Writer's Notebook - James Rafferty Blog

Excursion to Squam Lake

This week my wife and I returned to an area we had enjoyed in the past -- Squam Lake in Holderness, New Hampshire.  Squam Lake is part of the state's Lakes Region, but not nearly as well known as Lake Winnipesaukee, the large body of water which is a bit further south.  

The main reasons why Squam Lake is less well known are due to its mostly private nature. We got to hear that story while taking a 90 minute boat ride on the lake.  Here is what we saw where the inlet opens up to the broader expanse of the lake:

 

Squam Lake is massive -- about 10 square miles -- running about seven miles from south to north, and about four and one half miles in width.  We entered at the northwest corner, adjacent to the small town center of Holderness.  By contrast, Lake Winnipesaukee is about seven times as large as Squam, but Squam is still the second largest lake in New England. However, Winnipesaukee is a mish-mash ranging from crazy over-development in some areas to tightly zoned sections in towns and villages such as Wolfeboro and Melvin Village.  

Squam Lake is totally different. There is virtually no commercial development on the lake, with the exception of a few hotels and a couple of restaurants in Holderness. Over 100 years ago, 4 families owned most of the property around the lake and they set in motion a set of agreements which has kept the lake lightly developed. Squam also has rules governing color schemes permitted for lakeside houses -- earthtones and similar shades please -- and has a strong focus on preserving the natural character of the lake.  As a result, the lake is home to a thriving loon population -- about 15 nesting pairs -- as well as hosting Bald Eagles.  We saw several loons and a pair of eagles during our boat ride.  

Here is another view which we saw looking north toward the White Mountains. The nearby peak is West Rattlesnake and is accessible via a hiking trail which our family had enjoyed on a previous visit.  

Squam is also dotted by numerous islands, only a few of which have amenities such as electricity. For example, our guide drove us by one island which is set up with pews and is used for non-denominational services during the summertime.  All attendees need to arrive by boat.  We also saw small islands that included features such as an eagle's nest and a loon breeding area.  Some islands also had houses, but more typically, all one saw were pine trees. One surprising fact was that there are enough residents without electricity so that a local business provides and transports fresh ice to load up ice boxes at some island homes.   

By midday on this day, the temperatures were in the range of 80 degrees F (27 degrees C), but a light breeze and low humidity kept it comfortable. Our tour guide told us stories about the prominent families who founded and still own property here such as the Coolidges (former President Calvin is the best known).  The lake also gained a bit of notoriety in 1980 when a film crew arrived and shot On Golden Pond, starring cinema legends Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn.  Our tour included several spots featured in the movie and our guide told a few tales of how Hollywood adapted the natural features of the lake for the purposes of the story.  

As we returned, it became clear that the northwest corner from which we departed is much more dense in housing than the rest of the lake. New Hampshire now has laws prohibiting boat houses that extend onto the water, but older structures were grandfathered in and we saw numerous examples of the older style boat houses as well as the boats which they protected.  

At the end of the tour, we slipped under the roadway and entered Little Squam, a smaller body of water which is connected to the larger lake only by a narrow causeway, and our tour came to an end.  The tour was conducted by the nearby Squam Lake Natural Science Center, which is located just north of the lake.  The science center conducts a variety of lake tours and also has its own outdoor attractions.  On this day, we opted only for the boat tour, but our family had a good experience at the science center itself several years back.  

Afterward, we settled in for sandwiches at Walter's Basin overlooking and weren't disappointed. Soon after that, we took a leisurely ride back to Wolfeboro -- our vacation spot for the week -- with a few stops along the way. Our day trip gave us a fresh taste of one of New Hampshire's most unique and charming locales - Squam Lake.        

Notes on the Spiritual Aspects of Kayaking

Summer is a time to relax, a time to nurture experiences which will help to sustain you when the season changes and the demands of work and life seem to accelerate.  What follows is a short meditation on kayaking which I wrote during a recent vacation week.       

Today I paddled a kayak across Crescent Lake in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.  Crescent Lake is much smaller than the nearby Lake Winnipesaukee and has the virtue of being much quieter during a weekday jaunt.  Why do I like to do it?  There’s the exercise of course – an hour kayak ride can be the major workout of your day.  It’s also an ideal way to observe nature at close quarters.  For example, ten minutes into my ride today, I paddled near a rock and noticed an unusual formation.  On top of the grey rocks, a large, olive-hued turtle was sunning itself.  I smiled and paddled by without disturbing this creature of the wild.  Later, I navigated from the lake unto a narrow stream which serves as a causeway between Crescent Lake and the much larger Lake Wentworth.  Along the route, white birches helped mark the shorelines.

 

I reached the larger lake, then circled back to stay within my target timing for the voyage.  Along the return route, the only other boats I saw were fellow kayakers and the lake surface grew smoother.  About halfway back, I heard a distinctive loud call—the cry of the loon.  Sure enough, just up ahead, I saw the distinctive long black neck of a loon skimming across the lake’s surface, before it dove under water to go looking for live fish.   The loons won’t be found on a day when the motorboats dominate the lake, so their presence helps mark times when the kayak experience can be both quiet and offer opportunities to commune with nature in her various aspects, be they fish, fowl or fauna. 

So, what about the spiritual aspect?  Kayaking on your own is a solitary pursuit.  It’s just you, the kayak, the water and whatever else you see along the way.  I never feel closer to the community of life than I do when I’m out exploring nature in a direct way. 

Kayaking is a low footprint approach to engaging with nature and shares those attributes with other outdoor sports I enjoy such as hiking, bicycling and cross country skiing. During these moments, I can sense the connectedness between myself as a person and the rest of our planet.  It’s also a fine time to offer up thanks to God or another spiritual representation you may relate to and to ponder the great beauties of nature around us, which were there before us and will be there after we have departed. In these times, it is also much easier to sense our role as stewards for the world around us.  We are all part of a much bigger narrative than we tend to consider during the average day in the office or at home. 

Take a ride on a kayak or a walk in the woods and you may find that your spiritual inner being is there waiting for you, ready to take you on journeys which will nourish you long after this particular day is done. 

Are there particular activities which help you to relax and let your spiritual side engage with the world around you?  

Vacationing in the Footsteps of a Candidate

My family enjoys vacationing in a small village adjacent to Lake Winnipesaukee.  We discovered the area during the late Nineties when we were looking for a less crowded alternative to Cape Cod.  The town of Wolfeboro has everything we like for a vacation spot:  lots of options for outdoor activities, good places to eat in the evening, evening musical concerts and best of all, an area that conducive to relaxing.  The typical family coming for a week's vacation in this town has been coming for a generation and has handed down the tradition to their families.  On that score, we're relative newcomers, but we've established our own family tradition up here in Wolfeboro during the past decade.  

So this year, when we arrived, we dove into our favorite activities -- swimming at the beach, riding on the bike path and kayaking on a quiet lake.  But there were a couple changes.  The hotel we've staying at has been partially refurbished, so there's a new look to several of the rooms in a separate building near us.  Some people like to bring their boats to the region, but this time, there were also two large boats in the parking lot with bright orange pontoons equipped with dual, aggressive looking Honda 225 VTEC engines situated in the parking lot.  It turns out we were sharing our vacation digs with the Coast Guard.  

Mitt Romney, candidate for President, has been in town at his summer home on the lake several weekends this year.  He's been coming here for years, including during his tenure as the governor of Massachusetts, and he's sometimes been in town at the same time we were, but this is the first time  it's been noticeable.  Even during the weekdays when he isn't here, the Coast Guard has been staying at our hotel and occasionally taking their boats onto the big lake.  The guys have mostly kept to themselves, but seem to like hanging out by the beach and having a cookout, just like the rest of us, at least during their down time. 

The nice thing for our family is that this is still the Wolfeboro we know and love.  The bike path starts at the edge of town and the packed, sandy path extends along railroad tracks onto causeways crossing the lakes, past beaches and deep into undeveloped wooded areas.  There are several different places to park and access the trail, and the number of people encountered is reduced as one rides several miles away from the town center. 

Our crescent shaped lake -- way too small for those Coast Guard boats -- is quiet in the morning and very well suited for swimming and kayak rides.  We like to explore the nooks and crannies of the lake, and observe the local flora and fauna close up.  There are neatly spaced homes and cottages under heavily wooded canopies of deciduous and tall pine trees, and several areas remain totally undeveloped.    

Wolfeboro does not have any large, name brand hotels and the typical visitor has booked rooms or rental houses many months in advance.  I like to say that the you won't end up in Wolfeboro unless you really intend to come here, since the nearest interstate highways are about an hour away and the roads into town are all two lane state roads or smaller local roads. 

There is a fine little park by the water, Cate Park, and musical groups play in its gazebo twice a week.  On Wednesday nights, the local community band plays and it's open to all musicians who are willing to come early for a one hour rehearsal, so my wife has played clarinet with the band several times over the last few summers.  The music is not spectacular, but fills the evening with sounds of pop tunes, marches and lots of brass.  The park itself has a fabulous view of Lake Winnipesaukee and its surrounding hills.  While the music plays, families arrive via cars, on foot or on large motor boats. 

Wolfeboro offers a taste of summer life in a small New England town at a cross roads between the waters and the woods.  The absence of brand name stores and chain restaurants contributes to the ambiance and the patchy cell phone reception helps to keep the emphasis on summer vacation.  So, we may be in the footsteps of one of this year's presidential candidates, but so far, Wolfeboro has retained its unique character and it's not too hard to find solitude amidst nature's bounty up here on the eastern reaches of the Lakes Region. 

Winding Up the Summer

My last post was written when I was comfortably engrossed in vacation doings for a week. We had a respite by a small lake in New Hampshire and got to spend a lot of time enjoying the outdoors. On the last couple of days, I'd gotten away from work long enough so that I'd unwound and was able to have a couple of productive writing sessions on my current work in process, in between kayak rides and visits to the local restaurants. Here's a scene from that trip.

 

 A couple of weeks later, a business trip took me to one of my favorite North American cities, Quebec City. From where I live near Boston, there's no concept of a direct flight to QC, so I rented a car and drove the 425 miles. It's a long, but scenic ride. Near the halfway point, the highway narrowed and I stopped by one of the most beautiful areas in New England, Franconia Notch. This is an area with a lot of history and precious little development. Just up the road, we once were able to view the famous Old Man in the Mountain, until the jutting stones that made up the face came down to earth about ten years ago. But the mountains themselves still remain, along with a campground, paved bike path and several trails that lead up to the peaks of several mountains. My odometer said I still had a long way to go, but taking the time to get out of the car and walk around gave me the extra boost I needed to complete the trip. This kind of view gave me lots of energy to keep going:  

 

The ride to Quebec City was a long one.  I got off the road in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, checked my map and realized I was only halfway there after driving through all of New Hampshire.  But once I reached Canada, the miles got consumed at a steady pace and I arrived in Quebec City before dusk. When I finally settled in my hotel room, the view was amazing, as I faced a panorama along the St. Lawrence River and had clear sight lines looking across to the historic Hotel Frontenac.  

Quebec City in the summertime is a remarkable place.  The city is hilly, but a walkabout reveals intriguing vistas, streets filled with roving pedestrians and many choices for food, drink and shopping. From my hotel, the walled city -- Vieux Quebec -- was just steps away.  An outdoor stage was set up just downhill from there, and a variety of world music was pumped out by various live bands during that week.  

I stayed very busy during the day attending a standards meeting, but evening offered the chance to sample what the city had to offer.  I ate well, enjoying diverse seafood dishes and other hearty fare throughout the week.  The city has a festive atmosphere during its short summer and this included live shows by Cirque du Soleil, who set up underneath one of the local highways and began their performances once darkness fell.  

The route to the stage entailed walking several blocks, dropping down several stories via wooden staircases and then following a circuituitous path to the impromptu stage area.  Here's a sample of what it looked like just before the troupe began their performance:  

Once the show began, we were treated to an extravaganza of pulsing lights, crazy ensemble acrobatics and an energetic mix of live and recorded music. My favorite bit was when several of the men got on trampolines and were jumping so high that they were able to literally walk up the walls of towers.  

I had a great week in Quebec City and this added a totally different dimension to a summer which was otherwise dominated by lots of outdoor activities.  As I write this, the days of Indian summer have just passed and autumn's nip is in the air.  The change of seasons is underway and we'll be seeing lots of color in the weeks ahead here in New England.   

How was your summer?  Did it inspire you?  Or are you only too ready for the fall season to begin?   

Writer's Notebook: Signs of the Seasons

Fall in New England is one of my favorite seasons.  I've lived in New England most of my life, but never tire of the variety this season brings to us. 

Yesterday, I rode with a business colleague through New Hampshire and Vermont.  It was Columbus Day, sometimes celebrated as a holiday in the United States, and often touted as a great weekend for viewing foliage.  Well, in most years, you won't see much but bare trees in Northern New England by the time that weekend rolls around.  Happily, this year is an exception.  We had copious amounts of rain in the Spring and enough during the summer so that the foliage this year is rich in colors of gold, harvest brown, and pumpkin orange, and many shades in between.  Smoke from wood fireplaces drifts in the air, stirring ancient urges to gather around the warmth.  As the temperature drops, we develop a taste for hearty meals such as stews, curries, and ragouts, washed down by mugs of hot cider, cocoa and pints of auburn ale. 

Frost warnings permeate the weather forecasts, but often the days are still warm enough to enjoy our favorite outdoor activities, be it tossing a football, riding a bike, hiking a trail or walking with your pet. 

For a writer, autumn presents backgrounds that tickle the senses, but the season also works as a metaphor for the passing of years and the progression toward mortality.  I've included scenes of Fall in my novels and the nip in the air, variegated colors of leafy canopies and harvest aromas can transport the reader directly to that destination, bringing it alive. 

As a reader, how to you react to seasons in writing?  Do authors draw you in with the vivid descriptions of the change that Autumn or Winter brings?  Or is there a hidden terror in these periodic changes of life and its rhythms? 

If you are a writer or another type of artist, how important are the seasons in your work?  Do they inspire you?  Do they transport your characters to new realizations or spiritual yearnings?  Let's talk about the seasons and how they affect your art.  

Writer's Notebook: On the Trail

Yesterday, I wrote about 1400 words on my latest novel. Today, I woke up and decided that it was time to explore a new -- to me -- bike path.  I'm on vacation, so these are the kinds of choices I've been facing each day.  As noted in my last post, I'm in New Hampshire, in the Lakes Region, and we've been fortunate enough to have good weather.  In fact, one-third of my words yesterday were written during a rainstorm in late afternoon and the progress I made inspired me to continue and eventually to finish the chapter that was in progress.   

I've been a bit sore lately, so I chose an easy way out:  I drove to my preferred starting point.   The Cotton Valley Trail was extended about three miles since I last rode it, so I wanted to see this new stretch.  About five minutes into the trip, the path looked like this:  

  

I continued on and was delighted to find I was the only one riding this portion of the trail.  Around me, there were woods of maple, silver and white birch and old growth pines.  As shown above, much of the trail followed the original rail bed, but from time to time, a wooden platform signaled a transition to a path that paralleled the tracks.  The last time scheduled trains ran on these tracks was over twenty years ago, but the tracks have been retained on most sections and converted into a multi-use trail.  Biking is the most common use, but there are also rail hobbyists who run very small train cars on these same tracks, especially on the weekends.  

Later, I encountered a stretch of overturned roots and broken trees -- perhaps a micro-cell had wreaked this havoc in some recent year.  Eventually, I hit an area where the path ran adjacent to a flooded area, which looked like this: 

 

From here, it was only a short ride to the trail's end, where I finally encountered other bicyclists.   Here is the shot from that point.  

As you can see, the weather was outstanding, a great day for biking.  I turned around and really let loose on the way back, riding at a much faster clip than I had on the way out.   The rest of the day?   Swimming, kayaking and helping my son try out water skiing.  Later on, a neighbor dropped by with a margarita by the beach.   Not a bad way to close out our vacation.  Goodbye, New Hampshire, until the next time. 

Writer's Notebook: Between Woods and Water

I'm in New Hampshire for a week and to paraphrase a well known song, the living is easy.   So far, we've mostly been lucky with the weather.  It's been a bit cooler than the normal July, but we've seen sunshine every day and had very little rain.  

We stay by a lake in the town of Wolfeboro on the east side of Lake Winnipesaukee.  Wolfeboro itself is a town of about 6,000 people, but it expands to a larger population during the summer tourist season.  Why Wolfeboro?  My family loves the outdoors and here we have easy access to lakes for swimming and kayaking and a path for walking and biking.  Plus, the town has lots of cultural assets. 

The Heifetz Institute convenes every summer here and puts on three performances a week.  We particularly like their "Stars of Tomorrow" series, which features young musicians -- teens to early twenties -- who are studying at the Institute, but are already virtuosos on a variety of stringed instruments.  Last night, the music had a Russian flavor.  The night began with violinist Ekaterina Tarsova from Moscow on violin, playing music from Porgy and Bess.  Ms. Tarsova had a flair for the dramatic, which began with her outfit, a dark dress which clung tight to her bosom and hips, and was slit on the side several inches above her knees.  She played the Gershwin music with passion and clarity, bringing out its emotional side, her bow arm extending out after completing tight musical phrases.  Later, the Russian theme continued, in the person of Dimitry Volkov, also from Moscow.  Dimitry announced this piece, Variations on a Theme of Rossini's "Moses" by Bohuslav Martinu, by comparing it to the Tom and Jerry cartoons, where the pianist played the mouse and he the cat.  We soon found out what he meant.  Dimitry attacked the piece with gusto on his cello and played intricate runs up and down his instrument, interspersed with quieter moments, like the catching of breath.  His dark brown hair and clever smile reminded me of the Russian masters of dance, Nureyev and Baryshnikov, in their younger days.  Like the best musicians, he showed mastery of the instrument, but also connected with the soul of the music.       

So, yes, Wolfeboro has its cultural side.  For those who like to tune into nature in this summer season, the area has much to offer.  During the day, I paddled with a kayak out onto one of the lakes.  On this day, the sun shown brightly and ample breezes rippled the waters, adding to the challenges of riding the kayak, as the water undulated due to the wind and wakes from various motorboats.  Still, I enjoyed my ride and paddled through a creek connecting two lakes before turning back.  Upon my return, I beheld a most unusual sight.  As I traversed from the creek into the broader lake, I noticed a covey of several birds, floating perhaps a hundred feet from the edge of the lake.  In my mind I thought flotilla, probably of ducks.  But I was wrong.  Paddling closer and coming within  ten feet of the nearly dozen birds who wove an uneven string to my right, I saw the distinctive black heads and extended necks of loons.  Loons are a special sight in New Hampshire and have been under threat from the increased human use of the lakes which serve as their habitats.  Usually I count myself lucky to see a single loon when the lakes are quiet.  But a flotilla of loons?   What a treat.   

So this place is special, a land of lake waters, tree-filled shorelines and many places to roam on foot or by boat.  Here are sights and sounds to store away to warm the mind and soul during those other cooler seasons which lay ahead of us. 

Musings: Northeast Vacation

I began writing this post using a top ten motif, but decided there were more than ten experiences worth talking about on the family vacation which we just completed.  

We did a grand circle, beginning in the Boston area, then heading north to Freeport, Maine, onward for three days stays in Quebec City and Montreal, and then returning back home via Vermont and New Hampshire.  This was an expensive year for a driving vacation, especially one to Canada, but we'd decided it was time for our kids to get a more diverse summer vacation experience, including one with cultural and languages differences.   It was expensive, yes, but our experiences were also rich.  

What follows is a sampling of our best experiences on the trip, roughly in the order they happened.  We had fun and learned a lot.   It is presented here in table form, but one can think of it as a geodesic guide, as the experiences built and overlapped upon each other.   I've written about other parts of this trip here and here.   Bon Voyage!

Locale	Experience
All	Biking - People riding bikes were everywhere on our vacation, though notably in Montreal and Burlington, VT.  Most riders were fit and all were saving money.  This meshed well with the green friendly theme which was a subtle undercurrent everywhere we visited, from LL Bean in Freeport, Maine onto the cities which followed.
Maine	Just off of interstate 95, on Route 201, we found Sandy's Kitchen.   Sandy's is a classic diner, but with individual touches such as hand-painted sunflowers on the walls. Our waitress Donna was quick with a smile and a friendly word, and very popular among the men who visited the diner.  The food was scrumptious.  My wife and I shared a Reuben, pastrami piled high on thick, homemade bread.  Thus fortified, we were ready to tackle the long drive to Quebec City.
Quebec City	Dining Out - Dinner was expensive in Quebec City, but the quality was outstanding.   On our first night in QC, we ate at Bistro sous le Fort in the lower part of the old city.  The service was attentive and the bistro fare both diverse and tasty, with dishes such as an appetizer plate with pate, Caembert, and Brie, duck served three ways and fresh seafood.   We hoped for economy at Verla the next night; instead we got a top end Italian dining experience via the Table d'hote menu, with fresh greens in either Insalate Verde or Caesar salad, carrot soup to cleanse the pallette and excellent pastas or veal for the main course.   The following night, Le Cochon Dingue struck a better balance of quality and economy.  Our waitress was friendly and energetic and the food outstanding.  I had two bowls of mussels as my main dish, served with marinades of mustard and smoked salmon, while my family ate the barbecqued ribs.   Nobody left hungry.
Quebec City	Musee de le Civilization - This museum was outstanding and had appeal for our entire family.  Highlights for us were the exhibit on the history of Gold and Urbanopolis, a fact-filled journey into the design of cities past, present and future.   Later, we visited the outdoor Visionaries Garden, a unique exhibit composed of row upon ascending row of plants: herbs, vegetables and flowers, accompanied by windsongs played on chimes.
Quebec City	Marche du Vieux-Port - We weren't sure what this was, but walked in and voila, a farmer's market under a white tented roof.   Everywhere, there were fresh goods, ranging from strawberries, blueberries and other fruits, onto more exotic items such as hemp seeds and products.   Our family bought candies, maple tarts, and fresh strawberries for the next day's breakfast, but there was much, much more.
Montreal/QC	Driving and Parking in the City - Taking the car was difficult in Quebec City and painful in Montreal.   We spent at least $15 per day if we used the car, just on parking.
Montreal	Biosphere - This is the globe shaped building built on St. Helene Island for Expo 67 (see below).   The museum is dedicated to a one world eco-view, but manages to be both fun and educational.   We played at Water Genie, learned from the master at Planet Bucky (aka Buckminster Fuller) and stretched out on the climbing wall in the Great Lakes exhibit.
Montreal	Atwater Market - When the cost of food gets too high, it's time to go to this bastion of fresh food. I learned about the market when staying with local friends and it offers a wide variety of farm fresh goods.  We stocked up on breakfast necessaries (croissants, juice, yogurt and a melange of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) and yummies for lunch (lemonade, a long and broad fresh bread called le Parisien, pate compagne (aka country pate), goat cheese and proscuitto).
Montreal	Chinatown - This little gem south of Rue Rene-Levesque offers authentic Chinese dining and good buys on Chinese goods such as soup bowls and bracelets.    We had an excellent dinner at a fair price at Maison Kam Fung, found on the 2nd story of an office building on St. Urbain.  Highlights of the dinner included copious portions of a fine wonton soup, steamed shrimp dumplings and a wonderful dish of the tender white fish grouper, accompanied by lightly steamed green beans and carrots.
Montreal	Beauty's - Ah, it is so good when reality exceeds memory.  On an early visit to the city, a friend took me to this classic eatery just to the east of Parc Mont Royal.  Beauty's offers all of the essentials of breakfast in a small room replete with booths and a soda fountain bar for informal eating.  Our slender, dark haired waitress greeted us with friendly words and quickly supplied us with coffee, juice and hot chocolate.  Our eyes were drawn immediately to the Beauty's special, except for my youngest, who wanted the chocolate pancakes.  About ten minutes later, the special arrived:  a toasted bagel brimming over with freshly whipped cream cheese, and layers of salmon lox, lettuce, red onion, tomatoes and capers.  Our waitress supplied extra napkins, saying it was difficult to eat graciously when eating the special.   She was absolutely right -- we all needed our utensils to down this bit of heaven.  Our waitress kept us supplied with hot cups of coffee.  We walked away with full stomachs and a fine end to our Montreal trip.
Burlington	Downtown - We arrived in Burlington on our way home, just to stop for lunch.  On this warm summer day, the town was very busy.   We walked through an outdoor farmer's market on the town green, vowing to come back, then continued to Church Street.   This street is set up as a pedestrian mall, and is loaded with shops and open air cafe's, with the usual sideshows of street jugglers and busker musicians.  My oldest quickly made an allusion to the energy of Quebec City, which seemed to fit.   We walked about and found the cafe seats were full even at 2:00 pm.   We finally settled in at a place called Ken's pizza, but were able to order a variety of goodies including a lobster roll (pour moi), pastrami sandwiches and, of course, pizza.  Our waitress was friendly and quick to share her thoughts on the town.  She is a student at the University of Vermont and clearly loves the city and the school.  The farmer's market had been put away by the time we returned to the green, but we went on to view the waterfront and drive about the campus of UVM.  Summer in the city along Lake Champlain -- it doesn't get much better than this.
Vermont	Rest Areas - Vermont wins plaudits for its rest areas on the highways.   The attendants were friendly, the Green Mountain coffee was free and so was the WiFi.

Top Ten Things to do En Vacance in Wolfeboro

The new French President Nicholas Sarkozy has made a controversial decision.   He is taking a vacation (en vacances) not in France, but in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.   Those of us who already love Wolfeboro for our vacations no doubt have mixed feelings about this, mais c'est la vie!

So, it is clearly time to seriously discuss the Top Ten Things to do en vacance in Wolfeboro.   

1.  Go to Bailey's Bubble and get ice cream (sorry, no French sub-titles).   

2.  Take the Mount Washington steamship and go to Weirs Beach, to stop at the arcades and play bumper cars with one's security staff.   

3.  Go to Cate Park on Wednesday and Saturday nights and enjoy music on the water.   

4.  While you are downtown, stop in at Black's Gift Shop and buy Wolfeboro post cards and some of the unique toys that are in the back room.   

5.  Take a day trip up to Squam Lake and exercise your inner Henry Fonda by taking a boat tour that traces the footsteps of "On Golden Pond".   

6.  Visit the closest local equivalent to Versailles by heading up to Castle in the Clouds to see the entire area from several thousand feet.   

7.  Re-enact the Tour de France in Wolfeboro by following the Cotton Valley bike trail for several miles en bicyclette.   When the trail stops, join the work team that is extending it.

8.  Take a speedboat ride in one of the several area lakes.   You may enjoy going to Lake Wentworth, named after the last presiding British Governour before the American Revolution.  But, watch out for the rocks!

9.  Stop in at the only French restaurant in the area, Mise En Place.   

10.  Finally, if you miss politics, huddle with the local New Hampshire representative Carol Shea-Porter, who knows Wolfeboro very well.  Or, look up Mitt Romney, who has a family place on the lake.      

Bon Chance! 

Two Weeks in New Hampshire

My family and I are back in New Hampshire for a 2 week vacation, which is just now winding up.   We like Wolfeboro, an isolated town on the eastern shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.   The town also has several other lakes, notably Crescent Lake and Lake Wentworth.   The smaller lakes are good for swimming and kayaking, and are connected to the town center by a multi-use path.  We use the path a lot, mainly for biking.   It ends by the old railway station at the edge of the town center and then runs along a variety of causeways through the forests and by the lakes out to Route 109 by the Fernald Station.   

Even better, there is work going on which will eventually extend the trail all of the way out to Route 16. 

This has been an unusually rainy summer, so we've only had good outdoor weather a little more than half the time.   

There are things to do indoors as well.   The Heifetz Institute runs a summer program for young musicians.  In tandem with that, they also have a summer concert series.  Two nights a week, they feature the young musicians, typically ranging in age from 13 to 24, in performances of the classical repertoire.  This week, we saw several string players, on violin, viola and cello, each accompanied by a pianist, playing music by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Ravel among others.   The musicians were very expressive and showed impressive command of their instruments.   

As a change of pace from Wolfeboro, we also took a day trip to Portsmouth.   I used Mapquest to find our way into the town center, following State Street and looking for Market. The Portsmouth web site has this really cool interactive map, which I used when preparing for the trip.    However, we missed the turnoff for Market and ended up taking an inadvertent detour onto Pierce Island, which is a place shared by the commercial fishing industry and local kayakers.    We turned around, and noticed that there was a seafood restaurant nearby, named Geno's, on Mechanic Street.   First, we took a quick look at some gorgeous gardens in the nearby Prescott Park, then we walked a couple of blocks to Geno's.  They feature Lobster Rolls and three different types of chowder and sit right on the water, alongside some commercial fishing boats.    The food was excellent and we'd be happy to go back.  They also had freshly baked pies.  My oldest son confirmed that his peach pie was also very good.   

From there, we went to look for the refurbished Wentworth by the Sea.  This entailed taking a ride through the winding streets of an island known as Newcastle.   The ride itself was entertaining, as there is an interesting mix of original housing and newer larger houses.   We eventually found the Wentworth.   It had been abandoned during the Eighties, after nearly 100 years of use as a grand hotel.  However, it was restored a few years back and is now run by Marriott.  It has some of the look of an older Grand Hotel, with three cupolas adjacent to red roofing ala the Del Coronado, but is much more modern.   In fact, it was a bit too modern for my taste, as it seemed to be another example of packaging the New Hampshire experience for affluent people that don't actually want to sacrifice any of the amenities while going away on vacation.   To be fair, it would not be hard to use the Wentworth as a fine launch point for the many outdoor activities that are within easy biking distance.   

We found one on the way back.  Adajacent to the Coast Guard station and a very visible set of Homeland Security signs, was an historic fort that dated from the revolution.  The history was fascinating; in 1774, Paul Revere rode into Portsmouth to warn the locals that the British were coming to take away all gunpowder and ammunition.   In the home of "Live Free or Die", that didn't go down well.  Some 400 people stormed Fort William and Mary and took it over, four months before Revere's more famous ride.   

We walked from the public lot along a blue line that brought us through the Coast Guard station and into the Fort.  The fort still had signs of the small buildings that had been used to store ammunition and that were used for defensive purposes in subsequent wars.   Just beyond the fort, was an amazing shoal of sandstone, complete with striations of colorful rocks, that looked out onto both Portsmouth Bay and a nearby lighthouse.  We also talked with some artists who were busy painting the scene on a near cloudless day. 

Portsmouth also had more to offer, but I'll save that for another entry.  It's time to head out for lunch with my sons.