Live free or die

As we sat listening to the band of the week at the rotary band shell in Dover, we started talking about how we feel in having to leave our new northern home. It’s hard to put into words what has clearly left a mark on us about this town. Jon asked this afternoon, “Are we small town people?”

The town has a number of locally owned restaurants all located downtown and within walking distance from our apartment. Wanting to dive into our new town, we’ve been to nearly all the Friday night concerts at the park, attended Dover night out, explored local beaches, open mics, blueberry picking, and any other local, dorky thing we could. Everything was so close, outside, low-stress, accessible, easy-going, and early enough in the evening that we could do things throughout the week and be back home in time to get enough sleep for work the next day.

We’re going to miss all these things about the feel of this town. I’m not saying Winston is lacking in all these things, but events are too late at night, crowded, hard to find parking for and full of drunken and smoking people (because it takes place in a bar). Many times it’s just not the kind of scene we’re looking for. I like having a summer without getting beer spilled on me.

I love our house in NC. I love my job, my garden, my friends, and the barbecue and iced tea. But Dover is always going to be a special place for us where we explored a new region, grew closer in our marriage, and discovered what we really love to do—sit back, listen, laugh and love the place we’re in.

Absence makes the heart grow fungus

We've been off the blog for a few days here due to a bout with sinus issues. Jon is congested and I've had a sinus headache for several days. I'm feeling better, but Jon is still pumping the vitamin C.

We had a great date on Friday despite a lack luster dinner experience. We ate at Newick's, which is a local favorite, and we were not impressed. Now, we shared a cup of the thick and creamy chowder, which was really tasty...probably because it's made with cream, thus is not so good for you. I had a haddock sandwich and Jon had haddock nuggets. We left feeling greasy and too full though neither of us finished our meal. It was just a fried oily meal. If you're going to eat at Newick's, make it a part of a progressive supper and just get the chowder.

After dinner we went to Hampton beach and walked while the sun set. Being on the east coast, this just means the ocean gets dark, but it was so relaxing and the waves were pretty. The water is still very cold, 64 degrees. (SIDENOTE: Jon was looking at a survival guide at the bookstore today that said in 64 degree water you lose feeling in your extremities in 15 minutes and can only survive swimming in water that temp for about 1-4 hours.) We walked back to the car on the boardwalk, enjoying the summer vacationers, henna tattoos, and ice cream stands.

The sites at the beach made us wonder if we're tourists. We do live here, but we do a lot of tourist stuff. Plus, we live live in North Carolina. But I take a lot of pictures, but neither of us own Bermuda shorts. Thoughts?

Our goat friend

Before I arrived in NH, Jon told me about a goat he often saw at the park with its owner. He said the lady treated the goat a lot like a dog. The park is about a block from our house and the goat lives between our house and the park. Until this weekend, I had not seen the goat. I told Jon he was a goat story teller, specializing in tall tales about goats. Then I saw it--riding in the front seat of the lady's old Ford truck.

I have since apologized.

We would like to identify the type of goat, but I've only seen its head. Jon said it's short and has a long beard and it has a huge head and big horns. We will be scouring the internet to determine the species. Right now, I'm thinking mountain goat.

UPDATE: The Goat is already a Dover celebrity! His name is Binx, and he has a web site. I'll add some pictures, and he is not a mountain goat.

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.

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

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!

Little cars go in the compact spot

After weeks of waiting, I'm off for New Hampshire tomorrow. I'm extremely excited. It will be fun to be somewhere else for the summer and get to be in a part of the country I've never been before.

It will also, though, be tough being away from Amanda for two weeks. She's not able to come up until school's out, obviously. I think the longest we've been apart since a couple months before we got married is two or three days, and that's only been three times.

So I get to figure out where all the good places to eat are and she gets to hang out with the dogs (I'll miss them too). We'll be having a houseguest for a lot of that time, so that will be good too.

So now I'm off to pack, then I leave early tomorrow for Dover, with an overnight stay in the Electric City. MaybeI should check out the Anthracite museum.

April Showers

A few notes:

- We've sent off the lease for the place in New Hampshire, so that's a relief. I'm really looking forward to this summer.

- It's freaking cold, but you already knew that.

- After watching all the BnL Bathroom Sessions, I'm having to fight hard not to put up a "video response" of myself doing one. I'm not one of those kids, am I? Maybe Blame it on Me? Maybe Conventioneers? I want to do it, it just feels so lame. Of course, I'm pretty lame :)

- Graduate school is full of work. This work, however, happens to be enjoyable. I'm really thankful for that.