New Hampshire

     Even after driving across New York state and Massachusetts the day before, we decided to do more driving on Monday the 30th. A good friend of ours lived in Manchester and we wanted to go see him for dinner and drinks. Since he had to work, we figured we'd take a drive around his state to see what it was all about. Call us ignorant but we were quite surprised at the similarities of New Hampshire to southern states. There were plenty of old country stores and small sleepy towns everywhere. We 

     We drove along state roads 107, 129, and 140 on our way towards Meredith and Laconia. There was no real reason we chose that part of the state except that they were on the way towards White Mountain Park. We stopped and had breakfast at a local restaurant in Meredith. There were several families having late breakfast. The town has a nice lake in the middle so we went for a walk along the shores. It felt like we were walking into the south though. A boat full of long bearded men were pulling up to the dock and showing off their daily catch. Surprisingly, it was rather warm out and not as cold as we were hoping for. We headed back to the car and drove towards the park. At the town of Conway, we turned onto 112 and headed into the park.

     The views in the park were amazing. We stopped from time to time to snap some of the photos. The Appalachian Trail cuts through the park but unfortunately, some of the trial further down was still destroyed because of Hurricane Sandy.

     Here we parked on the side of the road and went for a walk in the woods. The air was cool and crisp and just perfect for a hike. We wandered down to this stream. It was a beautiful day and the foliage was just starting to turn. 

     One of the more picturesque shots of the trip was this one we took at parking spot near the base of Mt. Webster and Mt. Willey. There was a lodge across the street behind us and the pond was set up for little children to fish. The angle of the sun at that time of day was perfect and I can only imagine how much more beautiful it was a month on when all of the leaves had turned.

     After our tour through the park, we caught I-93 and headed south to Manchester. We met up with a friend we hadn't seen in years and enjoyed a great meal at Republic Cafe. The menu is Mediterranean inspired fare. Afterwards, we wandered down Elm Street to a bar for some drinks. Sadly, our day had to end and we headed back to Boston for some much needed sleep.

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