Visiting New Hampshire (Manchester, Concord, Keene: homes, school district, subdivision)

[NH2NCMom]

The Seacoast area from Portsmouth to Somersworth/Rochester is LOADED with car sales from the high-end to the cheap used car dealerships, and it's a lovely location without the big cities, but all the amenities you would want. You might want to check that side out and you can see it's about 1 hour in any direction from something - ie., Boston, Manchester (airport), Portland, ME (another airport), lakes, mountains - oh and of course it's right near the ocean

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by NH2NCMom

The Seacoast area from Portsmouth to Somersworth/Rochester is LOADED with car sales from the high-end to the cheap used car dealerships, and it's a lovely location without the big cities, but all the amenities you would want. You might want to check that side out and you can see it's about 1 hour in any direction from something - ie., Boston, Manchester (airport), Portland, ME (another airport), lakes, mountains - oh and of course it's right near the ocean

What about weather?

It's almost 75 degrees here in Texas right now, which is nuts for late November. I would prefer 35. And snow.

An no more 105 degree summers.


Because my wife loves the ocean. That would be an easier sell.

[Valerie C]

pssst.... getmeoutofhere... The temps here in NH have been unseasonably warm. Saturday it was a soupy 68 degrees with drizzle... tornado watches throughout Massachusetts, till the cold front came through and left us with temps in the 40's/50's on Sunday, and today felt a bit more like November. Don't get me wrong though--I don't mind a couple of warm November days, because we know what's coming--flurries tomorrow!!! And 30's... 20's.... single digits and below 0 will be here before we know it.... Oh and we might hit 105 degrees once in 5 years. Around here, 3 days in a row of 90 degrees is an official HEAT WAVE!!!

[Verseau]

If you want your wife to really fall in love with New Hampshire, you should take her for a drive through the mountains. Here is a map of the most popular route through the White Mountains, most commonly done starting at Lincoln and moving clockwise (with a side-trip to Mt. Washington):



Here are detailed driving instructions for the route.

Depending on how early in June you're coming, you might want to take a side trip to Sugar Hill. They have an annual Lupine Festival in June, but the flowers usually don't reach their full glory until the middle of the month. But seriously, the lupine fields are absolutely gorgeous. You can see some photos here.

If you're passing between the Mountains and the Seacoast, you could also stop in some of the beautiful towns in the Lakes Region. Wolfeboro, Sandwich, and Meredith are all lovely. One great attraction is Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, a turn-of-the-century mansion with incredible views of Lake Winnipesaukee.

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

pssst.... getmeoutofhere... The temps here in NH have been unseasonably warm. Saturday it was a soupy 68 degrees with drizzle... tornado watches throughout Massachusetts, till the cold front came through and left us with temps in the 40's/50's on Sunday, and today felt a bit more like November. Don't get me wrong though--I don't mind a couple of warm November days, because we know what's coming--flurries tomorrow!!! And 30's... 20's.... single digits and below 0 will be here before we know it.... Oh and we might hit 105 degrees once in 5 years. Around here, 3 days in a row of 90 degrees is an official HEAT WAVE!!!

I would love some variety.

Texas weather has no variety, just different degrees of hot. We can seriously 20-30 days, often more, during the summer of over 100. This summer, the peak temperature was 108 with about 90% humidity.

Bleh.

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by Verseau

If you want your wife to really fall in love with New Hampshire, you should take her for a drive through the mountains. Here is a map of the most popular route through the White Mountains, most commonly done starting at Lincoln and moving clockwise (with a side-trip to Mt. Washington):



Here are detailed driving instructions for the route.

Depending on how early in June you're coming, you might want to take a side trip to Sugar Hill. They have an annual Lupine Festival in June, but the flowers usually don't reach their full glory until the middle of the month. But seriously, the lupine fields are absolutely gorgeous. You can see some photos here.

If you're passing between the Mountains and the Seacoast, you could also stop in some of the beautiful towns in the Lakes Region. Wolfeboro, Sandwich, and Meredith are all lovely. One great attraction is Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, a turn-of-the-century mansion with incredible views of Lake Winnipesaukee.

That's absolutely awesome looking. We will definitely be hitting some of that.

We are leaving in early June, probably the first week, and will be in the New England area around 7 days. We are going to Connecticut to see Mystic Seaport, back over to Maine to go back to Rockport and Rockland for a day, probably up to Bar Harbor for a day, and over to Vermont to see some places there. We are kind of considering Vermont, but the taxes are ridiculous, as are the house prices.

Then the rest of the time in New Hampshire, to get a feel for the place, and to scope out places to live, and just to relax. I know Texas is definitely a slower pace of life than some other big cities, but living in a city with over 6 million people and 9200 square miles of city really wears on you after a while.

[GregW]

Given you are only planning on seven days for the first trip, I suggest not trying to cover too much area. The White Mountain Drive illustrated can be done in a day but I would recommend starting in Portsmouth after staying a day to see the seacoast (sorry) up to about Portland (IMHO Bar harbor is too far) then driving up Rt 16 to Conway. Drive up (and DOWN) the Mt. Washington auto road. As a visitor from the flatlands of coastal Texas that will be a major adventure. There are commercial vans available for the less adventurous but I would find them even more nerve racking because I know I can drive but I'm not so certain about the guy driving the van. After arriving back at Rt 16 and restoring your nerves drive around the north side of the mountain and stay in Littleton. When in Littleton check out Lahouts sporting goods store on North Main St. They have been acquaintances of ours for 40 years and have good stuff at decent prices. From Littleton you can go anywhere else in the North Country.

Considering the differences between here and Texas, most of New England and all of New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont might as well be on another planet.

[Newdaawn]

If you do get to Portsmouth area, which I highly recommend, be sure to check out the town of Dover which is about 10 miles west of Portsmouth. My daughter lives there and teaches at the Dover Middle School. They have been there about 17 years and love the town. It is also a reasonable distance to Boston if you want to go to a larger city for museums and shows. Another plus for Dover is that it is also only about a 20 minute drive to the coast.

[getmeoutofhere]

So where might a good place to stay be?

Somewhere rather central, so we can easily drive around to various places?

[Verseau]

Well, if you're going be visiting the Monadnock Region as well as the Seacoast (and the White Mountains), then the Concord area is the most centrally-located and provides the easiest access to all of the different regions.

So unless you want to stay in different places in each region, that's probably your best bet... just keep in mind that Concord is about an hour from Portsmouth, a bit over an hour from Keene, and the same for Lincoln (in the mountains).