My trip (Manchester, Portsmouth, Bedford: for sale, mortgage, houses)

[booker_one]

Well my wife and I are home after our trip to New Hampshire. I must say that I was as impressed as I thought I would be. We were not able to swim in one of the rivers or take a drive on the Kanc because of the bad weather that was threatening everyday we were there. We kind of hung out around the Portsmouth area and drove up route 1A to Maine as some of you suggested. When we arrived we drove from Boston to the Manchester-Bedford area before we went to Portsmouth.

The weather was as comfortable as I thought it would be. I actually heard people complaining about 85 degree temeratures. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was like they thought they were going to die or something. It was perfect summer weather to me.

Downtown Portsmouth was nice and the people were friendly as well. I actually thought people in NH were more friendly than here in Texas. That whole southern hospitality thing is bull. You guys were saying how New Englanders are not quick to tell their life story but I found out otherwise. Most people we spoke to were very open about their life. It was great.

Here are a few interesting things I noticed.

1. The people in NH are much skinnier than in Texas. Texas is a really fat state compared to NH. We saw a lot of people jogging and riding bikes. I liked that.

2. Lots of big trees on the interstate. In Texas we like to knock down most of the trees along the interstate so you can see the businesses from the road.

3. Tons of Dunkin Donuts. Wow. We started taking pictures of ourselves in front of them when we would see them. There were so many. We couldn't understand how people stay so skinny.

4. Great food. Every place we ate was awesome. But, I think the best food I had was at Warren's accross the Maine border.

5. More laid back than Texas. Drivers took their time which was nice. I found myself relaxing more than I do here on the road.

I'm sure I will think of more later.

[CometVoyager]

Originally Posted by booker_one

Well my wife and I are home after our trip to New Hampshire. I must say that I was as impressed as I thought I would be. We were not able to swim in one of the rivers or take a drive on the Kanc because of the bad weather that was threatening everyday we were there. We kind of hung out around the Portsmouth area and drove up route 1A to Maine as some of you suggested. When we arrived we drove from Boston to the Manchester-Bedford area before we went to Portsmouth.

The weather was as comfortable as I thought it would be. I actually heard people complaining about 85 degree temeratures. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was like they thought they were going to die or something. It was perfect summer weather to me.

Downtown Portsmouth was nice and the people were friendly as well. I actually thought people in NH were more friendly than here in Texas. That whole southern hospitality thing is bull. You guys were saying how New Englanders are not quick to tell their life story but I found out otherwise. Most people we spoke to were very open about their life. It was great.

Here are a few interesting things I noticed.

1. The people in NH are much skinnier than in Texas. Texas is a really fat state compared to NH. We saw a lot of people jogging and riding bikes. I liked that.

2. Lots of big trees on the interstate. In Texas we like to knock down most of the trees along the interstate so you can see the businesses from the road.

3. Tons of Dunkin Donuts. Wow. We started taking pictures of ourselves in front of them when we would see them. There were so many. We couldn't understand how people stay so skinny.

4. Great food. Every place we ate was awesome. But, I think the best food I had was at Warren's accross the Maine border.

5. More laid back than Texas. Drivers took their time which was nice. I found myself relaxing than I do here.

I'm sure I will think of more later.

Welcome to the board booker-one. Happy you enjoyed New Hampshire! And hope you decide to come back soon! I enjoyed reading about your observations! Especially this one; ". The people in NH are much skinnier than in Texas. Texas is a really fat state compared to NH. We saw a lot of people jogging and riding bikes. I liked that." I hope you did not read my post on what I cooked for July 4th! But I think maybe there are less weight challenged people in New Hampshire because New Hampshire does not have the proportion of Wall-Marts you have in Texas????

Also I personally believe Texas people are very friendly. My wife and I travel there often to visit our family and we only have the best of times. We are usually in Austin, Flower Mount and El Paso. Very friendly people down there in my opinion and the best BBQ food you could every dream of!

[booker_one]

I think the fat/skinny thing could be the way it is for a couple reasons. I think we have quiet a few more McDonalds and Wal Marts like you mentioned. My other thought is that New Hampshire people participate in more outdoor activities than Texans.

Maybe I was off on the southern hospitality thing. I guess I just thought people seemed overall happier in NH than in Texas....which has lead me to observing more rudeness here.

I did read your post on the 4th of July food. It sounded great. It is ok to go crazy once in a while. Especially on the 4th.

[kwiley1221]

A fellow Texan in New Hampshire? And here I thought I had the whole state to myself. Are y'all going to be moving up here permanently?

I miss Texas BBQ and all the mom and pop Mexican restaurants, but I DON'T miss 100 degrees days in summer and bumper to bumper traffic. I have to say that moving up here so far has been a very good decision.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed your trip.

[booker_one]

i'm glad you really like it up there kwiley. i wish we were moving up there permanently. i think it will be a couple of years before we will be able to do that. we were trying to figure out how most people afford their mortgage payments up there. it doesn't seem like there are enough high paying jobs so people could afford payments on at least a $300,000 house.

We went to one open house and it was $329,000 for 1750 square feet. the house was ok but it felt really small. our house here is the same size and it feels bigger. i think if we could afford a house there right now we would move there next summer. one good thing is that my wife really liked it up there as well.

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by booker_one

i'm glad you really like it up there kwiley. i wish we were moving up there permanently. i think it will be a couple of years before we will be able to do that. we were trying to figure out how most people afford their mortgage payments up there. it doesn't seem like there are enough high paying jobs so people could afford payments on at least a $300,000 house.

We went to one open house and it was $329,000 for 1750 square feet. the house was ok but it felt really small. our house here is the same size and it feels bigger. i think if we could afford a house there right now we would move there next summer. one good thing is that my wife really liked it up there as well.

NH ranks as one of the top state in per-capita income and the 2nd lowest for taxes. So, the money is there - certainly in the Southern and Seacoast areas. Home prices are correspondingly higher in the SE. The nearer you get to Boston, the more in-demand towns are as bedroom communities (unfortunately).

[Valerie C]

Booker, glad to hear that your wife enjoyed visiting New Hampshire. I remember your mentioning that you weren't sure how she would like it hear. We did have unusual weather during the last week or two--these types of storms are very much not typical for June and early July--more like late July and into August, but never every day like recently.

Your observations are interesting, especially the Dunkin Donuts One thing you have to understand is that it ISN'T about the donuts, it's the COFFEE. Very seldom will you see people eating a donut while driving, but most everybody has a Dunks iced coffee (French Vanilla w/skim and 2 Spenda on the side) If you order a "regular" coffee, they dump about 1/4 cup of suger into the cup before pouring the coffee in!!!

You'll probably miss Texas-style BBQ, but maybe our seafood will help to make up for it Lobster at Warrens (or even at home!) is something to look forward to every summer!!

In what town did you visit the Open House? The price sounds somewhat high for inland, but if you were in the Portsmouth/seacoast area, about right. Prices are sort of all over the place right now...

[booker_one]

Thanks Valerie. I actually would not miss the Texas BBQ. I think I am one of the few people in Texas that does not eat BBQ. I do love seafood though.

When we told our shuttle bus driver that took us to the airport that donut shops in Texas close around 11:00 a.m. he was shocked. He asked where people go for their coffee. I told them that we really don't drink much coffee during the day except for in the morning. We do have several overpriced Starbucks though.

The house we looked at was in Bedford. I had to explain to my wife that Bedford is probably one of the most expensive towns outside of the Seacoast and that homes in other communities are probably a lot cheaper. We drove around Exeter and drove into one subdivision (forgot the name of it) and I swear every single house was the exact same. It was kind of weird.

[debbiej63]

The house we looked at was in Bedford. I had to explain to my wife that Bedford is probably one of the most expensive towns outside of the Seacoast and that homes in other communities are probably a lot cheaper. We drove around Exeter and drove into one subdivision (forgot the name of it) and I swear every single house was the exact same. It was kind of weird

Where will you be working? My husband works in Manchester. I like living where you can't see neighbors. We chose to live in Weare, which is further inland, about a 45 minute drive. Bedford is pretty high priced. New Boston is beautiful and not much further. Their houses are a little less than Bedford's. The further out you go, the cheaper the homes get. I saw quite a few homes for sale in around Weare in the $200K range.

I've never been to Exeter. Are all the homes you said look the same in subdivisions by the same builder? I've been living here since April and I love all the different architectures. Of all the states I've lived in, I think NH has the most varied and beautiful homes.

[booker_one]

I am a teacher so hopefully finding a job anywhere won't be too difficult for me. My wife is in finance/accounting, so she will probably have to work in one of the bigger cities. Our move probably won't happen for a couple of years.

I think all those homes were by the same builder. The lots weren't very big at all and the houses were all identical. All of Exeter wasn't like that though. That was just one subdivision.