"The best pizza in town."

"The best movie of the summer."

"The best tennis tournament of the year."

The designation of "best" is, of course, very often subjective. Spoiler alert - this is an unabashedly subjective post about The Greatest Show on Earth, also known as the annual autumnal foliage display.

I've witnessed the show in many different places, from the Mid-South to the Midwest to the Intermountain West to the Upland South to the Northwest. Each lovely in its own way.

But for the very best foliage show, head for New England.

The best show in New England is in Northern New England. The best show in Northern New England is in New Hampshire. The best show in New Hampshire is in the White Mountains. And the finest, most spectacular color in the White Mountains is in Bretton Woods.

 To be sure, the place has stiff competition. Included on my short-list of honorable mentions would have to be Crawford Notch State Park, Pinkham Notch and Sugar Hill. (There are more...) Trying to narrow it down to a single favorite is like asking someone to choose their best-loved child.

But those reds in Bretton Woods? They're in a league of their own. Look below at the hillside behind the Mount Washington Hotel and tell me that's not a vision to behold.

It's because of the abundance of fiery, jaw-dropping reds that Bretton Woods is, in my book, the very best.

While on the subject of the hotel, it's now known as the Omni Mount Washington Resort, though I still refer to it by its original name. At the turn of the last century, there were a few dozen so-called grand hotels in New Hampshire, many of them located in the White Mountains. Only a handful remain, like this one.

Back in the day, wealthy people would take the train up from Boston - or beyond - and spend a few weeks, or as long as the entire summer, enjoying the cooler mountain climate.

The Mount Washington Hotel opened in 1902. Designed by Charles Alling Gifford, the Renaissance-Revival structure was quite innovative for its time (with a steel frame superstructure, its own electrical power plant, and a sophisticated heating system, among other things) and featured detailed, sumptuous interiors plus all the latest amenities such as running water, bathrooms and electric lights. There was (and still is) a golf course, too.

It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. In 2010 it was added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of Historic Hotels of America.

The Mount Washington Hotel was also the site of the Bretton Woods Monetary Conference in 1944, something you may recall from a history or economics class along the way.

The property is sited in a spectacularly beautiful location. Nestled at the base of the mountain for which it's named, the hotel is surrounded by some 800,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest. In autumn, that forest stages an extravagant production that, if you are fortunate enough to witness it, is something you will never forget.

While the historic Cog Railway is technically located just outside of Bretton Woods, you'll travel through the area to get to the base station, so in my mind it's part of the package.

The first mountain-climbing train, the Cog began taking passengers all the way up to the summit of Mount Washington in 1869. It's been in continuous operation ever since.

Even if you aren't going to ride it (you can get to the summit via your own automobile from the other side of the mountain), I highly recommend photographing the vibrantly-colored trains, either from the Marshfield Base Station or up at the summit - especially in autumn.

So there you have it; Bretton Woods is the best. :)

Bottom line? In the White Mountains, it's very hard to go wrong. Anywhere you explore and everywhere you look is breathtakingly beautiful. There, early October truly is The Greatest Show on Earth.

In Local News

Significant rainfall finally arrived over last weekend here in Teton Country. Well overdue, it was welcome and much needed. More, please.

The last time there was any sort of widespread measurable rainfall was over the Independence Day weekend, so that'll give you some idea how dry it's been.

The foliage show in Grand Teton National Park is well underway.

High pressure settled back in almost immediately following that little patch of stormy weather, which has made for challenging photography. Nothin' but blue skies do I see, as the old Irving Berlin classic goes. Great for sightseers, but not so great for shooting.

More on the foliage in the park next week.