8/8 to 8/15 - Exeter, NH

On Saturday 8/8 we drove from NY across Vermont and New Hampshire to Exeter which is about eight miles from the coast.  The trip was about 100 miles on back roads and 100 miles on interstates.  Going through Whitehall NY we came up to this bridge which was undergoing repairs.  No height measurements anywhere so we just had to trust that we’d fit through it.  When we saw an 18-wheeler coming up behind us we figured we’d be okay.

Whitehall NY – bridge undergoing repairs.  A bit unnerving with no height measurements anywhere.

Our route through Rutland, VT, was down a residential street.  A very nice-looking town with many beautiful houses.

The famous ski slopes at Killington, VT.

Vermont looks very much like WNC.

We had a great week in Exeter, NH, visiting with my Zimbabwe and NH cousins……the daughter, granddaughter and grandsons of my mother’s brother.  On Monday we had a cook-out with another branch of cousins from NJ and NH, ones who descended from my grandfather’s sister who emigrated to the US nearly 100 years ago.  Unfortunately my grandfather didn’t maintain contact with his family so my mother never knew she had an aunt and cousins just 200 miles away.  It would have been such a joy to her if she’d been able to meet them.

Exeter is a very attractive old town and convenient to a lot of places.  It’s about 8 miles from the beach, 12 miles from Portsmouth, an hour or so from Boston (depending on traffic of course), and about 2 hours from the White Mountains.  The whole coast is covered with houses (at least every part of it we could see) and traffic is awful.  When school opens again in another week or two everyone leaves and the businesses close down for the season. 

Tess on left with her sons John and Chris, her parents Cedric and Brigid and me.  Brigid is my first cousin.  Tess and her husband Rob emigrated to NH ten years ago.  She’s a pharmacist with Rite Aid.

Sunset in Seabrook, NH.

We went out on the beach at Seabrook on Sunday evening.  If Tess and Rob hadn’t arranged parking for us all in the driveway of a friend’s house we wouldn’t have been able to manage it.  It’s nice to be that close to the coast but parking problems make it very difficult to actually get on the beach.

Exeter is full of big houses, almost all very well maintained.  We’ve seen lots of houses this summer with red, white and blue banners and bunting decorating them.  Here is one of Exeter’s.  

Zimbabwe and NH cousins on the left, NJ cousins on the right.

Rob holding Chris, Cedric with John, and Jim.

Tess and Rob’s house in Exeter.  Rob has been doing research on the house’s history which is turning up more mysteries than it’s solved so far.  It was probably built in the 1920’s but he hasn’t found the records yet.  It was originally located several blocks away but was moved to this property in the 1960’s to make way for a gas station.  It has an unusually large lot (over an acre) for a town property.  The town has records of every house that’s been moved but didn’t have anything on this one.  The town clerk was embarrassed about it and is now digging into the history.

Wednesday we did a Duck Tour of Boston which involved being driven around Boston streets and the Charles River in an amphibious tank.  The vehicles are modeled on those used in WWII.  The driver did an admirable job of maneuvering through crowded city streets while keeping up a steady stream of commentary, much of which we couldn’t understand because of the traffic noise and his rapid speech.  It’s okay…..we probably wouldn’t have remembered much of it even if we’d heard every word. 

“Old Gloria” – our Duck boat with Brigid and Tess.  The vehicles are loaded from the sidewalk in a busy downtown area.  They do lots of different tours, not just the one we were on.

Very old Boston fire station with doors that modern fire trucks can barely get through.  People gather to watch them get the trucks in and out.  

Old and new buildings mixed together.

Classy old brownstones.

Massachusetts State Capitol Building.

Cambridge waterfront from the Charles River (across from Boston).

Historic Faneuil Hall, built in 1742.  

We drove through Newburyport on the way back.  It’s a lovely small town with a lot of very expensive-looking houses and narrow little streets.  I was glad we were riding with Tess and not driving our truck.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get any pictures of the town but did get one of the waterfront area.

Marina on the Merrimack River at Newburyport, MA.

On Friday we were going to take a boat tour of the Portsmouth, NH, waterfront but all the tours were cancelled with no explanation.  It worked out for the best because Tess drove us around the town and we got to see more than we would have from the water.  It’s another beautiful town, much bigger than Newburyport but also very attractive.  Once again we were glad Tess was driving!  

Portsmouth waterfront next to the Naval Station which dates back to 1800.  The big building in the background is a penitentiary.

Recently renovated lift bridge going across the harbor from Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine.  

Downtown Portsmouth, NH.

Portsmouth has a growing craft brewing industry.  This is one of the catchiest names we’ve seen.

That covers the week.  We’re now in Twin Mountain, NH, in the White Mountains.  Tomorrow we’ll go to the top of Mt Washington on the cog railway.  I’ll cover our 2 ½ days here in the next installment.