By: Heidi O.
If you’re ever near Portsmouth, New Hampshire and you find yourself with a free day or two, park at the Travel Centers of America in Greenland — it’s a great truck stop to park your truck for a 34-hour break or even a 10-hour break– and grab a taxi and head into downtown Portsmouth.
The taxi ride from the truck stop, including tip, runs approximately $20-$25 depending on what you want to tip the driver. In downtown Portsmouth, you can find anything from lobster rolls at the State Street Saloon for $5.99, to cooking salts at a store in one of the alleys called The Salt Cellar. You will also find many different clothing and accessories stores. There is a women’s store where all the items are $20 or less, and they have some GREAT clothing! In addition, there are a couple of Celtic stores where you can find anything that has to do with the Celtic heritage. There are restaurants and bars.
Once you have explored Portsmouth, head toward Vermont. There are several train rides to choose from that, amazingly enough, you CAN get a tractor and trailer into their parking lots!
We decided to do the steam ship cog train ride. The Cog Railway let us spend the night in their bus/RV/truck parking lot and we arrived for our ride at 7:45 am. We went up to the Summit on Mt. Washington and spent about an hour before descending, once again, on the steam train. The Cog Railway is a little pricier than the other railways that take you through some of New Hampshire’s scenic views, but it was well worth the price.
After we left the railway, we headed on to Vermont where our next load was to pick up and we stumbled upon a truck stop called P & H Truck Stop off of 302 and 91. We went inside to have some lunch and were served the best home-cooked food we have had in a long time!
So, if you ever get a chance to go to the New England states and you have some time, make a side trip and have a little fun along the way!
Now, I just need to find a moose!