I have begun my own version of a busman’s holiday, made up of a series of short excursions in which I sample as many ways of getting around as I can find in New Hampshire.  In doing this, I hope to be able to speak from experience about the different modes of transportation we currently have, and how they operate.

On Saturday, July 13th, my husband and I caught the Amtrak Downeaster train to Boston from Exeter.  The station has a small parking lot, but as we arrived 30 minutes before departure, we had no trouble finding a spot.

The platform was clean and pleasant, and there was plenty of literature about the train and other things, including the bicycle rental service in Portland, Maine, called Zagster.

By the time the train arrived, on time at 9:00 a.m., there were 35 people waiting to board.

The journey was pleasant and quiet.  There’s an upholstered hush aboard the train that let’s you have a quiet conversation with your companion.  If you’d rather stare at a screen, there’s wi-fi available, and an outlet for charging devices.  I did use my smart phone a few times, and the signal was good.

I didn’t visit the café myself, but my husband said it was clean and pleasant, and the staff was friendly.  You can see the menu here.  I shared a ham sandwich with him and it was what you would expect from a snack bar.

We did have a delay getting to Boston, as they were working on the tracks in one section and had one of the two tracks closed, and we had to wait for a freight train to pass before proceeding.  I learned to build a bit more time into my schedule.

Walking in Boston

We were traveling to Boston, along with our two grown sons, to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of Science.  Thanks to the new North Bank Pedestrian Bridge and the beautiful new North Point Park, it was an easy and pleasant walk from North Station to the museum.  There were plenty of others enjoying the park, walking dogs and playing catch.

We saw lots of people riding Hubway bikes, as well as a rank of bikes to be rented just outside North Station.  I discovered that Hubway users logged one million trips between July 28, 2011 and July 13, 2013.

After a day at the museum, I was pretty worn down from the crowds and the noise, but the walk back to North Station was invigorating, and the train ride back to Exeter was soothing and restful.  If we had taken the car, we would have gone from crowds and noise straight to driving through Boston traffic.  The train was a perfect way to recharge our batteries.

We decided to eat supper in Exeter.  I was able to look up restaurants and make a reservation right from the train.  We drove to The Tavern at River’s Edge, but looking back, it would have been an easy and pleasant walk.

Next adventure:  going to Boston from Manchester by bus!