Anchorage, was our go-to for breakfast, and we savored one of the finest dinners in our travels, at SUNA, on Route 103. The shrimp and lobster grits with roasted corn was better than any shrimp ‘n’ grits I ever tasted in the southland.
Luncheon Charter
Join Opera North for an intimate 2-hour, sit-down dinner cruise on Lake Sunapee. As you enjoy a delicious meal and the stunning scenery on a summer evening, your guide will point out key sites around the lake on a cruise through its history. Launching from Sunapee Harbor, the two-hour dinner cruise offers achance for guests to enjoy cocktails, a dinner buffet, and dessert whilelearning about the history and landmarks of the lake. The charter consist of a private 1.5 hour cruise and features a delicious buffet lunch, soft drinks, dessert, and a Captain provided narration rich with the history and lore of Lake Sunapee.
Ask the Community
You’ll see the unique “droopy roofs” and hear a mix of history and lake-life gossip. Fans of ‘70s rock will see where Steven Tyler grew up (his father was the pianist at a former resort) and pass George’s Mills, location of The Barn where he and Joe Perry formed Aerosmith. The best way to appreciate the architecture and grandeur of some of Burkehaven’s “cottages” is on a lake cruise, from the deck of the M.V. These houses show their best faces to the water and are mostly hidden from land view by trees, and traveling by boat recalls the days when steamers were the only choice. Our perfect summer evening in Sunapee Harbor began with a dinner cruise on the MV Kearsarge, a replica paddlewheel steamboat that has traveled the lake for thirty years. The cruise provides for great photo opportunities with amazing sunsets, lighthouses and mountain views so have your cameras ready.
Burkehaven’s St. James’ Episcopal Church, one of the nine Episcopal summer chapels in New Hampshire, still has Sunday services in the summer. The grand hotel is no more, but Burkehaven continues to thrive as a cottage community. Activities for hotel guests ranged from concerts and ballroom dancing to more active sports of tennis, riding and sailing.
Prior to the 1870s, Sunapee’s economy was based off of farming and on the 20 or so mills and industries powered by the Sugar River, which flows out of the lake at the harbor. Then, in 1876, the train line opened to Newbury, at the foot of the lake. Watch our video so you will know the available parking areas for parking your vehicle and/or your vehicle with boat trailer.
The Sunapee we know today — the busy harbor and hub of boat traffic on Lake Sunapee — began in the 1870s, although the town was settled nearly a century earlier. It was John Young Gardner, the grandson of one of the earliest settlers, who foresaw the potential of the lake and harbor. Your group may want to arrive early to enjoy Sunapee Harbor before your cruise.
Your guests may want to bring a light jacket or sweater aboard the cruise. It is sometimes breezy on the lake, and the open part of the top deck is fun to enjoy. Sometimes the same old, same old restaurant celebrations can get a little, well, stale.
Departing from Sunapee Harbor, a narrated boat tour on Lake Sunapee is a time-honored way to spend an afternoon. Come aboard, relax in your deck chair and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Lake Sunapee. Your knowledgeable Captain will provide a narration of the history, landmarks and lore of this crystal clear mountain lake. Lake Sunapee is known as the “waters of the flying goose,” and the M.V. The scenic cruise is not only a good way to see the otherwise hidden cottages and estates, but includes a lively history of the lake, the hotels and the summer community. You’ll see that the shore is more developed than it appears from a quick scan, a steady series of cottage architecture from Rustic Deco and Adirondak to a few eye-boggling modern mansions.
You can get a glimpse of those heady days of the grand hotels at the Sunapee Historical Society’s Flanders-Osborne Museum, housed in the former Flander’s Stable in Sunapee Harbor. It’s filled with artifacts, pictures, mementos and documents from Sunapee’s past. If it’s not open, you can look through the large window to see the deckhouse of a former lake steamer and a farm sales wagon. Sunapee’s tourism isn’t all about the past or for those with lakeside cottages. The Anchorage is a harbor institution, serving food and drink for more than a century.
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