New Hampshire – Lake Winnipesaukee-Concord-Manchester-Portsmouth
Leaving Vermont we were excited to start a new adventure in a new state. We would leave Vermont with fond memories as well as a slightly dirtier Bubbles after she was rescued from the mud the evening before. As we entered western New Hampshire the scenery changed dramatically. We entered the state close to the White Mountains National Forest and in no time at all the small “Green Mountains” of Vermont doubled and tripled in size as we got deeper into New Hampshire. Our first stop in New Hampshire was the small mountain town of Woodstock. For those familiar with the Adirondack Mountains in New York, Woodstock was just like Inlet, small and quaint without being too touristy. We walked in and out of some of the small woodsy gift shops and their general store. (General Stores are still very big in New England). After having lunch at their small brewery in town we headed for our destination for the next few days, Lake Winnipesaukee.
From Woodstock we drove to our two-night campground that was close to Weirs Beach on the western side of the lake. After checking in and setting up camp we drove down to the little town. There was a lot of activity going on as the waterfront construction crews were in the finishing process of installing all new sidewalks and curbs. Other than the brand new sidewalks the waterfront looked like it was out of the 1950’s Jersey shore. There were rows of penny arcades with mostly older style games going on. Julie and I played a shooting game where an entire area was set to look like an old western town. Everything in the set had a little target on it. From tin cans on a fence to cowboys in the background and birds hanging from the ceiling, everything had a target. If you did well you received tickets, which you could redeem for prizes. These “prizes” however were laughable that any kid would actually want them (or would redeem enough tickets for them) as they were living room laps, huge models of aircraft carriers or older televisions. All of these prizes had obviously been there for quite a while. After exiting the penny arcades we noticed that there was a huge ferry or lake cruise ship and that the 1st voyage started the next day. It was supposed to be sunny so we decided that would be great to do. We went back to the campground for the night, cooked dinner, made a fire and called it a night.
The next morning we ventured back to the northern “Jersey Shore” and bought a ticket for the M/S Mt. Washington. What we thought was just a tourist cruise was actually that plus it could be used for actual transportation. It turned out to be a 2.5 hour cruise from Weirs Beach to Wolfeboro on the other side of the lake. It was a beautiful day as the boat passed big and small islands in the lake. Every now and then a recorded voice would come over the loud speakers letting you know what you were passing. Some times they would tell you houses that have sold on the islands to give you a sense of wealth that the area has and other times what massive hotels used to sit on these islands before either burning down or being moved back to shore. By the time the boat got back to Weirs Beach it was lunchtime and we were hungry. In researching restaurants I noticed a BBQ food truck not too far from us. We drove over there and it turned out to be a BBQ trailer. In talking with the owner who was from the Dallas area she would come up and spend each summer in New Hampshire selling her BBQ then go back to Dallas in the winter and do the same thing. Her BBQ was amazing and we would highly recommend anyone in the Meredith, NH area to stop by the Traveling Texas Smoke Shop. Next up on our day of fun was the American Classic Arcade Museum that was a suggestion to visit from our friend Geoff. This was part of a big complex called “The Fun Spot”. The Arcade Museum in the Fun Spot had arcade games ranging from the early 1980’s through the early 2000’s. It was a lot of fun playing the old games that we had grown up playing as kids. This was truly a fun day for us.
The next morning we packed up and we were off. Today we were going to New Hampshire’s capital city of Concord. So far in the trip we had a rule to try if at all possible to not take highways as a route to get from point “a” to point “b”. We did this because generally there is a lot more to see and stumble into when you’re not on the highway. On this day it would pay off greatly. It was only about an hour drive from Lake Winnipesaukee to Concord so we tried to take the most scenic route that we could find. About half an hour into the drive we both had to use the restroom and having an RV we didn’t have to find a restaurant or rest stop but just somewhere to park. As we rounded a corner the New Hampshire Motor Speedway came into view and we pulled in. We pulled in and realized that there was racing going on that day. After speaking with a few people we found that it was semi pro motorcycle racing. We decided to check it out and after paying for our ticket we drove Bubbles right into the infield. Neither of us had ever been in a NASCAR style track before and it was quite the experience. We parked amongst the other RV’s and started to walk around. We found that there were individuals that had come with some family or a few friends that were tending to their motorcycles and entire teams who had set up shop in the area where the NASCAR pit crews would work on their cars. The races started off with not motorcycles but with what were called “Legacy” cars. These little cars looked like 1930’s gangster cars as they roared around the track. It was a lot of fun to see them go and go. Next up were the motorcycles though. These high performance machines were really something to see in person. In talking to some of the drivers we found that they were going anywhere from 50-110mph as they roared around the track. After getting our motorcycle fill we ate lunch in the RV and headed back out to the road.
We pulled into Concord and as it was a Sunday afternoon there was a bit less traffic than usual. We found parking behind the New Hampshire State House and started to walk around. Concord is a small and easily walk able city. We soon found the main street, which it seemed had recently been redone and started our way up. It was impressive to us that almost every storefront was full with a variety of shops. In some of the downtowns that we had visited in smaller cities this wasn’t always the case. While in Concord we stumbled upon two shops that we both loved. The first was a cigar shop called “Castro’s Backroom”. This was a 30+-year-old cigar shop in a historic building. It was filled with cigar and New England memorabilia. I got a cigar and Julie & I played a game of pool. It was a good rest from the hot outside sun. The 2nd shop that we loved was “Granite State Chocolates”. This shop was in an older building as well. I’d like to say that we had some self-control and just looked but we ended up with a few pieces for each of us before we left. They were delicious. That night we reserved a campground between Concord and Manchester.
The next morning we woke up to a drizzly and grey day. It was the first rainy day of the trip but we decided to push forward and check out Manchester anyway. Manchester is the largest city in New Hampshire so it took a little while longer to find parking than normal for us. The van can fit in a normal parking spot however it does stick out just a bit so normally we try to find parking in a corner of a lot or somewhere on the street where we can park parallel to the street. We found the main street and honestly was not too impressed. It looked like a mix of 6-7 story office buildings from the 1980’s mixed in with a lot of college dive bars. Nontheless we were hungry and after looking at a few menu’s in the window decided to go to a place called Consuelos Taqueria. It was the kind of place where you ordered at the counter then they brought you your food. It was small and amazing. Julie and I both had a set of taco’s that were made to order. Two thumbs up from us for Consuelos. Once we were done eating we were not really sure what else to do. We had been checking a website called the “Crazy Tourist” when looking for things to do in towns and one of the things for Manchester was the “Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center”. This was centered around a dam in Manchester with a fish ladder. I had seen one of these in Seattle years earlier but Julie had never seen one so off we went. The center was practically empty when we got there however that meant it was just the two of us and the volunteer worker who was happy to give us a personal tour. The entire center was very interesting not only showcasing which fish use the fish ladder to get from the Atlantic Ocean up the Merrimack and up the ladder to all of the waterways and watershed in Northern New Hampshire. To top it off they even had an underwater viewing window, which we were able to see salmon as well as a few other species of fish swimming by. It was really neat.
Our last stop and last day in New Hampshire was in the port city of Portsmouth. Portsmouth was our 1st historic city that we had visited so far as the city was first settled in 1623. We pulled in and somehow found parking amongst the tiny and crowded streets. The city had a very New England mariner charm to it. We walked amongst the shops and café’s in awe of how well preserved the town was. You could spend hours walking the streets of the town but we had to be in York, Maine in a few hours so we took our own tour of Portsmouth. We walked down to their harbor where you could see docked tugboats that were used to bring large cargo ships into their harbor. We then walked down their market street where you can still buy all the goods that you need (although at a high cost….condo’s were popping up all over the town). We then stopped for some ice cream and a cigar at a cigar bar and received great tips from the bartender Tom who said that his family had been in Portsmouth for 4 generations.
All in all we loved New Hampshire. It had more of a classic New England attitude toward things and was a bit more populated than Vermont. Besides Manchester we could see ourselves either living or at the least vacationing in almost every city that we visited.
Next up…..Maine!
