A little bit of history, ocean, nature and food: our New Hampshire, Maine September vacation (Part 1)

 

As we journeyed north, we stopped off at a rest stop to eat the salads I had packed. When I got to the end of mine, I found this face smiling at me. A good way to start a vacation. :) It has gotten many likes on the Facebook page "Things with Faces" and many tell me it looks like Olaf. 

Our first destination was to check out Hampton Beach. Well, been there, didn't conquer it and won't be back too soon. So crowded that we couldn't find a place to park without walking literally a mile, traffic was crazy and the 3 lane one way street took us by surprise and we ended up going the wrong way! No doubt, the New Hampshire-ites did not give us a warm welcome. We only went a few feet realizing our error and were trying to turn on a side street going our way but a truck blocked our way! He was trying to stop us from going the wrong way, but we were showing him we were trying to get off. He finally moved and we left Hampton Beach, not to look back. 

So, we used our hotel room in Hampton as a home base and went out from there for the first days. We stayed at the Best Western, so we had breakfast included and a pool, which we used to relax after the stressfulness of that first day ordeal. We had dinner across the street at a crowded restaurant--not sure if it was because there was a bar in back or because it was Taco Tuesday. Either way, we won't go back there either. We ordered our one of our favorite meals, fish and chips and figuring it would take a while to get the food, ordered some onion rings for an appetizer. They were hands down the WORST onion rings we ever had in our lives! Very bad. The fish and chips also got the same review. We usually eat our food regardless. We left most of the onion rings and some of the fish and chips. I will say the servings were huge--unfortunately because we hate to waste. I won't name the restaurant, but it starts with L and is across the street from the Best Western.

The next day we decided to check out Portsmouth. We were finding many museums and places closed during the mid-week. We were only able to do a little of this walking tour due to the heat, but it was interesting. This was part of the Black Heritage Trail. Sadly and tragically, the graves were covered over in the years and when construction crews found remains and they were analyzed and found to be a black burial ground, they decided to give it the respect it deserves by creating this memorial.

We almost rode by Albacore Park where the USS Albacore submarine is. We said, "Been there, done that" (years ago) and it's too hot to go in a submarine! But we saw this addition beside it and had to stop for a photo-op.

Next we found this cute little park and couldn't resist a couple more pictures. 

Obviously, the above choice is the most popular, but I took this angle to show you the possibilities this cool artistic frame gives you. 

You really can't ask people to move to not ruin your shot. You make the best of it.

George wanted me to take this picture of this pipe coming out of the tree.

Next some historic spots that we could only briefly appreciate because of the heat.

A unique tree house.

Our final and very sweet stop on this day was the awesome store called, "Yummies" in Kittery, Maine. We just happened across it. Never have we ever seen so much candy before! So many delights to look at and just about anything you can imagine! They boast that they have 10,000 lbs. of candy on display! And as their brochure says, their prices are fair and not outrageous. We didn't go too crazy with our purchases but had to buy a few things, of course. It is so good for us that this store isn't closer!

Thus ends days one and two (September 5 & 6). To be continued.