For an added bonus you can stick a blue solo cup with fly tape on your hat. Get a little extra height and keep the flies further away

What Dover is to Portsmouth, Rochester is to Dover.

Black flies can be anything from a minor annoyance to parasitic swarms that make you question life itself. It all depends where you are.

Most places you will be fine with regular bug spray. In really bad areas, the only thing that works is a hat with a head net.

Choice Fitness is in the south of Bedford right off of Daniel Webster Hwy if that’s not too far of a drive for you

I have tried natural spray, with I think lemon? with mixed results. DEET isn't the best option for being natural, but it will work most effectively.

Dealing with ticks is not as much of an issue as visitors think they are. Tuck pants into socks, and when you come inside strip down and do a thorough check for ticks (including in your hair). They will crawl on you for a surprisingly long amount of time before they bite.

Seeing the outdoors is well worth a few bugs.

That’s not true. 6” strip can be applied to the windshield. Non reflective of 35%. Front windows can also be tinted to 70 percent.

Thanks ☺️

If it's not a chain, then it's not "Thing you've heard of is coming to New Hampshire!", it's just "New thing opens!".

And I'm with you on the state's food situation. You can find good food, but you have to look a little harder for it. The big offense to me is how much people will overpraise the completely unremarkable stuff.

Interesting, thank you, I’ll go back and check our schedule: I think there’s a museum or nature centre nearby that we were going to

Yeah, don’t let this all scare you. Definitely need to try some hikes in the white mountains. Just do a tick check after

Where are you going to be before Meredith? They are just an hour apart. I'd recommend just skipping it rather than going through the hassle of checking in to a hotel for a night to avoid an hour's drive. Manchester would be a good place to stop for a meal at but unless you're going to a show at the theater, I think you're adding more trouble than it's worth there.

I don't think that school constitutes art deco. IDK the name for that style, I looked it up once because I hate it. But I remember it was more 50's/60's. A lot of grade schools all over the country look like it.

Art deco's a little more "grand" looking, lots of vertical patterns. Like the Chrysler Building or the Empire State Building, and was an early 1900s style.

edit: Okay, I didn't notice the spire. Still not sure you'd call that art deco, idk what that is.

It’s literally just an overnight stop to break up one of our longer journeys, we’ll be spending more of our time in some of the places you mention 🙂

No worries. You'll hardly notice them.

Thank you, it’s really helpful to get this advice from locals and we’ll definitely know what to do now to prepare

Idk if it’s just because of the depression I was going through when I went to Keene State but from I can remember Keene is one of the gloomiest towns.

Last year, the warmest day in May was 95F and the coldest was 53F. The lowest low was 37F. It could be like it is at home, or it might be like summer in Florida, or it might ice over at night. But it's usually pretty mild in May.

What are you staying in Manchester for? It's not really a hub of anything touristy, it's just a small city. It's also not far from Meredith. If it's not too late to adjust your itenerary, I'd recommend Portsmouth NH or Portland Maine (Small cities that are better destinations), or maybe Conway NH (in the mountains) as alternatives.

NH is about 80% forest. There's nothing to be afraid of at all, just wear pants and socks and bring some insect repellant. Black flies are just a nuisance, they aren't a big deal. Deer flies are a really fucking annoying nuisance but they aren't everywhere. If your head is being bombarded by them you'll know. If you dont' have anything you can just wrap something around your head.

Shake Shack's more like your fancy/hipster fast food burgers. Tasty, but expensive and greasy. Kind of like a chain version of what Lexie's is. (yes, I know Lexie's has multiple locations)

Same for Clamtown

I was more talking about alternatives to chains in general. One of the best restaurants in concord, for instance, is situated exactly in a strip mall. An og strip mall from the dawn of strip malls. Kathmandu bazaar is an ethnic grocery with a food counter. Place is amazing. I want more of that. Not FoodCorp's latest territorial infiltration, if that makes sense. This state is devoid of really worthwhile food. I drive an hour an half routinely to try shit because maybe there's Caribbean in Claremont. Getting giddy for new fast food is icky, imo. That said, I am stoked for popeyes

I ate it a bunch in a short span when I moved near one once. It was delicious, but greasy enough I got sick of it quick, then didn't go again for a few years. When I finally did, it was the price that kept me away.

I thought Shake Shack was a lot better than five guys. Never had the other two though.