Venturing out

So we were hungry last night and went to see what was in Sommersworth.
Answer: Maine. Maine is in Sommersworth.

Also, you must remove all plants from anchors in the state of Maine. They will fine you $500 if you don't cooperate. Don't push them.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot

I'm going to write a letter to the Chamber of Commerce of Dover because they assured us we would enjoy the mild New England summers. Today, however, at 2:42 p.m., it is a sweltering 98 degrees. :)

I took Lucy for a nail trim, and when we got home I thought I had killed her. She's fine, but five minutes in the car with the air on full blast was still not cool enough for her. Luckily, we noticed last week that it got hot in the condo in the afternoons and bought an air conditioner on Craig's List. We usually ran the AC on days in the 80s and only for a few hours. Without it today, I think the dog's would have run away from home to live at PetCo in Portsmouth.

The Blue Mermaid

We've had some awesome food since we've been here in NH, one of the best being our meal from The Blue Mermaid in Portsmouth. We knew it would be "delish" because Rachel Ray made an appearance there for her "Tasty Travels" show.

We started off the meal with saddle bags, crispy wontons filled with chicken and cheese served with a ginger, soy dipping sauce. Jon had the salmon with a chipotle honey vinaigrette and cornbread, green beans and herb potatoes. I had the Chipotle curry paella, chicken, shrimp, sausage and mussels in chipotle curried rice. Yummmm.

We capped off the evening with a walk around the many small shops of downtown Portsmouth. It's a very cute town with a big variety of locally owned stores, and chains, in historic buildings. It started to rain, so we headed back to the car and back to Dover. We had dessert at the Cafe on the Corner, cheesecake and key lime pie. It was a fun and delicious evening.

Hampton Beach 2007

We took our first trip to Hampton Beach today together. We wanted to venture out and see the 7th Annual Hampton Beach Sand Sculpture contest and enjoy the rays. The weather, however, was quite uncooperative. We were pelted with sand by a very cool wind. Sand in our ears, sand in our eyes, and we had actual "sand"wiches for lunch. Cold and a little disappointed, we took a walk down the beach and the day really turned around. You see, sand can only fly so high, so we weren't being pelted anymore and as the day went on the clouds parted more often and the warm sun came through. We walked down the beach and boardwalk and really enjoyed the day.

In the evening, we watched this, and laughed out loud--more than once. We had the veggie pizza from here. It was delicious! We also now receive the local newspaper on the weekends, and I enjoy the crossword puzzles. The paper here is the Foster's Daily Democrat.

Top of the Chop

Last night, Jon played a great set at an open mic in town. We heard, "Wait," "Ghost Town," "She's Learned How to Disappear," and "What a Good Boy." I taped the first two, so maybe my wonderful husband will put one up this evening...maybe.... My favorites were "Ghost Town" and "What a Good Boy." Several folks from Jon's internship site also came out for the music, which was very much appreciated. What a kind, fun group of people!

We also ate our first lobster roll.
It came from road side place called The Big Dipper, on the road between Rochester and Sommersworth. The Dipper has seating outside only, hand-cut fries, fresh seafood, and hand-dipped ice cream. The lobster roll was so good. The lobster was really mild, and it was really just lobster. If there was any mayo on it, it was not detectable. Yummy.

Boston, you know we love you madly

Saturday was our first trip to Boston. At only an hour away, I’m sure we’ll go back. We wanted to get acquainted with the city so we took a self-guided tour of the city called the Freedom Trail.

“The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you to 16 nationally significant historic sites, every one an authentic American treasure.”

We started at Boston Common, which is the oldest public park in the U.S. On 44 acres in the middle of downtown, it features an underground parking lot with room for more than 1,000 cars. Since we started our walk about 11:30, we didn’t get very far before it was time for lunch. We stopped in at the appropriately named Beantown Pub. We, however, did not have any beans.

Our journey took us past several famous American landmarks, including Paul Revere’s house, the Old North Church, and “Old Ironsides.” We ended up at the Bunker Hill monument across the Charles River in Charlestown. Tired from a long day, we walked to the closest T station and took the train back to the common.

The plan was to top off the weekend with a trip to the beach, but we were exhausted on Sunday! So we just did our usual weekend stuff and went to the grocery, browsed the mall, and went out to dinner. We capped off the day with a drive to Portsmouth, and it has such a cool downtown area. I’m really excited to explore Portsmouth.

Krispy Kreme does not sell jimmies

This morning Amanda and I walked to Harvey's bakery and coffee shop for breakfast. I got a blueberry muffin (which was maybe the best one I've ever had) and a jelly doughnut (also good). Amanda ordered a jelly and a chocolate-covered. The lady behind the counter asked her if she wanted the chocolate with or without Jimmies. Amanda did not know what a Jimmy was.

Jimmies are, apparently, sprinkles.

No Jimmies, thank you.

This is the same coffee shop that Mitt Romney came into a few weeks back to shake hands and stir up votes, and some patron stands up, proclaims he'd "never vote for a Mormon," and leaves.

I think that eliminating and entire class of candidates based on their religion isn't particularly right, but I'm sure a lot of well-meaning people do it. To proclaim it to everyone in a restaurant seems a little odd, though. Like an old-timey town meeting, but with prejudice. (Disclaimer: I won't be voting for Mitt Romney, but not because he believes Jesus came to America).

Jon was ryte

When Jon first got here, he said you forget that your not in any other town you've ever been in until people open their mouths. It is then that you are reminded that you are in New England. There are so many a's and y's in people's words. I passed by a house on my way to the park today, and a girl was leaving. Her sister said, "Haave a gooduh tyme tonyght Amayanda." It was pretty cool to hear my name with the accent, and I'm looking forward to hearing "Brayassfeeled."

The girls and I went to the park today. Clara watched the sk8boarders, and Lu looked into the dark waters of the Cochecho River.

I should clean the apartment

Amanda is on the road, pug dogs in tow. She's staying in the same hotel I did and should be here tomorrow afternoon. This is good news, since I've missed her.

In other news, I've been playing at open mics around town and plan on doing more as the summer goes on. It really a great setup. Right downtown, about a five minute walk from here, are three places that have open mic on different days of the week. And here's the kicker - they all start at 8.

That's the complaint I have with Winston. I've lived there, a city of approximately 125,000 people, for almost four years now, and the best place I can come up with to get booked is the Borders cafe. There's exactly one open mic that I know of, and it starts at 10 on a Wednesday, which is great if you're in college, but not so great if you work.

I've been in Dover (population somewhere around 20k) for about a week and a half and I've already played mini-sets in two places, met more singer-songwriters, and I'm confident that I could play full sets around town if I were a permanent resident. Just a different local music culture, I guess.

The people at the shows have been very friendly and receptive, too. Just a good time all around.

Now it's time, as the title says, to get ready for the Dar's arrival tomorrow. I feel like the "real" summer is about to start.

When you're going downtown, you'll be singing round town

Egg toss tossed

Sorry, folks. All of you who were looking forward to the annual WMS egg toss on field day are going to be disappointed. A concerned parent called to complain that the children may be in danger to contract salmonila poisoning from the eggs. She was also afraid the children might eat the egg yolks when the eggs are broken. She is referring to 7th and 8th graders.

It's not *old* England, but it'll do

Well, I'm in Dover. The trip was uneventful and long, but enjoyable for the most part. I went to a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game, swam in a hotel pool, and paid a bunch of tolls.

Today was my first full day in the condo, and I've spent it exploring. I feel pretty good with navigating downtown (which is nice) and made my way through the main drag of Portsmouth. I even stopped by Hampton Beach for about an hour and walked in the sand. I might also have gotten an ice cream cone. There are probably pictures.

I miss my wife and dogs and am trying to keep busy so I don't get lonely. Hopefully the next week or so will go quickly and I can see them soon. I'm happy though. I'm at the computer, rocking out to Uncle Tupelo, eating carrots, and listening to a thunderstorm through an open window, so life is pretty good.

That said, here are some pictures!

Jon goes to Dover

Things on the home front are good, and Jon has safely arrived in Dover to our rented condominium. Many were worried on how I would fair, being alone and all, but after two days I'm finding that the missing hasn't quite sunk in yet. I'm trying to focus on school and on my own upcoming trip--I think I'm doing alright.

The dogs, on the other hand, were feeling the effects from day 1. You see, we have two pug dogs. Every pug dog must have a lap, and at our house we are down to one lap. This lack of lap is leaving one pug in flux pretty much all the time. Clara was in my lap this afternoon, so Lucy started chewing on a plastic water bottle. This sounds like normal Lucy behavior, but she hasn't really been into water bottles for about a year. Then Lucy climbed onto the back of the couch, which she doesn't usually resort to unless she's trying to eat my popcorn by way of an aerial assault. It's like she's acting out. When Lucy has custody of the lap, Clara wanders around the living room licking things. After a long walk and now that it is after 9, both pugs are sleeping. It is only for this reason that I am even able to type this. My conclusion--pugs need dads.