New England

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another edition of The Nomadic Lensman! We have been back a week, or so, from a trip to New England and I’m going to break this trip up into two separate postings. The second will happen next week. New England is steeped in rich history and the autumnal colors are brilliant if you catch them at the right time. The colors this autumn were both, late and, because of the intense heat nationwide over the summer months, muted. The photo taken, to the left, was of Bow Lake in Bow, New Hampshire. It was a beautiful, warm day for October, in the low 70s. Not typical, but it made it a lovely day for shooting photos. Let’s dive a little deeper.

Manchester, New Hampshire is filled with beautiful, brick buildings, ranging in size from big to small, or long to short. The history is pretty cool, but short-lived, as businesses go. You can read about Amoskeag mills and how they came to be and what they did to reinvent themselves to hang onto the reputation they had built. What I appreciate about the town of Manchester, and there are many things, is the fact that rather than tear down these old, wonderfully built, beautiful brick buildings and replace them with something more modern, or useful, the city repurposed them and continue to utilize all the square space left empty from the closures of all those mills. The photo on the right is of a particularly long mill building and it currently houses elements of the University of New Hampshire including, classrooms, lecture halls, dorms and admin offices. But not just this building, the buildings continue on down the street. As my wife and I walked around Manchester, there were other businesses taking up occupancy in the smaller mill structures as well. In one structure in particular, used to be an old cigar making factory. The name at the top, still in great form, kept on the building, even though the occupants of this awesome brick structure had nothing to do with the art of making a fine cigar. The longer I live in the Pacific Northwest and the more my wife and I travel to New England, the more I see how the West coast doesn’t quite, fully hold close to its chest, the history of how it became. New England is full, chocked-full, of history almost everywhere you go. Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. If you haven’t ever been, then you must, without reservation, go to these places and wallow in the history of how this country began. Paul Revere’s house STILL stands in Boston! There is a pride in New England for history and the sacrifices committed to ensuring we became a free nation, onto ourselves. You have to go! To not would be to rob yourselves of something special.

While we were in Manchester, my wife and I decided to take a day trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Portsmouth is a wonderful place to visit for a few reasons, if not for the salt air you get when arriving there, then for the awesome shops and history walks you can partake in. If that’s your thing, Strawbery Banke museum is something you should hit. The spelling is actually correct, don’t even start…anyway, this is a living museum, for those unaware of that terminology, people dress-up in traditional garb and conduct themselves as if it were the actual era they’re representing. If you happen to stop and talk to one of them, the knowledge base is uncanny. “Wicked smaht,” to coin a phonetic, New England phrase. I’m telling you, people know, and take part in, the history that defined us as a nation back in New England. The amount of pride that they emulate is unrivaled.

If you sign-up for a tour, check the official website for rules on photo taking/video recording. Be respectful of these rules. The shops, delis and pubs/bars offer just about anything you want to eat or drink. We all have vices, right? Right!? Well, I am not without one. I enjoy a lovely cigar from time to time. I have gotten into seeking out cigar shops/tobacconists when I travel. If you’re planning a trip to this region and want the name of a couple good ones, email me and I’ll let you know where they are located. You won’t be sorry.

I digress, the photo to the left is of the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth. It crosses the Piscataqua River and onto Badger Island. If you’re interested in how folks live on an island in New England, then take the trip across. There are two other bridges that cross that river and one is part of the interstate highway that takes one into the state of Maine. I’ll talk about Maine in another edition. Portsmouth is a beautiful place to visit and get an idea of how New England life was in a coastal town. It’s also a nice and well scented change from city exploring. I’ll take salt air over city any day! Lots of wide-angle photo opportunities and long exposures in the evening time. You really cannot go wrong with a phone either. Lots to see and photograph and sometimes it’s just more convenient, long exposures aside, to pull out your phone and snap a few quick ones. However you capture an image, there are plenty to be had in and around Portsmouth!

So, everyone needs a little high-octane boost in the morning. However you find that, is a personal choice. My wife and I find it in coffee. The better the coffee, the better the experience. A ten minute walk from where we stayed in Manchester was the place to the left of this verbiage. My wife and I walked in, were greeted warmly, served with a smile and awesome conversation and we were then on our way. We always enjoy good conversation with locals, wherever we travel, and it just adds to our enjoyment of living in the moment. As a photographer, picking the brains of those who’re residents of where you’re visiting is really beneficial. I am an introvert by habit, my lovely bride is an extrovert, happily so. She can strike up a convo with just about anyone. She has a warmth and friendliness about her that people respond to in kind. I will time my entry into a conversation and get the necessary info I need, or not, but we all part on the friendliest terms with the additional knowledge of the area…and our much needed jet fuel. If you plan a visit to Manchester, stop by and see these folks. Their service is great, the conversations are smile-filled and warm, they’re a true sentiment to baristas everywhere!

Finally, during our stay in Manchester, we drove to my old stomping grounds in Bow, New Hampshire. Yes I lived there, I’ll get into that more at a later edition. Bow is approximately fifteen minutes North of Manchester. We took back roads, as is our way, and had a wonderful drive. The photo at the beginning of this sojourn, at a lake and this one to the left were both taken at Bow Lake in Bow, N.H. I like the perspective and content of the first shot, and I told you all before, I’m a sucker for a sun flare shot, so we have the second. The lake is a little different than I remember, I don’t think that house was across the way, or there were still trees hiding the house at the time. This was the early 80s so there was allot to take in in terms of the changes. Happily, there was a ton of stuff that was still the same. Old buildings/homes that I remember from that time are still there. The old Bow Meeting House was still there, thankfully. And, they folks of Bow still use it as a meeting house! So awesome! Remember this name, Dunkin’ Donuts. This will come-up again in a later edition. Next up, I’ll talk about Vermont. We spent sometime in Woodstock, Vermont and explored that region of New England for a few days. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the beginning part of our journey together through parts of New Hampshire, parts of New England. I look forward to chatting again soon about Vermont and other places we visited. Everyone take care of each other, go out and travel, see the world, or parts of it, have fun and learn a thing or two about what you see and I’ll talk with you next time! Cheers!