You find the weirdest things when you’re not looking for anything in particular. I remember reading something that was basically a whole belief system based on the power of going on daily walks. And you know what? As kooky as it sounds I’m not going to disbelieve there isn’t some whimsical hand of chaos at play here.
A great example of this was Defiant Records and Craft Beer. I am a teetotaler. I do not go to bars. But on this day we were walking down the street exploring and on the look out for a bathroom. We thought this establishment might be obliging to such a thing and they were! ‘Course there was only one stall so as I waited for my companion I was left to look around and this place… it was nice! A sweet little hipster bar in the middle of Laconia selling used records in the back for five bucks a pop. How cute is that?? Also loved the bloody Jason mannikin at the entrance.
I don’t know man, if I were into alcohol or looking to cruise for a date in the area this might be a fun little stop.
After spending a delightful afternoon in the Laconia Antique Center we decided to continue the day by taking a stroll down the street to see what Laconia had to offer. It’s always a fun way to get to know the personality of a town. So, with nothing in mind we ambled aimlessly and found a sweet little record shop.
I love going into these places. They’re usually super small, cramped, dark little dungeons full of old records in milk crates. This place… it was quite a bit more modern. It was well lit with an open-air feel. Records were scattered in various parts of the shop but the rest had musical instruments, supplies, CDs, and other media. It was like a tiny musical Woolworths. With interesting decorating style as the walls were plastered with music posters and similar imagery.
I don’t know if this place takes part in Record Store Day but it should. It’d be a nice stop!
The last few independent bookstores we wandered into were… underwhelming. I think they were going out of business. So, it was refreshing to find a little bookstore that actually seemed to be doing well. This was an adorable little main street bookshop. It wasn’t big but the variety was nice. They even had a small game section, some plushies, and children’s room out back but I was too distracted by the local history section. What a selection! This place knew I was coming!
I ended up with THREE local history books relating to the cemeteries, folklore, and fantastic events. I felt that they might be great inspiration for further travel adventures. And we shall see! I had to leave after finding three books because if I didn’t, I would have bought that whole shelf.
The woman at the counter was very sweet and gave me a cool extra sturdy bag because I said I was just travelling through and walking through the streets finding different shops. It was great because we weren’t anywhere near the car anymore and it held all my books with ease. I think I’ll be stopping in here again in the future to paw through the local history section again. Never have I seen such a great selection!
Sometimes we end up at destinations just because that’s where our lazy google searches suggest. This one came up because it was the largest antique center in New Hampshire and we figured it’d be worth the drive. And it was! My goodness!
It was two VERY full floors and some of the things here were definitely different from other antique stores! One corner seemed to have a collection of automatic playing pianos, organs, and an old timey wooden telephone booth that looked like it may have been ripped from someone’s 1930’s parlor. Just aside that there was a FULL 1950’s SODA FOUNTAIN COUNTER with stools, shiny equipment, and an endearing menu that included milkshakes, frappes, and root beer floats. I have no idea when they had a server around but it wasn’t today. Sadly. I wouldn’t have minded a root beer float. I was fondly remembering the first time I ordered one in front of a group of horrified Europeans. Apparently, the rest of the world does not lob gobs of ice cream into their soda. Their loss! It’s a fun way to get diabetes. Did I mention the music they were playing here was mostly 1950’s hop music? So. Flipping. Cute.
The rest of the first floor was filled with the usual vendor booths and small items. A lot were clearly marketed towards bikers which made sense as Laconia Bike Week is huuuge every summer. Other books included a fascinating volume of English history, a book on cryptids, and lots of weird recipe books. Scattered among them were a lot of plastic dolls in varying levels of creepiness. There was even a possessed Snow White with red eyes. Why red eyes? No idea. Maybe she was getting ready for Halloween. There was also a tub of 30 naked Barbies for $45 which I had to debate not buying because I really want to start doing creepy doll make overs… the artist in me is bored. Or just procrastinating being an adult. Whatever you believe.
Speaking of letting my inner child play the upstairs was ADORABLE. There were a series of fully set up model trains with complete villages. And hidden among one we found Ninja Turtles protecting the streets from… bad guys? I forgot what Ninja Turtles fight but they were there! So were some dinosaurs. Because we like to be historically accurate these days. There were signs up letting you know when the trains run – only a few hours every weekend. It’s a bleeding shame we were there on a weekday because I think my heart may have melted if they were running.
We left empty handed that day but that’s mostly because I don’t have a cabin in the woods to install an old cast iron cook stove. This place was wonderful and well worth the drive. If you are looking for a little antiquing adventure punctuated with lots of nostalgia you absolutely should check this place out!
What’s the best way to end a day of antiquing and wandering? For me it might be just a little stroll through the woods. I let my companion choose the trail on this day and this became our chance to make the Prius cry again as it was down a long bumpy dirt road. And when we got to our destination we weren’t even sure it was our destination. All we could see was a faded sign board in front of an access path to the telephone poles. Still, we poked at it and eventually found a path that branched off the telephone poles.
It was starting to get dark and I was a little worried we might end up lost out here because there were no trail markers, numerous branching paths, and there was always the possibly of bears and whatnot. We only saw two other people the entire time we were walking. One was at the entrance – a woman picking ragweed aside the road. The second was on a bicycle who zoomed by at one point.
This trail seemed very suitable to mountain biking. It was long and flat but just the right kind of packed down dirt to encourage this sport. It was less suited to hiking but that’s OK, we still managed. As it was also a wildlife area there were studies going on. Signs warned of cameras (to prevent dumping!) and we found some mosquito buckets gathering specimens and the biggest bat box I have ever seen. Thing could have probably held 80 bats but being dawn I am pretty sure they were already out of it and hunting bugs. We did however find a cute little tree frog and the moon was so big and beautiful as it came up that I took a gorgeous photo of it between the trees.
This place was a nice stop. We got a very brisk walk out of it which was good for the blood. Otherwise, this wasn’t really a trail I’d suggest to hikers so much. There wasn’t any great views or anything, it was more just a good place to exercise. So, if you’re in the area and want to go mountain biking by all means this place is a good bet. And it goes on for a while. Just bring your sense of direction, you’ll need it!
It’s kind of funny, I am a bit jaded because I have been so many places and done so many things but it’s always a real joy for me to bring someone along who hasn’t. After enjoying quite a good chunk of time at Whitney Hall Antiques we decided to amble up the street a bit and see what was there in the way of shops and whatnot. And the first we came to was a grocery store. My companion was curious so we went in.
We were immediately greeted by an impressive produce section for a city market. It seemed to have everything – loose hot peppers of all kinds, fresh full figs, several other fruits and berries I had little to no recognition of, and all the usual things you find but so fresh looking! I was impressed. This was almost a farmer’s market.
As we walked in further I found the first fresh kombucha machine I’d ever encountered with no less than four flavors to choose from. As much as I appreciate the health benefits of a good kombucha I had to pass. That stuff really smells. But to each their own! Around the corner there was a grind your own coffee bean station with several different varieties to choose from and there was a whole isle dedicated to bulk things which included but was not limited to carob chews, granola, various oats and grains, dried beans, nuts, really anything you could think of being dispensed in such a way.
I’d been to these little hippie/hipster markets before and I absolutely adore them. I used to get granola at a place like this to put on top of my yogurt in the morning. It’s these simple luxuries that can make life so worth the little moments.
ANYWAY, if you’re in town check it out! Never know what delicious thing you’ll find. (And also props to the giant paper mâché cow sitting above the dairy! It was adorable!)
You ever have one of those moments when you’re driving down the road and you see an interesting sign but you’re on your way somewhere else and don’t have the leisure to go poke at something? That’s what happened the day I hiked the Ponamah Bog. I was driving there when I saw a sign promising maple syrup which just by coincidence I’d run out of earlier that day on a sweet batch of wheat pancakes. I tried to make a note in my head to remember on my way back but that’s always a super dicey prospect when you have flagrantly untreated ADD.
Well! You wouldn’t believe it but several hours later I was still hankering for maple syrup when I remembered to look for the sign on the way back. It’s a small sign and it points vaguely down a country road with the instruction that it was a mile down said road from the sign. Oh boy. I just love these little sketchy adventures I go on by my lonesome.
I drove for quite a while until I came to an intersection. The sign didn’t say anything about an intersection. Had I gone too far? No! For there was another sign promising I was close! And so I was.
I drove into a small parking lot of what was clearly a farm but there wasn’t a soul about. It said something about a gift shop but it looked dark. I slinked uncertainly up to the door which had one of those digital number locks on it. This was not feeling great…. so I peered in through what looked like a darkened window and guess what? I saw the cutest damn gift shop I’d ever seen! So I tried the door handle and it wasn’t locked! I walked into a tiny one room temple to the glory of maple syrup.
Here I found all color variations of maple syrup in every size from adorable nips to a full gallon. And there was flavored maple syrup! In coffee and cinnamon. And maple syrup BBQ sauces, maple salt water taffy, honey, fresh eggs, cute NH related swag… this place knew I was coming.
I grabbed a half gallon of maple syrup like I was the goddamn ham burglar. And those sweet little maple leaf shaped cookie cutters! Obviously I needed eggs too and a teeny tiny whisk because it was shiny.
Then I didn’t know what to do because how was I to pay for this? I muttered to myself getting distracted as I wandered to what sort of looked like a counter. There I found detailed instructions on how and where to leave exact change (or a check but c’mon I’m not 80.)
This place was so adorable… I just can’t. If you’re in the area and in need of maple anything this is your place. You need to come here.
Ponemah Bog was one of those last-minute finds that I expected nothing from. I had been in the area running errands when I decided to see what Google thought was worth exploring and the Ponemah Bog came up so off I went! And let me tell you – this place was sooo whimsical and fun!
It’s an easy boarded path into the wetlands and of course a wildlife sanctuary. As such dogs are not invited (sorry pooches!) I ended up at this bog twice – on the first visit I brought my mother just as a fun outing and I took SO MANY photos, including my first close up photo of a crane flying by and landing! But when I got home I found my camera didn’t have a card in it. My hard work was lost… but not my spirit. I went back a week later to take more pictures just so I could make this blog entry and here’s why:
It is the PERFECT season to go out in the bogs. Summer has passed so the pounding heat of the sun and the drumming of blood sucking bugs has slowed to a crawl and better yet it’s fall foliage season and some of the trees are already starting to turn their vibrant colors. And much to my surprise this included not just the trees but several low growing plants and a massive carpet of moss! Red moss! A whole field of it! It was absolutely magical!
Frogs darted under my feet, birds screamed at me for ruining the neighborhood, and I found LOTS of turtles sunning themselves on logs. This place was ALIVE. There’s a number of observation points and they’re all beautiful. I sat at some of them and just soaked it all in. On my first visit I came across a girl scout troop who complimented my T-shirt and told me to make sure to buy cookies (OK!) and on my second trip the only other person I saw was a workman putting fresh paint on the ends of the planks so no one trips. I tripped anyway because I have no grace whatsoever and ended up with an immediately SOAKED shoe – so…. don’t go off the boards!
All of this would have made it well worthwhile but the thing that really set me off was the carnivorous plants. In all my wanderings I have never seen them in New England but I did today! Sooo many pitcher plants and they were all stunningly gorgeous! It really set my heart a’ flutter. And really made me want to sing a score from Little Shop of Horrors but that’s a separate issue… ANYWAY… if you happen to be the area I would definitely say you should check this place out. It’s easy to get to, easy to walk, and very easy on the eyes!
As we all grow older and hopefully wiser we began to take on the gentle wisdom of phrases like, “Let lying dogs lie” but Caroline Cutter may have been an exception to this philosophy. You see after her death in the mid 1800’s her husband spent what I can only guess was a decent bit of money on a scathing 150 word headstone that called out several members of the community by name, accusing them of harassing his beloved to literal death.
Basically, this was a petty feud between a church and a couple who once attended services with them. According to the church Caroline’s husband Calvin Cutter was little more than a shyster. They accused him of bullying other church members into helping him fund his own church across town – a church that ultimately was never built. For these grievances they excommunicated both Calvin and Caroline and Caroline apparently took the blow to her reputation very hard and despite her better efforts was never able to get back into the good graces of the church.
After she died Calvin took it upon himself to make her headstone into one of the pettiest monuments ever carved. In it he claimed the excommunication destroyed his wife’s life, threw her into poverty, and eventually killed her while she was already down. That’s quite a bit of drama. Drama I don’t even think the town wants over 200 years later as a completely unrelated monument/plaque stands two feet from the stone nearly completely blocking it.
Now I don’t know if Calvin really was a na’ardowell, nor do I know if Caroline was really as dramatic as her husband. It seems as if social ostracization may have made both of them a little nutty. And maybe, just maybe, dear old Calvin wasn’t a grifter but just someone with ADD who let his rejection sensitivity spill over into his grief for his deceased wife. Anything could be possible!
But no matter what you believe the stone still reads thusly, Caroline H., Wife of Calvin Cutter, M.D. Murdered by the Baptist Ministry and Baptist Churches As follows: Sep’t. 28, 1838; aged 33 She was accused of lying in church meeting by the Rev. D. D. Pratt and Deacon Albert Adams. Was condemned by the church unheard. She was reduced to poverty by Deacon William Wallace. When an exparte council was asked of the Milford Baptist Church, by the advice of their committee, George Raymond, Calvin Averill, and Andrew Hutchinson They voted not to receive any communication on the subject. The Rev. Mark Carpenter said he thought as the good old Deacon said, “We’ve got Cutter down and it’s best to keep him down.” The intentional and malicious destruction of her character And happiness as above described destroyed her life. Her last words upon the subject were “Tell the Truth and The Iniquity will come out”
This stone is SUPER easy to find, though there is no parking in the cemetery or roadside. I parked at the gas station across the road but I guess there’s also a park around the corner with even more appropriate parking. The cemetery gates are behind a little park monument out front and should be open if it’s daylight hours. As for Caroline Cutter’s stone – it’s in the first row almost in the center right in front of someone’s barn and behind another completely unrelated monument.
Today I decided to go to the last pet shop that’s within an hour of home. As usual I was looking for somewhere that might sell aquatic plants, a search which has been so unfruitful I had literally no expectations for this place. I’ve been here once when the place first opened but that was years ago and at the time all it had was pet supplies. No fish, no critters. I didn’t think anything had changed until a friend told me I really needed to check out the fish. The fish?
This place is right next to Home Depot which was convenient considering I broke the sink trying to set up an RO water filter for my own fish babies. I had to go in there anyway, might as well just wander over to the pet store and take a peek… Maybe rescue a Betta for cheap or free. I’d heard of other people going to large chain pet stores and purposely picking Bettas that are two breaths away from death, convincing the staff they’d never sell it alive, and getting insane discounts on said fish, sometimes even bringing them home for free! If you’re talented enough to nurse it back to health you can get decent Bettas this way.
As I walked in the first thing I noticed was a very good variety of wet dog and cat food. Lots of leashes and whatnot. The place was very open, very clean, and the cashier was wearing a mask which is much appreciated by immune suppressed self. I didn’t see any critters or fish tanks but I walked to the back of the store and there they were. The first thing I saw was a rack of Betta fish in the usual plastic cups but unlike all the other pet stores these cups were hooked to same water as all the fish tanks and the Bettas were SO HEALTHY and vibrantly colored! I had never seen Bettas this robust in all my years of poking around pet stores. There wasn’t a ton of them but the ones that were here were amazing and they were sitting next to cups of various kinds of moss that was just as healthy! I expected these fish to be top dollar as they were so perfect and was shocked at their low prices. They ranged from $6-14 each. And then I saw him – a gorgeous dark blue crown tail. AHHHH. I have a particular fondness for crown tails and aside from pictures online I’d never seen one with full fins like this. Turning the corner there was also a female crown tail for $7! The male was $10. I had been planning on buying a pair of crown tails online and was expecting to pay $25 a fish plus shipping, this was a steal! They came home with me with a little tub of Taiwan Moss.
As I continued deeper into the fish section I noticed it was small but had a fairly decent variety and everything was intensely robust. Even better they had plants! For very decent prices! FIRST time I’d seen this in the area. I was impressed. A single saltwater tank had a very well-fed clownfish. Nearby the reptile section had a solitary resident, a large and vibrant chameleon. Chameleons are notorious for being hard to keep healthy so seeing this guy here was eye-opening. At the front of the store there was guinea pig, some mice, and rats, all in large very clean enclosures. Everyone was bright eyed and glowing.
I am going to be back to this place! HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED. And in the meantime if you’re wondering how my two new babies are doing – the female is a voracious eater and the male is very very docile for a male. I have yet to name them.
