The book centered around young Sebastian Barth and his group of friends as they embraced adventure all in the name of working to unravel a mystery. The setting was a quaint New England town in the summertime. The town was walkable ("free range kids"style) and bike friendly. It featured a nifty downtown and a community church with an iconic church bell that was the centerpiece of the town and storyline. For someone who grew up in a very rural setting (me), the idea of living in such a cool town close to my friends in the summertime was enticing.
Fast forward roughly 25 years to 2012, and I found myself living in such a New England town. I can walk a few hundred feet in one direction and be downtown for pizza, ice cream, craft beer or a hair cut. A few hundred feet in the other direction, and I find myself traipsing down wooded, secluded walking trails in a nature preserve. We have a river that runs through our back yard. If I had more of an arm, I could throw a football from our back deck and hit the community congregational church and its church bell that tolls every hour on the hour. Essentially, Shay, the boys and I could be Sebastian Barth's neighbor.
After two-and-a-half years plus of New England living, we are moving back to our beloved Tennessee at the end of June. While we are very excited for the opportunity to move back to Middle Tennessee and the greater Nashville area, we are going to miss our little New Hampshire seacoast town tremendously. We have made tons of memories and dear friends that we will cherish forever.
I wanted to assemble a list of ten random things that I'll miss about New Hampshire and New England (What Eric Knows About New England - cheesy, I know). Hence, this blog post and list complete with cool links and such:
1. Ice Cream - Before moving to New Hampshire, I had no idea how seriously New Englanders took their ice cream. You can drive through almost any New England town and find proper mom and pop ice cream spots. We can walk from our home to two such locations, one of which makes their ice cream in house. The other uses product from a New England creamery. Not only do these local places churn out (see what I did there?) delicious ice cream, their prices are typically lower than the chain ice cream concepts you see throughout the rest of the country.
2. NH coastal living and Portsmouth - New Hampshire boasts a quaint (how many times can I use the word "quaint" in this post?) 18 miles of seacoast which makes it the state with the fewest miles of coastline of states that are coastal. It's a jewel of an area and one in which we've been thrilled to live. Portsmouth is easily one of the coolest towns in the nation, at least of the ones I've visited. If you haven't been, you should check it out.
3. Shoveling snow - Summer and fall are absolutely perfect New England seasons, and late springtime is right up there too. Conversely, winters are hard, especially for southerners who are not used to the onslaught of snow that falls but doesn't melt for months. We lived through three New England winters, and they got progressively harder and more brutal. While New England winters are challenging, there is something appealing at a primal level (think Rocky IV training montage) about getting out in the ridiculous elements and shoveling heaps of snow. There were numerous times that my neighbor and I would be outside for hours cleaning up Mother Nature's wrath. We've faced winds that would blow the horns off a billy goat and temps so cold that a beer once literally froze in a matter of minutes in my gloved hand. One of the coolest experiences (literally) was when Shay and I shoveled out of Winter Storm Nemo and flew out the next day to Orlando for vacation.
4. No sales tax - New Hampshire does not have sales tax. If you go to a furniture store and see a recliner for $599, you pay $599. Tennessee is much friendlier in terms of property taxes, but we will have to get used to paying sales tax again.
5. Raw milk - Ok, I know what you're thinking, "Wow! They moved up to NH and went all granola on us." In this instance, that is true. I personally don't drink milk, but we have turned our four-year old into a milk snob. He wants his milk unpasteurized and from a glass bottle. We literally have to shake Bartlett Farm's raw milk before serving because it's J-Lo level thick. Raw milk is illegal for human consumption in Tennessee.
6. Fenway Park - I grew up a huge baseball fan. My dad was the man for many reasons, but one of those reasons is he made sure we had a massive satellite dish with plenty of TV viewing options. As a kid, I remember watching the Red Sox on NESN when they had iconic players like "Oil Can" Boyd, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Ellis Burks, Lee Smith and Mike Greenwell. I was enamored with Fenway Park on television and intrigued by the local commercials that referenced Boston and far away sounding places like "Pawtucket." I'm not a Red Sox fan, but I'm certainly a Fenway Park fan. Going to Fenway Park for the first time is a road to Damascus experience in terms of sheer awesomeness. In the two full baseball seasons we have lived in New England, the Sox won a World Series, and I attended four games at Fenway. I even got to watch my beloved Braves play in the city they first called home. I'll certainly miss being an hour or so away from the most iconic patch of grass in Major League Baseball.
7. Felger & Mazz - While living in New England, my disdain for the Patriots and Celtics has intensified. For a region of the country that produces such a small number of elite football and basketball players, it's a shame the Good Lord bestowed such winning franchises such as the Pats and Celtics in New England. Boston radio hosts Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti have made it their mission to get under the skin of die-hard New England sports fans, and it is glorious. The vitriol Felger and Mazz generate on social media is other worldly. I know I can listen online, but it's not the same as being here. I will miss those guys stirring the pot. (Plus, any radio show that uses Pearl Jam's Glorified G as its bump music gets bonus points in my book.)
8. Easy drive to NYC - New York City is my favorite place on Earth to visit. I love the history, food, crowds and melting pot culture. I also love the New York Knicks with every fiber of my being. My only wish is they win one (JUST ONE) NBA championship during my lifetime. Additionally, my maternal grandfather came to this bountiful country via Ellis Island which only strengthens my bond with the world's most iconic city. The apple didn't fall too far from the tree either. My four-year old son is enamored with NYC as we've vacationed there twice during our time in New England. He talks about eventually moving to NYC, and his new room in Tennessee is going to feature a NYC theme. In NH, we are roughly four-and-a-half hours from the Big Apple via car or an easy train ride. That won't be the case once we move back to the Volunteer State.
9. The Big Bean - I love breakfast foods, and the Big Bean Café has one of the best breakfasts I've ever smashed. Their French Toast can be made with a number of homemade breads, and it's the best I've ever tasted. They serve coffee from a local roaster too! We can walk there and back from our house which helps burn a few of the calories.
10. Summertime - Summertime in New England is perfect. Baseball is in full swing, ice cream is available on every corner, water is close-by (ocean, Lake Winnipesaukee, etc.), and temps are hot but not unbearable hot. It's a short but perfect season!
**** Honorable mentions: Halloween (huge deal up here) and seafood festivals. Also, I would love to be here during the early Presidential primary season when the nation affixes its eyes upon New Hampshire. Last but not least, we are going to miss Next Level Church. They are boldly proclaiming the gospel in New England!
