The entire New Hampshire seacoast is only about seventeen miles long and can be driven in less than an hour, using Route 1A, which hugs the shore, from the Massachusetts border to the Maine state line.
There are a few twists and turns, but for the most part, the route is a flat, straight shot with the rolling waves of the Atlantic crashing ashore to your right as you head toward Maine's "first town," Kittery.
The two-lane road is lined with small cottages, low slung motels, grand homes with fairway sized lawns, modest houses, stacked right next to each other, and public parking lots for everyone else.
Above: Jenness Beach, Seabrook, Hampton Beach at dawn.
Except for parking, the beaches of New Hampshire are highly accessible and they are crowded all summer with families from throughout New England and points further south and west.
Commercially, the seacoast here resembles parts of Cape Cod and southern Maine. There are food stands, swim and surf shops, fishing tackle and boating supplies, hotels and motels and, of course, lobster rolls, both cold and hot.
I must say however that the best lobster roll I've had, so far, on this coast of summer tour was on the north fork of Long Island.
Hampton Beach, the first town north of Seabrook, New Hampshire, is known for its huge state park, camping sites, motels, amusement rides, and several blocks of souvenir shops and restaurants. Once past Hampton Beach, the commercialization lets up and the interior side of route 1A runs past acres of open space, salt marshes and homes of distinction with large windows and balconies that overlook the ocean.
If there is a capital city of the New Hampshire seacoast it is Portsmouth. The town has a strong maritime heritage and is filled with street level, local brand, retail and restaurants. It is the kind of small scale economy many old New England mills towns envy. A city where people can live, work and play.
New Hampshire is also known regionally for surfing, even in winter. The day I visited, the tides were at a perfect level for beginners to improve their skills; sometimes to their great surprise. One short ride increases the desire to try again!
Like much of the northeast coast, there is often a thick morning fog to burn off each morning. The water is cooler than the moist summer air and, on this day in late July, though I was there for a potential sunrise, the sun did not breakthrough until just before noon. When it did, it left no doubt as to the season.
Above: Although it's only seventeen miles long, the New Hampshire seacoast, offers both; beaches packed with vacationers and points of solitude where you can be alone with nature.
© Dean Pagani 2020
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© Dean Pagani 2020