Next stop New Hampshire. We stopped up here for Sarah’s family in the cute little town of Peterborough. If you picture a snow globe of a small New England town, you’d come pretty close to what downtown Peterborough looks like. It’s a quaint, quiet place and a great place to get away. It’s a place where there aren’t cars and trucks and emergency vehicles passing by throughout the night, where parking is plentiful, traffic is unheard of, prices are low and people are friendly. I know, it’s a bit hard to comprehend for most city people.
Of course it’s also very cold in the winter, and prone to massive snow storms. You’re required to haul your own trash to the dump or recycling center and everything in town is closed by 8 except the one bar and a couple restaurants which stay open til 10. So all and all it’s a mix, as most places are. In the winter you can ski and sit by the fire. In the summer you can swim in the pond and hike through the woods.
.
There’s also a ton of amazing locally produced food. Turns out when land is dirt cheap people work the dirt. There are amazing creameries and dairies that sell raw milk, turns out it may be banned most placed because it’s too delicious (ok I understand the threat of bacteria growing in unpasteurized milk, but still). Ben’s Sugar Shack makes some of the best maple syrup I’ve ever had, that includes Vermont and it’s like $30 for a half gallon jug. Seriously who needs a half gallon of maple syrup? Oh yeah there’s one of those in the trunk of the car right now.
Also if you like antiquing, which I’m sure some of you do, whether you like to admit it or not, the small towns of New England are pretty much overflowing with antique stores. It would appear nothing is thrown out up there it’s just sold at a discount to someone who then sells it at a big mark up.
Of course no post would be complete without mentioning Sarah’s mom’s shop, C’est La Vie. We ate half our meals there as we always do. I usually end up getting the sandwich that is sometimes named after me for the frequency with which I order it. Sarah as always went crazy for all the baked goods, which even I need to admit are amazing despite having considerably less of a sweet tooth.
So that’s it on the family visits. Off to the rest of our adventure.
Bicoastal Surf 