Had a good time Saturday at the Hampton beach seafood festival…read more The beer tent was adjacent to one stage and all the cans were 16 oz. for $6 which isn't ridiculous for an event like this. There were 3x more "stuff" vendors than food vendors (always love to see more food vendors). Huge advantage to an event like this is the ability to hit multiple vendors for a snack. We tried out the clam chowder from Rye Harbor Lobster pound, a fried clam basket from another vendor and oysters on the half shell from another vendor (and sampled a beer or two). If you go, I'd suggest you arrive early. By the time we left the food lines were getting pretty long and it was getting hot. Bands were loud and decent, stopped by the food demonstration and it was underwhelming. Good time - will make plans to go again.

For the 2017 Hampton Beach Seafood Festival (September 8 - 10, 2017), the admission prices were:…read more$5 Friday $10 Saturday admission $8 Sunday Children under 12 get in for free We attended on Saturday and took advantage of their free in-town satellite parking and free shuttle (school bus!) service. Wristbands were conveniently offered for sale (cash only) at our parking lot (no line!) so we paid up before boarding for our quick 10 min ride to the beach. Each bus route was conveniently marked with a letter. ATMs were available, while some vendors would also accept credit cards. Both portapotties and real bathrooms with running water (and longer lines) were available. Having arrived past lunch time, with empty stomachs, we hit the two food tents first. I had done my reconnaissance, so I made a beeline to Rye's with their 4.5 star rating on Yelp, and their fluffy chowder. On the way, I spied a tempting pile of onion rings pass by, but before I could discover the source, a friend had hit upon 1.5 star La Spiaggia and returned with a huge blooming onion which we tore into and which easily satisfied the hankering for fried onion of some sort. Seafood stew at Old Salt was well reviewed by another, but there was only so much a stomach could handle. The chowder at the cooking demo tent called out to us, but they ran out before the back rows had the chance to troop through. So we settled in a spot in the middle rows to await the next and final demo, by Community Oven. In the meantime, I had a fun moment when I realized the name of the preceding chef sounded familiar and had a lightbulb moment when I made the connection to the recent steak cooking competition I had attended - yes, Justin Rexroad was indeed a contestant! Basically, the price of admission was for the food samples I tasted from the chef demo, including some yummy soft homemade marshmallows, and a few freebies and samples from other vendors and businesses that had set up shop along the boulevard, as many of the restaurants participating in the festival already had storefronts alongside the road. There was also live music entertainment at the stage lined with rows of seating before it. We had a good time, though we decided to avoid the mass exodus by departing prior to the scheduled fireworks on Saturday.

The worst Christmas parade ever. All the vehicles weren't decorated in any way shape or form. The…read morevehicles all had a business advertising on them. It's one big rolling advertisement. It's not a parade. Then to top it all off Santa drives by at the end on a frigging golf cart. The golf cart wasn't decorated. But it sure had advertisements all over it. The most ridiculous welfare parade you'll ever see. If you want a good laugh at this rolling advertisement go for it. But I suggest you go enjoy a parade in another city. This cities Christmas parade is a complete joke and a complete waste of time. You'd think with all the money for their big rolling advertisement, including a Corvette and humvee which of course were not decorated. But at least put Santa in the humvee or Corvette instead of a stupid golf cart. I just can't get over what a complete fake parade this was. I will never bring my child here again. I don't want my child to think this is a real parade and will taking them to a real parade out of the welfare zone. Despicable to call this joke a parade. I feel terribly awful that the people from Lowell are forced to watch such garbage and how dare them call it a parade. It's the biggest money grab scam of the year. That's about it. Have a nice day!

Fun, fun, fun! Hot chocolate competition all over downtown, friendly shop owners chilling in front…read moreof their stores/restaurants, and the DPW truck decked out in lights. This is a nice long, full parade with lots of music and all the dancing Girl Scouts in homemade snowmen and snowflake costumes your heart could possibly desire. We take our kids to this every year. Parking is free, the atmosphere is festive, and Santa and Mrs Claus close out the whole thing before you walk down to follow the parade and see city hall and the giant smokestack Christmas tree get all lit up for the season. Easy family fun.

Fun animals, machines food activities shows.. people…read morepeople ~ regular trusted vendors, new exciting, people... a blend of... a sample blend of America... homie,

::cue country music:: I went to the Stratham Fair this year…read morewith my sister, who moved to NH last year. We enjoyed looking at the horses, cows, and pigs with their little babies. We did not enjoy watching in horror as some dumb lady bought a poor, helpless and squealing baby pig for her "40th birthday party". I guess I thought that the animals were all there to win ribbons and show off. Not the case, apparently. I know that is what farmers do, but I was not prepared to see that. Just shocked this suburb-girl. It was blazing hot the day we went, so we got some water and sat down to watch the oxen-pull, which was exciting! We enjoyed it so much that we stayed for the horse-pull. They also had rides, carnival games, a dog show, helicopter ride and so much more.

Lanes are bone dry. More of a family fun center. If you want to actually practice bowling be…read moreprepared to take a lot of straight shots. They oil 2-3x week max.

My husband and I haven't bowled in a long time, so we decided to check out Gametime. The place…read moreitself is great. They offer ten pin and candlepin bowling, arcade and axe throwing. We played candlepin, which was a lot of fun. Our fun was short lived when we were done bowling. It costs $30 an hour for candlepin. After bowling for an hour, we went to the counter to check out. (You can't "stop the clock" yourself at the lane). There are separate counters for the bowling area and arcade area. There was only 1 girl working both counters. I actually didn't see anyone else working in the whole place. That said, we waited approximately 15 minutes for the girl to finish waiting on a family at the arcade counter before coming over to the bowling counter to check us out. We were charged $38.50; $30 for bowling and $8.50 to stand around waiting to cash out!

The Sampas Pavilion, located along the Merrimack River across from Heritage Farms Ice Cream, is…read morepart of the Lowell Heritage State Park. This outdoor music and performance venue is home to several summer events like the African Festival (http://www.africanfestivallowell.org), Fourth of July Fireworks, Southeast Asian Water Festival (http://www.lowellwaterfestival.org), Monday Night Concert Series (http://members.aol.com/hf163/music1/index.htm), and New England Motorcycle Nights on Tuesdays (http://www.motorcyclenight.com/). Most events hosted at this location are free with no formal entrance for admission and are generally appropriate for all ages. Primary seating is on the lawn, so bring your blankets and chairs if you're attending a concert. There are a few park benches around the perimeter of the sidewalk, but I wouldn't count on them for seating. Since this is part of a larger park, there are trails regularly used by dog walkers and joggers that run around the Pavilion. There is a small parking lot near the pavilion and parking is available along the street. For larger events, shuttles may be available to encourage parking in other areas- check the event website for suggestions regarding parking. It's a nicely kept park with plenty of space to roam. Since it is an outdoor venue, some performances may be subject to cancellation due to weather. Check the event website for information regarding rain plans.

The Milford Drive-In is exactly the kind of place you hope never disappears. There's something…read moregenuinely great about pulling in, grabbing some snacks, tuning the radio and watching a movie under the stars. It's nostalgic without feeling like a gimmick, affordable compared with a lot of nights out, and just an all-around fun experience. Places like this are getting harder to find, which makes having one right here in New Hampshire even better. Five stars. Support your local drive-in so we can keep doing this for another 50 years.

Not too many ads, and the staff was good about keeping car hatches below roof lines, lots of…read moreconcession items and some energy drinks if you need them that late. I'd say overall really good experience. One thing you'd have to watch out for is the big pothole when you're snaking your way thru to get to the lots. There's a big sip and it can fill with water, I hope it gets fixed

PBR Unleash the Beast. Is a good name for this rodeo. They actually had 6 to 8 beasts. I have…read morenever been to an indoor rodeo. They set it up on the platform where the hockey rink usually is. The last time I was in this auditorium it was a Trump rally and there was all 12,000 seats full and thousands of people standing outside just to be part of the aura.. the rodeo a bit different. They had about 7000 seats filled. Which for the first day of the three day rodeo on a Friday evening in New Hampshire at an indoor I think they did pretty good for attendance. It was all that and more, these bulls had an attitude, and the Cowboys did a fantastic job. Border Patrol was there to rescue the Cowboys just in case and they also did a great job. One ride was more exciting than the next. Nine Cowboys actually qualified, which is a big feat in itself. Staying on one of these wild bucking bulls for over eight seconds. I know eight seconds doesn't sound like a long time, but I'll tell you it must be eternity for one of these guys sitting on these creatures. These animals are big, ornery and mean, almost majestic. Anyways the announcers did a fabulous job. The rodeo was a big success. Men women and children all cheered on their favorite cowboy and watched the excitement. This is a traveling, rodeo and at the end of the year I believe the top cowboy gets $1 million. Parking for the event is tough, a good idea is to just go to maybe three or four blocks away and you should get a spot on the street. This goes for most events at this arena. Except of course when the president was here, I parked 22 blocks away.. and I was lucky to get a spot. Just go early for any event, including the next two days of the rodeo and you should be fine. The concessions half from vendors and half is from the school store. For a rodeo I would have to say this this one turned out to be a great family event. I went with a buddy, but for the young kids that were there everyone was polite and generous and accommodating to all the other attendees. If PBR comes to your town, definitely head on over and enjoy the show.

Overall a great stop, several different areas make up the park (I included some extra pictures of…read morethings we saw while walking). The 1st Spot was the main visitor center- Very nicely done and very friendly Rangers that gave us an overview of the area. The displays are very informative and helpful. A lot of stuff to see while walking, a train, a fountain, canals, murals (not part of park). We went to the second area, a very friendly young Ranger at desk, she explained what we could see within the buildings. This area was also beautifully done with some of the best restrooms that we have seen. Top of the line !!! The machines were running upstairs to give you a general idea of the noise & chaos that the workers endured. There were videos of actuall workers who told their story which really brought the history to life. There is a trolley that will take you to a third part of the Park (we ran out of time) so missed out on that location. Overall a great representation of an era,of a time of industrial development and the people who made it possible. We visited on a holiday weekend so downtown was pretty empty and street parking was easy (and free due the day). I can see where parking could be confusing on normal days. The second location was very confusing as the building is located where they converted surrounding buildings into apartments. The parking lot in front had restrictions and we just parked on street to be safe. Most of the Rangers working were friendly & helpful except for a group of three that we encountered on factory floor. We just missed a demonstration I am guessing (there were no other visitors that around), but as we walked up, they broke off their conversation and walked away. No acknowledgement at all, which was strange as usually they greet you at least. This incident, parking and the Boarding house not being open (sign said it was) put a slight tarnish on the whole visit. Definitely recommend as the history is fascinating, the areas we saw are well done, and most of the Staff are super helpful & friendly.

Open seasonally, this is a unique NPS park as a site representing the industrial revolution,…read morefactory working conditions, and an early but prominent labor strike, led by female workers. When I went, the visitor center was undergoing renovations, but I could still tour a few of the open buildings, which were well worth it. We started with the boardinghouse. Young women from local farms were early workers who lived on site in an era when women hadn't worked before. I found the information thorough representing both the pros and cons of women having their own income and Lowell being one of the first towns women could open their own bank accounts, they were experiencing life outside their family's farms for the first time interacting with new people to the terrible working conditions and slashed pay forcing the women to stand up for themselves as a collective. It wasn't just a simple "workers good factory bad" but had quotes from many of the workers and the array of experiences. Next door is the factory itself. There is a very thorough exhibit on the entire history of Lowell from its founding based on its ability to harness the river power to its decline based on the rise of other power sources and cheaper sites and labor in the south to its revival based on changing industries. The exhibit was very informative and visually interesting. We didn't even have time to look at everything because it was close to closing time, so leave at least an hour to go through it. There were two videos to engage with, and hearing interviews from former workers was very insightful. When we went, the machine demo was not available, so there was no fee. A tour guide explained how the machines work, so even without them actually running, you could understand the noise, the safety risks, the unbearable heat they worked in, and the fabric fibers in the air they breathed in constantly. Small gift shop on site, and they offer other buildings and tour types on different days, so it's best if you can pick a day for one of the boat tours or when some of the other buildings are open. Personally, I thought what we experienced was still really interesting and worth the visit. NPS sites generally put on a great presentation.