Are we tourists or locals? Getting our bearings in NH

One drizzly evening in October, Anthony and I were running errands sans GPS, up and down Route 104 in New Hampshire's Lakes Region. Suddenly, it dawned on us. Somewhere between our month-long stay in MA and moving up to our land, we became New Hampshirites. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it shift. Our 2nd home-base, which we've had for almost a year, had become the primary jumping off point for our fall season. We were quickly establishing our local go-tos, like grocery stores, coffee shops, hairdressers, and places to refill our propane. One day, I texted my friend Shannon who lives with her family in NH and asked, "What are you guys up to this weekend?" We got together that Sunday, the first time in years that we didn't need to plan an excursion in advance, for when we were in the area.

Anthony and I have always felt at home in NH, but now we felt like we were planting roots. As we drove, we reminisced about our adventures since we arrived back to our home-base and noticed how they wonderfully straddled the line between touristy and local. We love choosing a mix of both no matter where we go, but we noticed something else. Even when we partook in the more touristy activities, we were spoken to like locals. No one asked us where we were from. Employees mentioned people and places as though we knew them (and sometimes we did). Even in the throws of leaf-peeping season, we somehow exuded the essence of Granite Staters.

We can credit the RV life for this. Back in the day, we would drive up to NH mostly for whirlwind day trips or weekends. Once we started RVing, we could spend more time in the places we went. RVing helped us dive deeper into many destinations we visited across the country, but since NH was already familiar and comfortable, transitioning to a local mindset was quick and seamless. The fact that now we could already "live" on our land before building there made it that much easier.

We may have had our epiphany of suddenly becoming locals, but our October was a testament to our evergrowing attachment to this area, with so many more experiences awaiting us. What better way to celebrate this growth, than by sharing our half-tourist, half-local autumn guide? After all, we have dreams of welcoming visitors to this state someday, playing tour guide and offering them that exact balance of touristy and local. Our favorite thing about this area is that we can enjoy both without shame. Locals don't admonish the popular tourist attractions (although we know to stay away from the Flume Gorge during peak foliage!). Tourist attractions still appeal to the locals, and local gems help tourists get a true sense of the region's culture. So this was our October in a nutshell, just 2 nomads finding their stride and planting their roots.

Local: Hike at Peaked Hill Pond

I recently updated my All Trails profile, marking all the hikes I've done in NH as completed. I had really dropped the ball on keeping up with my stats. The experience was jaw-dropping. I couldn't believe the dozens of trails we had trekked before even beginning to live here, trails that ranged from easy nature walks to 4000-footers. Even before buying the land, we had hiked several of the nearby trails, having no clue we would someday live so close. Thankfully, some of them are outstanding and well worth multiple re-visits...

...and we've already re-visited one of them.

These trails are already not ones that tourists often hear about; the talked-about hikes are typically a bit further north. So when we came across Peaked Hill Pond Trail, we knew we would be cementing our new "local" status.

We love a White Mountains hike, because even this one – rated easy on All Trails – was humbling. "Easy" here is over 500ft of gain over 1.5mi of sporadic inclines, where as soon as we hit a flat point and could catch our breath, another hill would begin. This trail is used for snowmobiles in the winter and has a couple of spurs that aren't found on the trail maps, but since we were new, we stuck with the main path. Our payoff at the end was Peaked Hill Pond, which offered a view and a woodsy space for a picnic lunch.

Tourist: Fall Foliage Train Ride with Granite State Railway

We decided to take a scenic train ride along Lake Winnipesaukee as part of our 10th wedding anniversary celebration, knowing full well that peak foliage wouldn't come to that area for at least a couple weeks. We went for the scenery rather than the leaves, but we prepared to share our train car with lots of out-of-towners. We showed up to a jam-packed parking lot. Evidently both our scenic ride and the longer foliage ride were departing around the same time, and it was mayhem. We can't remember the last time we did something so touristy in NH!

But then we got to talking to some fellow riders, and we realized that maybe we had it all wrong. Of course, people come from all over to leaf peep in northern New England, but we discovered that people take this train ride as an annual tradition. We also learned that our nonchalant booking a week in advance was not what the tourists do. They book their tickets months ahead of time. We had no issue getting tickets for our anniversary, but if we hadn't, we could always just go another time. And, since we weren't disappointed by the too-early-for-color foliage, we used the ride to gaze out at the lake, have delightful conversation, and enjoy our morning coffees in our cushy first class seats. Funny how a touristy activity could make us feel more local than ever before.

Local: Meredith Craft Fair

After the train ride, we stopped in downtown Meredith because they were holding a craft fair. We mistakenly expected a lot of visitors to be there, those who came to soak in one last warm weather day. Instead, we hung out with the locals. We almost felt like locals, too, looking at decor that would be great for our house, except we don't have one yet.

Tourist: Gondola Ride to Lunch at Switchback Grille

The following day, we drove up to Bretton Woods, scene of the nuptials, only this time, we ventured somewhere we hadn't before. We took the Skyway Gondola up to a summit restaurant, Switchback Grille, also part of the resort owned by Omni Hotels. Bretton Woods had the best foliage we saw all year, and the grill does something most restaurants can't: It has both good views and delicious food! However, it is a technically a hotel restaurant, though hundreds of feet above the Bretton Woods hotels. Our waiter asked if we "were staying at the hotel" at the end of our meal, to which we chuckled and said "no." In fact, we have only stayed at the hotel on our wedding weekend. The thing about NH is, though, that lots of the local restaurants are part of hotels and inns. They also happen to be destinations for locals celebrating special occasions. Perhaps we're biased, but we will never feel too local for the Omni Resort in Bretton Woods.

Both: Hike up Stinson Mountain

This hike blurs the line between tourist and local. Stinson Mountain is on NH's 52 With A View (52WAV) list, aka 52 mountains under 4000ft that have noteworthy views at their summits. This is the sister list to the NH 4000-footers, to make a total of 100 hikes. Because Stinson Mountain is part of this list, people do come from further away to hike it, if they're attempting to summit all 52. However, we've known about 52WAV for years, have hiked a handful of the peaks, and yet never paid any mind to Stinson. It's off the beaten path, several miles off I-93 in the foothills of the White Mountains. But it's not off the beaten path for us anymore.

We knew that hiking Stinson would be a rite of passage, and we had hoped to hike it as part of our Summer to Remember goals, but life got in the way. Finally, we were able to see the views from the top, and now whenever we gaze out at "our" mountain, we can proudly say, "I hiked that!" Stinson might be touristy for those visiting to tackle their 52WAV, but he's really local for us.

Local: Sandwich Fair

On Columbus Day Weekend, the town of Sandwich held their annual 4-H fair. This is a big fair, and as someone who grew up in a fair town, I know that people travel from all over to attend. We expected a mix of tourists and locals, but when we went, we were surprised at what we witnessed. Everywhere we turned, someone was tapping a passerby's shoulder, and that person would turn around, resulting in a "Hey, man!" followed by a hug or handshake. We were bemused. We felt like we had entered the Lakes Region fair version of Cheers. Everyone knew everyone's name! We felt like outsiders looking in, but we also realized that we chose to go on the fair's opening night, when most out-of-towners probably go on the Saturday or Sunday, since they need to drive up there. Sandwich is only about a half-hour from us, and so we drove down for a couple of hours to check it out. This also begs the question of, what level of local are we? Town? Region? State? Surely, as illustrated by many of these autumn outings, we spend a lot of time in the Lakes Region, as well as the White Mountains. We don't spend as much time in the very northern or very southern parts of the state. So perhaps we're working towards being "Central NH local."

Both: Maple Creamery

We really missed the memo on the maple creemee, but maybe that's okay. After all, this sweet delicacy originated in VT, not NH, but it's making its way across borders. The sad part is, Maple Creamery is right off the highway on Route 104, the same stretch of road we took many times when we were camping at Meredith Woods, and later, Hunter's Run campgrounds. We'd pass the sign and think it was just another ice cream stand. Oh no. This place is so much more than "just another ice cream stand." The maple creemee is their specialty: soft serve ice cream mixed with pure maple syrup, with the most delectable options for add-ons like fudge or caramel-lined homemade waffle cones, or crushed maple walnut toppings. However, they do have a selection of hard ice cream flavors and even some savory foods. There is a walk-up window as well as a small indoor counter. The inside is lined with shelves of local NH products, most of them maple-themed and flavored.

We stopped at Maple Creamery that same drizzly evening of our errands run – the one where we realized we were quickly morphing into NH locals. Boy did we wish we had given this place a shot years ago when we were camping up the street! We each got the creemees in fudge-lined waffle cones, with crushed nuts on top. They were the real deal. Fresh waffle cones, real maple flavor, and real hot fudge. Perfect complementary textures of the creamy soft serve and crunchy maple walnuts. We only needed one taste to become addicted.

As we ate, we looked up the history of the maple creemee, and an article from not even 10 years ago talked about how it has stayed on the west side of the Connecticut River. Well, not anymore! We assume it tastes authentic to the VT ones, too, because Maple Creamery serves VT-made ice cream for their hard serve flavors. We also came across several forums of people asking where they can get the best maple creemees (we will be trying all of the places, don't you worry). Most of the posters were local, but word has spread beyond the region. We imagine this is one of those foods that will someday become known as a must-try in New England, like clam chowder, lobster rolls, and fluffernutters. We hope so. People need to know about these! As for us, we couldn't believe we hadn't heard of the maple creemee despite all our times visiting NH and VT over the years. Perhaps we weren't meant to learn about them as tourists.

Local: Laconia Pumpkin Festival

As the end of October neared, leaf-peeping season gave way to spooky season. Festivities popped up in many towns, and on the weekend before Halloween, we had our choice of celebrations. After perusing the schedules of events, we chose to head down to Laconia in the Lakes Region for their pumpkin festival. Included were streets filled with artisan and food vendors, live music, games, scenic train rides, and the focal piece of the day, the pumpkin tower. We expected to be one with the locals, and we were right. Most of the vendors were local, save for a few carnival trucks that looked to be leftover from the Sandwich fair. The event is sponsored by local businesses, and even the residents of nearby homes partake by decorating their yards to the nines. We were pleasantly surprised.

We walked around, browsing the various vendor tents and grabbing a bite to eat at the food trucks. Businesses in the center of town were open for the event, and many offered flash sales. We went into some of the shops, but we were there mostly to walk around and soak in the vibe.

We had some time to kill before the tower lighting, and so we decided to pay for one of the scenic train rides. After all, we knew we would get better foliage this time around! The ride was $20 per person and lasted 40 minutes, which we felt was a pretty good deal (though we hear they used to be $10). This was also a great opportunity for the locals to get a train ride without dealing with the leaf peeping crowds. We had no trouble getting tickets for the last ride at 5pm. It took us through the town and along the shore of Paugus Bay. Another leisurely voyage where we could sit and relax, with views that made us wonder if we'll ever tire of them.

We got back with just a few minutes to spare before the tower lighting. It's almost like they plan it! In fact, they do. Everything about the pumpkin festival was extremely well organized, down to the minute. Then, after a 10-second countdown, hundreds of pumpkins were illuminated. Granted, the sun had just set and so the lighting wasn't very dramatic, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

We finished October feeling optimistic about the state where we've decided to build our future home. The tourist attractions are enjoyable, but the feeling of community is even better, especially when it's a community that celebrates nature and the seasons. RVing has helped us spend more time in NH, planting our roots before we build our house, but it's done even more than that. All our travels have shown us how to blend the local with the touristy wherever we go, and to love thy neighbor, no matter what differences we have. We traded the city life for suburbia, and then gave it up for nomadism. Now, we'll take everything we've learned and bring it into our next chapter: country life in the mountains.