Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We do a lot of the same things we do the rest of the year. Just with more layers of clothes on. Unless I'm chopping wood. Then I'm down to a long sleeve t-shirt.
I tend to visit the beach more often from September to April--try to get there every other Sunday, if possible. It's less crowded with tourists, all the arcades, etc. are closed, and I can bring my dogs to run on the beach. Yes, we bundle up (hats and gloves VERY necessary!) Starting late October, I like to go to church and nursing home fairs. There are some very crafty people out there, and I love to purchase "hand-made in America" items.
I probably tend to go out more in winter than summer to things like movies, malls, restaurants, comedy clubs, etc. Since summer is such a fleeting time, I like to spend as much time outside as possible. Yes it's nice to eat on the terrace, but in this area, most restaurants offer outdoor seating as an afterthought. It's nice to share a pitcher of sangria at an Elm Street restaurant, but listening to traffic and breathing in the fumes is sort of a drag...
From my personal experience (moved from VA to NH over three years ago) it has its positives and negatives.
Pros: Slow pace of life (sometimes too slow)
People are nice
Crime is low
Schools are nice (I won't say the best, but they are nice)
No traffic
No hot summers (but we did have central air installed in our house when we built it in 2008 and we are GLAD we did and don't let anyone talk you out of it)
Cons: No good restaurants (mom and pop restaurants seem to survive but no chain ones)
The winters are waaaay to long.
You can only see the lakes (big local attraction) so many times before they all start to look the same.
If you don't like skiing or outdoor winter sports, you will be depressed come March.
No sweet tea :-) or Chick-fil-A
You have to drive to get to anything (entertainment)
The 8 inches of snow we got on April 1 of this year really sucked.......also the constant $400 per month heating bill we get from Nov thru March sucks too. (note I said heating bill, that does not include the normal $170 electric bill per month we get also).
Miss the city a lot.....we go to Boston about once a month to get our "city fix".
Send me a message is you want any clarification on any of this. Good luck to you and the family.
Cons: No good restaurants (mom and pop restaurants seem to survive but no chain ones)
The winters are waaaay to long.
You can only see the lakes (big local attraction) so many times before they all start to look the same.
If you don't like skiing or outdoor winter sports, you will be depressed come March.
No sweet tea :-) or Chick-fil-A
You have to drive to get to anything (entertainment)
The 8 inches of snow we got on April 1 of this year really sucked.......also the constant $400 per month heating bill we get from Nov thru March sucks too. (note I said heating bill, that does not include the normal $170 electric bill per month we get also).
Miss the city a lot.....we go to Boston about once a month to get our "city fix".
wow....isn't life funny and how different people are ...lol....The majority of the cons are what I miss and Love about NH (of course not the heating bill...lol). But 'no good restaurants' ~ wow, you need to take a trip up to North Conway, (or alot of other places for that matter)......I am currently stuck in Raleigh and can't wait to get back home to NH, Raleigh is the 'land of malls' - I have never seen so many malls, after malls, after strip malls, after chain restaurants, with a mulitude of super walmarts thrown in for good measure, in my life. If I ever get out of here (which I will !!) and get home to NH, I will Never step foot in a mall again, Ever or a chain restaurant for that matter! The first thing I will do is stop at Browns for Real seafood then continue north! Give me Zeb's, Sherman Farms, Weston Farms, and Horsefeather's Anyday !!!!!! I can't wait to come home !!!!
All chain restaurants could cease to exist and it wouldn't bother me in the least. A relative of mine who lives in Roanoke was telling us about how he was talking to friends of his there wishing that a "good" restaurant would open up. They were all excited over a Cracker Barrel coming to town since it fit their notion of a "good" restaurant.
From my personal experience (moved from VA to NH over three years ago) it has its positives and negatives.
Pros: Slow pace of life (sometimes too slow)
People are nice
Crime is low
Schools are nice (I won't say the best, but they are nice)
No traffic
No hot summers (but we did have central air installed in our house when we built it in 2008 and we are GLAD we did and don't let anyone talk you out of it)
Cons: No good restaurants (mom and pop restaurants seem to survive but no chain ones)
The winters are waaaay to long.
You can only see the lakes (big local attraction) so many times before they all start to look the same.
If you don't like skiing or outdoor winter sports, you will be depressed come March.
No sweet tea :-) or Chick-fil-A
You have to drive to get to anything (entertainment)
The 8 inches of snow we got on April 1 of this year really sucked.......also the constant $400 per month heating bill we get from Nov thru March sucks too. (note I said heating bill, that does not include the normal $170 electric bill per month we get also).
Miss the city a lot.....we go to Boston about once a month to get our "city fix".
Send me a message is you want any clarification on any of this. Good luck to you and the family.
Have you ever seen the lakes from in a boat? It's a whole different view.
This born and raised Yankee is moving back to New England sometime in the months to come. For those who have never lived there. I suggest a good catalog such as LLBean, or a company specializing in northern-type clothing, either that or a good northern sporting goods or outfitting store.
Someone mentioned layers, and layers are very important, partly because they are adjustable, and partly because they do a better job at keeping zero temperatures and windy blowing snow out. First of all, keep additional warm clothing in the car and one or more blankets. That's a must.
Whenever I, persoanlly, dressed to go outside, hiking, snowshoeing, or skiing in below zero weather or a blizzard, I began first with regular underwear, then added the type of long-sleeved undershirt that has a layer of wool sandwiched between jersey material, then a pair of regular socks, or socks that wick away moisture, followed by long johns pulled up over the socks, then a pair of wool socks over the long johns. Next came a long-tailed turtleneck jersey and a pair of snowpants or skipants coming up over the tail of the turtleneck.
Following that, an Icelandic-type wool sweater over the turtleneck, then a parka, with lined hood and storm flap. Most people wear a polar fleece hat or a ski mask depending on conditions and only lift and tightly cinch the hood as necessary, which can be often, especially if walking in a blizzard which can happen if a storm comes and your car gets stuck in a traffic jam and the plows can't get through or you get stuck on the skilift.
But that's not all. If you will indeed be skiing, or hiking, or snowshoeing, or ice fishing, you will need good heavy leather adirondack-type, felt-lined boots, and goose-down gloves or mittens.
Good high and warm boots of some kind are a necessary purchase for winters in NH, even if you're just going shopping.
Believe it or not, over all these layers, before I put on the parka and the boots and the gloves, I sometimes had to add nylon windbreaker overalls (the kind with shoulder straps).
It's not that you would wear all this every day, but that you should have these layers to work with depending on what the winter weather is on any given day and what you will be doing outside -- and especially when you are experiencing that intense kind of bone-chilling sub-zero cold for the first time. Frostbite comes quickly and is very painful.
Indoor temperatures are generally kept between 65 and 68. Though some folks keep theirs as low as 62. So you must also get used to lower indoor temperatures and dress accordingly whether you are going visiting or to church.
I don't much care for the apparently lack of fast food in the state....... one of my few gripes. Certain chains are prominent enough, it seems, but others are not.
Taco Bells are sorely lacking.... there are only a few in the whole state, and it's pretty much exclusively in the southern end of the state. Mexican food, in general, seems lacking there (again, especially northern end of the state).
Some people hate chains.... some people like them. I like 'em. I can do without being charged the extra amount for being "served" for a sit-in meal. I don't want to sit in, thank you very much... just give me my food in a bag and let me be on my way.
Sounds like the same thing I did to my husband. We lived in Florida and my family is in NH so we moved here. My son was in special ed so the schools were better here. That was over 10 years ago so the FL schools may be better now.
He makes more money here than he ever could in the south. I am from MA and he is from FL he hates the winter but the other 3 seasons are fabulous. I guess it is just a matter of personal prefrance.
A house with a garage would be great. Bedford is well known for its schools.
@homewardboundnh.....:-) No doubt. I do love Horsefeathers in North Conway...great food. I don't want anyone to take what I have said the wrong way, NH is a very nice state and so is NE for that matter, and YES I have see the Lakes from a boat many times and YES it is beautiful every time. All I am saying is NE is not for me or my family but if we don't move for a long time, I'll be fine and survive just the same. I will continue to miss my Sweet Tea and grits (at a restaurant) but life will go on.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What to wear in the far north --
