New England Summer 2018: Day 3 - Hampton Beach

[Melbatb]

After an undisturbed night, I woke up at bout 5.45am. Not bad I thought! The rest of the family woke up about an hour later.

We had breakfast in the apartment - yoghurt, fruit and granola for the boys, pb and jelly on toast for F and cinnamon toast for me. Coffee was, of course, consumed by the adults.

O went out for a run - he is missing the gym!

When he got back we headed to the beach - where there was bodyboarding done for about an hour or so!

Once back at the apartment, the three who had been in the ocean had showers and got changed. O wore a Ralph Lauren top he got yesterday and F wore a new Vineyard Vines t-shirt!

We decided to go Hampton Beach - the other side of the town.

This side of town had a very different atmosphere - more Blackpool than Brighton. The beach was a lot busier, the restaurant choices seemed to have a lot of fried doe (their spelling! ) and fried Oreos on the menus and the gift shops were of the pile them high nature! There beach was nicely maintained but a lot busier than North beach.

We walked along the boardwalk, past the amusement arcades to the info office. J had heard of a dock area where there were a few restaurants. The lady pointed us in the right direction.

We walked back to the car via a few gift shops to get the necessary magnets!

We passed this statue which was part of a memorial to the military of NH who had lost their life at sea.

We headed out the the docks area - and ended up at the Tuna Striker restaurant. We were able to sit on the outside terrace which was really nice! We were under one of those red parasols!

It was very pleasant watching the small boats come and go and very different to the hustle and bustle of Hampton Beach!

We ordered water to drink (I am still trying to keep rehydrated).

The kids both had fish and chips. Both wolfed it down!

J had a haddock sandwich with onion rings that were quickly snaffled by everyone. I had a fabulous fish tacos but I don't seem to have a photo!

A garlic bread was also ordered! Everything got eaten and there was no room for dessert! It cost $80 plus the tip! Well worth it!

J took us on a magical mystery tour on the way home. I realised he was trying to find a bike shop!

He didn't find it but we did find a LL Bean outlet store. The kids had no real interest and sat on the comfy sofas in the middle. J liked this fishing waders but realised he had no need.

The funniest thing was that we were on opposite sides of the shop and met in the middle - both carrying almost identical grey jackets. F was horrified when we said we were going to buy them! Mine has some down in the body plus a lovely high collar! J also got a wetsuit top.

We headed back to the apartment. It was only 2pm. We had done a lot do far today!

The kids elected to stay at the apartment whilst J and I walked along the front. The tide was up snd J thought it would be a while before the surf would be any good.

We got an iced mint tea between us from the bagel shop.

Once we got back, we were a bit nagged into submission by F to go back to the beach. She didn't get that the tide was not at it's best!

We went down and she tried to dig a trench but it was a thankless task. The kids and O bodyboarded a bit but O soon went back. He was tired - still getting over the double India -> France -> USA jet lag.

F and J lasted another hour. It was actually quite nippy out (but I still managed to burn my neck! )

Dinner was a simple scrambled egg on toast. Then we headed out for an ice cream - shared this time.

We are all a bit tired. Tomorrow we move upto Vermont via a friend at a lake!