New Hampshire

All things New Hampshire here

Although a Mainer by birth, and a Massachusetts resident currently, I lived for 17 years in New Hampshire. I have lived in Milford, Greenfield each for a few years, but the bulk of these years were spent in Francestown, a terrific small town to bring up three children in.

There's no state tax in New Hampshire, right? Where do they get you? Just curious.

Property tax. (No income tax on most income, either.)

Also various fees, like car registration; however, I do think one still comes out ahead of its neighboring states with income and sales taxes.

Learned about this place today. While they are direct importers/wholesalers, they also allow retail customers into the warehouse.

http://www.britishaisles.com/

will report back when I've gone, unless someone who has been there reports in first.

I have not been but it looks like a cool place. I look forward to your review. =)

#6

I see that they have oatcakes -- it might be worth a visit -- I've never really visited Nashua.

I'm wondering if that's the outfit that had a booth at the Maine Highland Games when I went a few years ago. I vaguely remember buying oatcakes and some sort of very British jam for the people who took care of my cat for the weekend.

We have a British store here in Westford, MA and I'll bet this is its supplier. I haven't been yet, I need more than one errand to get me to drive to Nashua these days. I also think their hours are M-F, 9 to 5 also...

I just moved up to NH last year and love it up here. Anyone know any good used bookstores around the lakes region?

Sorry, I posted some Lakes Region bookstores on the ask the locals thread!

Hi everyone! I'm Katie - I currently live in Texas but I'm moving to New Hampshire at the end of the month and I'm super excited (and pretty scared of winter)!! I hope this group will help me get more familiar with all things New England.

I look forward to getting to know more of you :)

Hi Katie, I am jewels. I live in Southern New Hampshire between Manchester and Nashua. I have lived here almost 40 years. I love it here. Lately, we have had a lot of rain though. I have family up North Country Franconia in the Notch. Weather up there is so different then down here. You will love the fall here. The colors are spectacular.

Hi jewels! I'm actually moving just west of Concord, but it's not too far from your area - that's the biggest difference between Texas and NH - everything is really close!

I've been hearing about the rainstorms... I hope you and your family have been making it through okay without any damage.

And fall is what I'm most excited about!! I cannot wait until Halloween because I've always wanted a true autumnal Halloween, hehe.

hi, fasciknitting! Ooo, west of Concord - you'll be a reasonable drive from the Old No. 6 Book Depot in Henniker!

While I'm over the line in Massachusetts these days, I am up in NH reasonably often if anyone wants to have a meet-up in the future.

Awesome! I was actually just in the Henniker area yesterday to go to the Fiber Studio on Rt 9... is the Old No. 6 Book Depot in that same area??

I'd be up for a meet up! The only people I know in the area is my boyfriend's family - that's it!

turn south on to Route 114 from Route 9. Pass through Henniker center and go over the bridge. The road will fork with Route 114 bearing left, you want the right, smaller fork. This goes past a New England College science building (brick, on the right) and then up a steep hill. The bookstore is the barn on the right under the big trees before the crest of the hill.

Well, give me a few weeks to catch up and then we'll plan something:-) There's a nice restaurant in the center of Henniker too (actually, I hear there are at least two).

I'm in NH, I'd like to meet up too (my personal preference would be to meet up in Manchester - I know it's not the most exciting place ever, but I'd be less likely to get lost...).

avaland, thanks for the directions! I'll have to check it out in the next couple of weeks!

I have been to the British Aisles store/warehouse, it was quite a while ago though.

It has been around for a long time, but also was once an actual store, in a small building on Main Street. They probably had a warehouse too, but you dealt with them at the store.

I went soon after it had just become the warehouse only. It was mostly a lot of boxes, dark and dusty, not real conducive to browsing. It may be different now. They have a whole group of people that they cater to, probably ex-pats, and may have converted from the store to mailing stuff. They get from the UK what their clientele want.

I was looking for Twinings teas, which they didn't carry, because you can get them in the supermarket. I was looking for Lapsang Souchong, which at the time, a lot of the supermarkets didn't carry. Also a specific type of Apple Jelly from the UK, which they also didn't carry. So I have never been back.

But they may have fixed the place up and it would be worth a look for those who want stuff from the UK.

bluesalamanders, what part of NH are you in?

I'm in Manchester, hence why I am less likely to get lost...in Manchester ;)

I am not native to New England (I've been in Manch a year now) and I get lost very easily. I was being mostly facetious when I said what I said - I can find my way places, of course - but given the option, I'd prefer going someplace (relatively) easy to find rather than more out-of-the-way.

Manchester is actually has seen lots of changes. There was a time you could walk down Elm street by yourself and not be worried about being assaulted at night. Not now. At least the parts I know about. I have lived at one time in the north end the west side and the south end. No the city well. I now live out in farm country which I love. Henniker is very nice. Is that a really good bookstore that you mentioned?

>24 jewels: there are two used bookstores in Henniker and one down the road in Weare (so-so) and there's one on 202 north of Henniker in Bradford also. One could try to do all four stores in one say but you'd be mentally exhausted!

The Old No. 6 Book Depot is the one that makes the trip worth it.

Well, blue, we might have to pick you up on the way and drive you out there:-)

25 avaland

That would work too :)

(I'm not kidding about getting lost - I had a job interview a few weeks ago and I was an hour late. New England makes no sense omg! Luckily the guy I was interviewing with is from Nebraska and we spent ten minutes chatting about how much driving in New England sucks :D )

#26

I grew up partially in NewEngland, however I think Long Island is worse. We actually have a street here with three numbering systems. One side of the street is a mixture of 100 evens, 200 odds, and 1200 evens. A lot of New Englanders give directions that include reference points or number of traffic signals. This isn't like Chicago where everyone knows where 4400 North is, as 4400 is the same distance north of the baseline for miles & miles.

Anyone have any suggestions for a New Hampshire (preferably Southern New Hampshire, but any will do) Literary Excursion? Are there any homes-turned-museums for legendary New Hampshire authors? Or how about cemeteries I could go visit that hold writers?

I've got a pining now, thanks to avaland and the post in her 75 Book Challenge Thread! For those of you who don't follow her thread, she recently went to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and the Orchard House (Louisa May Alcott's home) in MA, and I was hoping to find something similar but a little closer to home.

(avaland, I hope it's okay that I referenced you here... if this makes you uncomfortable, please let me know and I can delete the above part. thanks!)

Nope, no discomfort. I suppose you could go over to Rye Beach and look for Dan and Blythe Brown's 'cottage'. It'll be the one with the 6 foot fence around it;-)

Just kiddin'. I think I left you some suggestions elsewhere. I don't know of any in central Southern New Hampshire. Willa Cather's grave is out in Jaffrey (south of Peterborough, follow Route 101 west) - it's a little more southwest.

Ahh... Willa Cather's grave is an awesome suggestion! Thanks :)

I actually made it out to the Frost Place today (the last day the house was open)! I went up to Franconia by myself (that's a big deal in itself) and explored the house and the nature trail around it. It was so serene; I think almost anyone could be a great poet out there!

>30 neverlistless: fasciknitting, if you are heading out to Jaffrey, it's worth a stop at the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough. A fabulous store (they have a decent-sized used book section on one side).

As you come into Peterborough on Route 101, at the intersection of 202 take a right (left takes you south to Jaffrey). Follow the road into what is clearly the center of Peterborough, take a right when the post office is on your left. This street elbows, the bookstore is right at the elbow on the river. Plenty of little shops and places to eat there. Or, if you choose to go to Jaffrey first, just follow 202 north past 101 and then follow the same directions.

Lois, I have to say that you give the BEST directions. Today I went to the Old No. 6 Book Depot. I wrote down the directions you left in a few posts earlier and it took me right there! I couldn't believe it!!

And let me tell you: I was so overwhelmed there... it was wonderful! Every single bit of space was well utilized with volume after volume; it was amazing. I bought a copy of The Second Common Reader by Virginia Woolf for $3.75 and a three volume box set of Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset for $12!

Thanks for another fabulous recommendation with The Depot. I'll definitely be checking out Toadstool within the next couple of weeks :)

By the way, I LOVE New Hampshire. I just wanted to say that... it is beautiful and I can't believe that I had to live in Texas so long, haha.

fasciknitting, there is a book called Literary New England by William Corbett that might interest you. I'm sure it's out-of-print now, but probably can be found on ABE or elsewhere. It is an historic guide to writer's homes, gravesites...etc in NE. There's a couple of other books on writers' homes in New England but the Corbett one seems to be generally more extensive. The others are Literary Trail of Greater Boston by Wilson and Guide to Writers Homes in New England by Levine. The latter profiles homes that can be visited, although specific information would now be out of date.

Score! Thanks for that heads up. I'm going to check out amazon and a few other places to see what I can find. You rock :)

The Toadstool Bookshops in Keene, Peterborough and Milford, New Hampshire are having their pre-Holiday sale next week. 20% off everything* in the store. Doesn't include gift cards and cannot be combined with other discounts. See store for details.
*other items besides new books are calendars, holiday cards, individual greeting cards, bags, book-related items, remainder and used books.

Any suggestions for a used bookstore that is actually interested in buying books (cash or store credit is fine, as long as it's a reasonable amount)?

There are two used bookstores where I live and one only takes mass market paperbacks (I have a bunch of hardbacks and trade paperbacks) and the other offered me a grand total of $2 (all together, not each) for a stack of books including four YA, one non-fiction, and Watchmen (all new titles in practically perfect condition).

I'm not looking to make money here, just recoup my losses a bit.

(And I'm not interested in selling online or using bm/pbs.)

I know Encore Books in West Lebanon buys some books, but they're pretty picky about what they want (and their cash value is fairly low). Might not be worth the trip, unless you were in the area visiting the Dartmouth Bookstore :)

Call over to Second Run in Portsmouth & see what their situation is. Sometimes they're buying, sometimes not.

>37 legallypuzzled: I don't know that the Dartmouth Bookstore would really merit a trip, personally! Granted, it's a million times better than it was 10 years ago, but it's also not what it was in its glory days 15+ years ago. (Don't get me wrong — it's a wonderful store and I shop there frequently, but it's basically a spiffy Barnes & Noble with an assortment of Dartmouth merchandise. They've even switched over recently to using B&N plastic bags, which I found oddly depressing.)

Excuse me while I pick the gray hairs out from my head ... :) About ten years ago is around the time I last went in there, so it's sad to hear its better days were in the past. I loved going there in my teenage years and always finding a different room to explore.

>36 bluesalamanders: having been a used book buyer for a bookstore, I can tell you that right now most places are inundated with people wanting to sell books. On the other hand, sales of used books are probably up.

The Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough takes used book in for their three stores. Call their and ask for Jeff and tell him what you've got. It's probably not worth your gas to take them out there, but he's probably take the YAs, the Watchmen, and possibly the nonfiction (depending on what it is). Generally, for stuff he wants, he gives credit for half of what they would sell the book for. For paperbacks that's generally half the cover price. Hardcovers, however, do not follow any rules, some are worth more, some a lot less than their paperback counterparts (and sometimes they are not wanted, especially when you can get them at a library sale for $1-2!)

If you haven't been to Castle in the Clouds aka the Lucknow Estate in Moultonboro (on Lake Winnepausaukee) I highly recommend it. It's a 1914 country mansion built in the Arts & Crafts style, and included all the technological 'bells and whistles' available at the time. The views are stunning, and the food at the Carriage House cafe, though a limited menu, is excellent. There a trout pond of overfed and clearly underfished trout (beautiful creatures to watch), and horseback riding. I can't believe I lived in the state so long and didn't get to it.

Also, moving back to NH in 2014, probably the Merrimack area.

Lois, I agree; the Castle in the Clouds is worth the visit! Not to mention that it's not TOO far from one of my favorite non-bookstores - Keepsake Quilting!

And I'm only just seeing this message. Were you able to make the move to NH last year? If so, then that is exciting and I hope you're enjoying it!

hey folks - I'm new to this group, but not new to NH. Born and raised in Nashua, married a man from Milford, now we live in Lyndeborough. We do a lot of in-state camping and visiting various nature sites.

My folks used to summer in Sugar Hill, then shifted to Vermont Now one of my sisters is returning to Sugar Hill for July, which is nice. Most of my relatives who live in NH live in the southern tier of the state.

>44 Darth-Heather: Hey, Darth-Heather, I'm on the north end of Hollis, although I brought up my children in Francestown.