First Weekend

This was my first official weekend here alone in Manchester and this is what I did.

Saturday: I woke up early and went grocery shopping hoping to avoid any and all superbowl craziness. Although I beat the rush - everyone I did see at the store was wearing Patriots gear. That is one committed fan base. Then I stopped back at home, showered and went to find a post office and wander around Manchester. Finding the post office was a 20 minute affair (who puts a post office on the ground floor of a sky scraper office building with only one side outside that says "Post Office Entrance to the left" and there are 10 doors to the left. Jesus). Then I walked the length of the main street and all there is to see are a bunch of restaurants, Dunkin' Donuts (3 within a 2 mile block), cafes and that's it. Not a store in site. It's kind of like Water St in Milwaukee. Very industrial. Anyway I then went to brunch at a cute little cafe near the museum. It was delightful; I sat at the counter in the window and pretended to read, but actually listened in to everyone's conversations because I love the accent here. Then I went to the museum as an actual visitor since I haven't been able to even see the art yet. After a few hours of wandering and sketching and journaling I sat in the cafe and read Game of Thrones while sipping a latte. Now just to prove that NH is basically WI, as I was reading I was interrupted by a married couple in order to compare Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. So fun. Then I came home and had a Dexter watching marathon.

Sunday: my supervisor Jane (seriously want to be her) invited me to Portsmouth (about an hour west of Manchester right on the coast) for brunch. We went to this delightfully hipster place. Seriously all the waiters were hipster guys in cardigans, page boy hats and mustaches - honestly. But the food was AMAZING. Then she showed me around Portsmouth. It was beautiful; it's all brick buildings, cobblestones, boutiques, good food. Think Madison but really clean and not over run with students. Very nice. Then I came home and have been catching up on stuff.

Twas a fine weekend indeed. I do wish my wonderful friends could be here to part-take in my adventures, but alas they have real lives and jobs and school and husbands. One day I will come back here with all of you and you will love it because New England is just about the cutest area of the country.