This weekend the family took the 45 minute drive into Concord, one of the Big Cities of New Hampshire (about the population of Tigard, OR). Three purposes of the trip. One, super boring — returning some things through UPS and FedEx. Enough said about that.
Second was a trip to Friendly’s, a restaurant chain in New England that’s kind of a cross between Red Robin and Farrell’s, for those that remember that ice cream nirvana in Portland. I’m trying to find a place that’s closer than Manchester that is a “special” restaurant for the girls, and a potential place to go on birthdays. They didn’t disappoint (except for the salad, which was very meh) — the burgers got high marks from the girls, and the sundaes were a hit. They know how to do them up.
The other stop took a few tries, but we ended up going to Capitol Sporting Goods to buy ice skates, which ended up being right across from the state prison. That was interesting. This is my Mom’s main Christmas gift to the girls, as she said, in no uncertain terms, that every girl growing up in NH needs to have their own skates. She has fond memories of leaving the house on cold, Laconia days with her sister Helene and skating until she couldn’t feel her toes. And then another hour after that. The way she tells it I’m shocked she has feet at all.
The nearby town of Sunapee has an area set aside on their sports field for outdoor ice skating. We’re just waiting for them to fill it up with water and get it opened up. It’s actually a fascinating read to learn how they do that — they need to have consistent temps of below 32F, and we’re not there yet. We’ll get plenty of mileage out of these skates, as I’ve promised Clare!
Columbia Gorge Dispatch 