Exploring Around Exeter and Portsmouth NH…

We sure enjoyed our brief stay in Maine but the leaves have begun to change signaling us it is time to turn the bus south.. Since we are still enjoying the changing colors we moved only an hour south for one last stop in New Hampshire. We pulled into a large park with over 400 sites called Wakeda Campground.

Wakeda is mostly a summer retreat for seasonal campers but they honor Passport America. Staying at half price is great, especially in the Northeastern USA where we have found parks to be more expensive than usual. We are in a nice large site with full hookups for $25 per night. The trees are large and beautiful in the park and although we like our site ok, there are certainly some better ones in this large park we might have preferred. However the price is right so we are happy. 

Not far from our site is the historical town of Exeter NH. Exeter is a small town founded in the early to mid 1600’s. There are lots of historic buildings still standing and it is home to the Phillips Exeter Academy a private grades 9 through 12 prep-school.  Exeter was named after a historic city in Devon, England and was a nice little town for a stroll…

We also drove a loop drive that took us up to Portsmouth NH, another interesting historical seaport on the Atlantic shore. Settled in the 1630’s this city is full of interesting history. Notable was the famous ride by Paul Revere in 1774 as he rode to Portsmouth warning that the “British were coming”, with warships to subdue the port. However, the truth is he never said that. Since his ride was in secrecy what he actually said was “The Regulars are coming out” later interpreted as what we all believe to be true.

We really enjoyed walking around this very interesting town filled with historical buildings many of which were built in the 1700’s. How cool is that!  The town also has a bit of or a sordid past as it was part of the Triangle Trade. The trade was of slaves and Portsmouth made significant profits from it. During our walk we found a park dedicated to the African burying ground. A very beautiful poignant sculpture adorns its entrance and gave us pause....Later we read more about the park at http://www.africanburyinggroundnh.org/summary.html

On the way back we stopped off in Durham NH where we walked around yet another neat little town. This town is also home to the University of New Hampshire that we also toured while we were there. Checking out their iconic buildings and watching a little field hockey practice by the lady Wildcats. We had never seen this game played before and found it quite fascinating.

During our stay we also discovered our very favorite Northeastern brewery called Smuttynose Brewery.  It is named after one the nine islands that form the Isles of Shoals, a small, rugged archipelago that lies seven miles off the craggy New Hampshire coast. Through our 4 sample tastings each offered at the tasting, we discovered this brewery produces an excellent array of beers. We came away feeling they make a great beer no matter which style, from lagers to IPA’s, a true Road Treat! I also had some fun with a photo op at the tasting room with cutouts of one of their labels of their Finest Kind IPA which features two older gents… we sure got some laughs out of the pictures taken…

NOTE: We are still in Exeter NH and will head south tomorrow, not sure where as we will be running from Jose most likely…