Hampton New Hampshire: 2005-02-13

Friday, February 18, 2005

CORAZONCITOS ?

If you noticed the Corazoncitos (little hearts in Spanish) under profile to the right that is my wife's blog. My name is Jim. I began helping my wife set up her blog and got hooked. So why am I doing a blog on Hampton? Because, when I am looking at a potential vacation spot. I want to get more information than just the pretty picture you get from the area Chamber of Commerce or from some hotel brochure. Have you ever chosen a hotel from a brochure and when you actually get there you don't even want to check in? I have! So here is the point of this site. I HAVE NO AGENDA! I am simply telling you about the area as I see it. I live here. I work here. And I know what is good and not so good. This does not mean that I am going to focus on any particular bad aspects, I would rather emphasize the good, and there is plenty of good to talk about. If I can answer any questions let me know. You can e-mail me directly at Jim@NHLiving.com

Just be patient and check back often because I will be adding new content all the time.

If your thinking of starting a weblog of your own (watch out it's addictive) please click on the link below. It's the successblog link. I knew nothing about creating a blog before joining them. They make it easy and fun with step-by-step on line instructions.

Join SuccessBlog!

Thursday, February 17, 2005

ROUTE 1A

Go By Car, Motorcycle, or bicycle but go. Start from Hampton Beach and head north. You'll first come to North Beach. This is where the surfers are as well as the local residents. Lifeguards are on duty and there are bath facilities just across the street from Kennedy's restaurant. Continue on and you'll find North Hampton Beach. there is limited metered parking here. Next you'll find breathtaking views over looking the ocean and The Isles of Shoals. The mansions in North Hampton are very impressive. Some of these are still summer homes but most are year round residents. Keep winding your way north and you'll find another beach area with limited metered parking. Just across the street is Paul's Carriage House Restaurant a great place for dinner or Sunday brunch. A little ways up you'll come across Rye harbor. Definitely pull in here to enjoy the local flavor and maybe go for a cruise. Further up you'll see Wallis Sands State Park. Parking is about $5.00 there is a full bath house available Ann a concession stand. About a mile further north will bring you the Science Center. This is a must stop. The kid's will love this place too!
When taking this ride bring your camera and take the time to enjoy everything you see along the way. As a matter of fact you'll have no choice as the speed limit is approximately 35 and without a doubt the person in front of you will be going 20.

LOCAL CHURCHES

Here is a list of area churches

Hampton
Hampton United Methodist Church: 525 Lafayette Road(603)926-2702

Faith Community Church: Brian Abasciano112 High St.(603) 926-7034

First Baptist Church: Rev. Dr. Wilbert D. Gough 36 Winnacunnet Rd.(603) 926-3200

First Congregational Church: Rev. Deborah B. Knowlton 127 Winnacunnet Rd.(603) 926-2837

Maranatha Assembly of God: Rev. J. B. Minerella150 High St.(603) 926-7557

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal: Rev. George Ham 289 Lafayette Rd.(603) 926-2206

Trinity Episcopal Church: Rev. Peter Lane 200 High Street (603) 926-5688
Hampton Beach

Hampton Beach Community Church: Rev. Duane Windemiller Ashworth Ave. and D St.

Hampton Falls

First Baptist Church of Hampton Falls: Kenneth Lawrence 3 Lincoln Ave.(603) 926-3724

First Congregational Society (Unitarian): Route 88, Hampton Falls Rev. Dr. Henry Stonie

Hampton United Methodist Church: Rev. Dr. Carroll C. Moore 525 lafayette Road(603) 926-2702

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

HAMPTON CINEMA SIX

Even in the summertime it's great to have a movie theatre close by to get out of the summer heat or on a rainy day. The Hampton Cinema is located on route one in the same parking lot as the Galley Hatch restaurant. By the way they have a dinner and movie special package available. Check ou their web site for more details. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised.

WAGE COMPARISON

Many people have expressed a desire to move too the hampton area and of course are curious about area wages. There is a new website that allows you to compare your current wage and experience with New Hampshire averages.

Occupational employment and wage information is available on the Internet at NH Employment Security's (NHES) Web site at www.nhes.state.nh.us/
elim/oesfiles.htm from their Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau. The publication, titled "New Hampshire Occupational Employment & Wages January 2005," provides employment estimates and corresponding wage data, by occupation, statewide and for each of 14 substate areas. Data is shown for estimated employment, entry level wage, mean (average) wage, median wage, and experienced wage for roughly 600 occupations.

This publication reflects data from a November 2003 survey sent to New Hampshire employers. The survey is conducted semiannually, with industries sampled using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

The publication is available for viewing and/or downloading on NH Employment Security's Web site. The site also has data for New Hampshire's 10 counties (only available on the Web site) as well as a "How to Use Wage Survey Data" tutorial.

To be placed on a mailing list to receive a printed copy of the printed publication, call 228-4124.

LIGHTHOUSE

EARLY HAMPTON

Here is an excerp from JOSEPH DOW'S "HISTORY OF HAMPTON". If you would like to read more you can find it at the Lane Memorial Library Website.

THE SETTLEMENT IN THE WILDERNESS
1638-1646
TOPOGRAPHYThe ancient town of Hampton, New Hampshire, embraced a large territory, lying along the coast between Salisbury, Massachusetts, on the south, and Portsmouth, or the lower Piscataqua settlement on the north; and extending from the Atlantic Ocean westward, about six miles to Squamscott Patent (Stratham) and Exeter, and along the southerly side of the latter town, ten or twelve miles farther; the westerly line running thence southerly to the boundary between Salisbury (now Amesbury) and Haverhill, Massachusetts. The whole area is not less than one hundred square miles.
The surface is somewhat varied, though no portion of it is very rough. In the southeast part, and extending beyond its limits through Salisbury to the Merrimac river, it is very large tract of marsh, or salt meadows containing several thousand acres, as level as any prairie of the West, and, through its whole extent, covered in summer with salt grass. It was this feature of the place, more than any other, that attracted the notice of the government of Massachusetts, and led to its early settlement. The rest of the land near the coast is also remarkably level, but farther back it is more uneven though there are no very high hills. Those of the greatest elevation, east of Kingston old line, are Great, or Hardy's Hill, and Cock Hill, in Hampton Falls, and Horse Hill, in Kensington.
The largest ponds are Great Pond, in Kingston, covering about 300 acres, and Country Pond, about two-thirds as large, lying partly in the same town and partly in Newton, beyond the original limits of Hampton. The principal rivers are the Winnacunnet, or Hampton river with its tributaries, and Little river, flowing into the ocean; the Winnicut, a tributary of the Piscataqua, flowing into Great Bay, and the ponds named above, which are the chief sources of the Powow river, that empties into the Merrimac between Salisbury and Amesbury.
The coast line of the ancient town was about eight or nine miles in extent, terminating on the north at the easterly side of Jocelyn's (afterward called Locke's) Neck, in the present town of Rye. On the coast are two noted headlands, called Great Boar's Head and Little Boar's Head. The rest of the coast is mostly a low, sandy beach, some portions of which are greatly admired for their beauty. In several places, the beach is indented by small coves, which being somewhat sheltered from the wind, serve as landing places for boats, and afford facilities for carrying on the shore fishery.
In a territory so extensive, almost every variety of soil was found, In some parts, it was light, sandy and porous, liable to be parched by drought; in others, clayed and wet, or rocky and difficult to cultivate; while, in many places, there was a rich, dark mold of great depth and fertility, yielding to the husbandman an ample reward for his toil. A large portion of the land, except the salt meadows, was covered with forest where grew in great luxuriance the pine and the hemlock; the cedar and the spruce; the beech, the birch and the maple; the ash, the elm, the hickory and the oak. Of some of these there were several varieties. Oaks, both white and red, were extensively used by the early inhabitants in the manufacture of staves, for which a ready market was generally found, the sales bringing in a considerable portion of the money in circulation among them.
The rivers, the brooks, and the neighboring ocean furnished the people with fish; the woods and marshes afforded an abundance of game. Wild animals roamed in the forest, some of which, particularly the wolf and bear, were very troublesome to the inhabitants, and frequently committed depredations upon their sheep and cattle.
A little more than two centuries and a half ago, no part of this tract was inhabited by white men. Some Indians, but how many, we know not, dwelt here. In favorable localities, they built they wigwams and had their homes. The roamed through the forest, and over the marshes, in search of game, which they shot with their arrows. Their trails might have been seen along the banks of the ponds, the brooks, and the rivers, where they often sauntered to draw from them their daily food. On the larger streams, they delighted to paddle their birch canoes. These they held as sacred spots.
After the white men had formed a settlement, there was some friendly intercourse between the two races. The Indian pappooses, it is said, would, in times of peace, often go to the log-huts of the new settlers, to play with their children. But the ancient race soon began to dwindle away, and, in little more than one century, were all gone. Their very names have also perished. Scarcely one is now known, and but very few authentic anecdotes concerning them have been preserved. An arrow-head of flint, occasionally picked up, and in some localities marl mixed with the soil, where they deposited the shells of clams dug for food from the river-flats, are almost the only relics that remain to remind us that this was once the home of the red men.
"Alas! for them, their day is o'er!Their fires are out from hill and shore!No more for them the wild deer bounds;The plough is on their hunting grounds;The pale man's axe rings through their woods--The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods."
Such was Hampton at any early period. But its ample dimensions soon began to be curtained. The first extensive tract severed from it was the town of Kingston, which soon after removed thither with their families; but as no part of it had been settled at the time of its incorporation, its history will not be given in this work. Next in order was incorporated the Parish of Hampton Falls, including besides the town bearing that name, the present town of Kensington and a considerable part of Seabrook. A few years later, a valuable tract in the northeasterly part of Hampton was annexed to the town of Rye. Soon after, the remaining territory was divided into two portions nearly equal, and one of them set off to form the town of North Hampton.
The present town of Hampton lies on the seacoast, in the easterly part of the county of Rockingham, in latitude 42 degrees 56' 15" N. and longitude 70 degrees 50' 12" W. (Taken on the site of the Baptist church - U.S. Coast Survey Report). It has for its boundaries, North Hampton on the north; Hampton Falls on the southwest and west; and Exeter on the northwest; while its eastern border, throughout its whole extent, is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. The town is small in extent, having an area of only a little more than 8000 acres. About one-fourth part of it is salt marsh, and sand banks along the coast. The surface is generally level or undulating, nowhere rising into high hills, and consequently the streams of water, none of which are large, furnish but few valuable mill privileges.
Winnacunnet, or Hampton river, is formed by the union of several brooks, or rivulets, some of which, though of moderate size, are usually called rivers. The largest of these are Taylor's, Brown's, Falls and Blackwater rivers. One of the brooks early received the name of Nilus, which it still bears. Taylor's river has its source in a pond in the town of Hampton Falls, and runs southeasterly, forming, for a considerable distance, the boundary between that town and Hampton, retaining its name till it reaches the salt marsh, -- and perhaps, formerly to the mouth of Falls river, which flows into it from the town of Hampton Falls, -- when it takes the name of Hampton river. Passing on between the two towns nearly a mile farther, it unites with Brown's river coming in from the northeast, thus forming the main river, which flows on to the ocean, receiving in its course Blackwater river from the south.
The smaller tributaries from the Hampton side are Ass brook, which comes in from Exeter; Great Swamp run, rising in "the old swamp" in the north part of the town; the Mill brook, rising in the central part, -- all of which flow into Taylor's river; and Nilus brook, which has its source in Alder Meadow, near the boundary line between Hampton and North Hampton, and running several miles easterly and southerly, falls into the Meadow pond, and from that passes out southerly into the Spring marsh, where it meets the tide, and soon receives the name of Brown's river. Dow's river, more properly called a brook, is a small stream in the easterly part of the town, flowing from Spring Heads into the Meadow pond.
Hampton river is of some value for the purposes of navigation, being of sufficient depth to admit vessels of seventy or eighty tons, though it is somewhat difficult of entrance, in consequence of sand bars, and of sunken rocks that lie off its mouth. It is also productive of other benefits. The main river and some of its branches take a serpentine course through the salt marshes. These and the numerous creeks connected with them, serve both to drain and water the marshes, as the tide ebbs and flows, thus rendering them productive, while they also furnish facilities for taking off the hay in boats.
Along the whole eastern border of the town is a fine, sandy beach, interrupted only by a projecting rocky point near the northern extremity, which shelters from troublesome winds a fishing cove on the southerly side; and about midway, by Great Boar's Head, which has already been mentioned. This is a singular bluff, lifting itself between two low, sandy beaches, and extending into the sea about one-fourth of a mile, being a triangular shape, and terminating in a point at the southeast. It rises gradually from the salt-marsh and a low ridge of upland on the west, till it attains the height of fifty or sixty-feet above the level of the sea, which at high water washes its base. The eastern half is nearly level at the top, and the whole area is not far from twenty acres.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

ISLES OF SHOALS

The Isles of Shoals are a must visit on a sunny summer day. They are located approximately 7 miles of shore and they are several ways to get there. If you take a deep sea fishing cruise they will no doubt pass by the Isles. At rye Harbor there a several different cruises including a lobster boat cruise to the Isles. Probably the most popular trip it's the "Isles of Shoals Steamship Company out of Portsmouth.

Daily Isles of Shoals and Portsmouth Harbor Sightseeing Cruises. Evening Harbor/River Cruises, Dinner Cruises, Lighthouse Cruises, and Party Ships, on the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor.
See the historic New Hampshire and Maine seacoast aboard the Victorian Style M/V Thomas Laighton.
Wedding reception, party, group tour, outings, private charters and company function facility for up to 250 guests. Contact us to charter our boat for your next event.
Handicapped accessible. Easy access 1 hour north of Boston. Dockside Touch Tank.
Daytime cruise reservations are not required, but we strongly recommend them. Daytime cruises do not require pre-payment due to the unpredictability of Mother Nature (you will be contacted by the steamship staff in the extreme circumstance that we do not cruise). A $1 fuel surcharge and a $1 online processing for prepaid cruises will be added to ticket purchases.

Monday, February 14, 2005

SHOPPING

What type of shopping interests you? You'll find quaint shops up and down the Seacoast selling local artists creations. If your looking for Off Price Outlets Kittery Maine is the place for you but keep in mind there is a sales tax in Maine. Mall shoppers will be happy to know that the Fox Run Mall is just 15 minutes North of Hampton.

From several Walmart stores to Filenes there is no lack of places to spend money.

While on the shopping subject no matter which way you head on route one you'll find plenty of supermarkets.

And there is a state liquor store in North Hampton. In New Hampshire Hard liquor is sold only at the state stores. Beer and wine may be purchased in any supermarket or convenience store.

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THE CASINO BALLROOM

Over the years I have seen too many acts to list them. Some of the highlights for me were Ray Charles, Jose Feliciano, Harry Chapin, Wayne Newton, The Rascals, Bruce Hornsby.

The Casino Ballroom is located in the center of Hampton beach. Tickets are resonable. For more information on upcoming events go to their site at casinoballroom.com. Here is a partial list of the 2005 schedule.

2005 Is Here! Tickets go on-sale Friday 2/18 for:- Friday April, 22nd: Bob Weir & Ratdog- Saturday July, 23rd: Comedian Brian Regan- Thursday July, 28th: Rock Never Stops Tour w/Cinderella, Ratt, Quiet Riot and Firehouse- Saturday July, 30th: Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood From TV's "Whose Line is it Anyway"- Saturday August 6th: George Thorogood & The Destroyers- Saturday August 20th: Eddie MoneyTickets onsale Friday 2/18 at 10am