surfing

Top 5 things to do in New Hampshire while dropping your child off at camp

I have been operating summer camps in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire since 2008 and one of the fun parts of my job is helping our camp families with the logistics of camp drop-off and pick-up…seriously I love this stuff!

Way back before advanced NAV systems on our phones and in our cars ‘logistics’ meant providing step by step directions to camp from wherever a family was driving from. Finding camp is now the easy part but beyond getting here there is so much more that I often help families out with.

The Lakes Region of NH is centrally located in our state just about 2 hours north of Boston and 4 hours north of New York City. Within the Lakes Region are…tons of lakes!…as well as access to mountains, fun towns and small cities, rivers, shopping and more. From hotels and restaurants to adventures and leisure activities here are the top 5 things that I recommend during a quick trip to NH for camp.

  1. Get out on the lake!

    • What trip to NH in the summer would be complete without time spent at our gorgeous, pristine lakes? Some families like Lake Winnipesaukee (the ‘big’ lake) for its variety of hotels, restaurants, boat rentals and general wild vibe. From big hotels in Meredith or Laconia to AirBnBs in Moultonborough, Wolfeboro and Alton there are choices and price points for any visitor. You can do anything on Winni including rent a boat or a jetski to navigate the thousands of acres of water, hop on a guided scuba dive to explore a wreck, post up at a beach bar for food, drinks and people watching or just relax on the shore and soak up the sun. If the big lake isn’t your thing (it’s definitely not mine) head to a smaller water body like Newfound, Crescent, Squam, Winnisquam, Bow or Merrymeeting where the pace is slower. On smaller lakes there is more of an opportunity to enjoy watersports like waterskiing, wakeboarding and wakesurfing or non-motorized options like Stand Up Paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing. Basically there is a lake in NH for whatever you and your family are into and wherever you choose will let you unplug and relax just steps from crystal clear water.

  2. Hit the mountains for some hiking!

    • Just up the road from the Lakes Region are the White Mountains, a range that spans the central/north portion of the state and encompasses dozens of peaks. Some are easily summited in a couple of hours while others may involve multi-day treks. A great jumping off point for some hiking exploration is North Conway, NH, our adventure hub. A solid itinerary here for a few days could include hiking one of our 4,000 footers, floating the Saco River, hitching a ride to the top of the notch on the Cannon Aerial Tram, driving the famously windy and scenic Kancamangus Highway and enjoying a beverage at a local brewery. Cheers!

  3. Chill out near the ocean.

  4. Bike!

  5. Stay in our ‘big’ city

    • If getting outdoors isn’t your thing don’t worry, we have a couple ‘cities’ too! Just an hour from camp is Manchester, NH, where you can take in some culture, do a bit of sales tax free shopping, catch a baseball game or a concert and enjoy a little night life on Elm St.

Hopefully this little list helps you out in your NH trip plans so that it’s not just your camper having fun this summer!

-Evan

Indoor wake surfing contest...

We had a blast this past weekend at the first ever indoor wake surfing contest at Surf's Up NH in Nashua, New Hampshire.  As one of the sponsors we had the opportunity to watch all of the competitors battle it out for cash and other prizes.  It was cool to see the event get a write-up in the Boston Globe! Congrats to Water Monkey camper Dylan Dye for winning his division (and a week of camp)!

Camper Dylan tossin some buckets!

We'll take one of these, please.

Over the past few weeks there have been a lot of teasers online regarding a new type of "jet" surfboard...pictures on Instagram of surfers trying them out or short video clips online of test runs. Well it seems as if the company is out of prototype stage and on to building some pretty sweet looking machines.

http://www.jet-surf.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWGTFcxAr7g

So what if they are a cool $13,500 each? Carving up the glassy lake at 30 MPH would be unreal!  I guess we will see if this turns out to be an expensive fad or a new sport.  Regardless, we are looking forward to getting our hands on one to try out if we ever have the chance!