Hampton Beach, NH

The morning following the big wind and rainstorm this week, we clicked on the TV before work to catch the weather and traffic reports. Forecasters all over the New England region reported on the system that ripped through the area, bringing 90mph winds to coastal towns like Newburyport, MA. Along with the expected reports of power outages and trees crushing cars and homes, was a much bigger story. A small fire at the Surf Hotel in Hampton Beach, NH was fanned by the gale-force winds, and by morning an entire block in the beloved seacoast town was obliterated. Along with the hotel, the Happy Hampton arcade will no longer ring the sounds of dinging, ringing pinball machines and the distinctive sound of a polished wooden skeeball rolling up the ramps in the quest for more and more tickets. Visitors are also lamenting the loss of the salt-water taffy shop where you could watch the chewy confection made right before your eyes.
So, today, we “took up a ride” to see the damage “down at the center” first-hand. We weren’t alone, as coastal road Route 1A was bumper-to-bumper, much as it is when folks come to Hampton to cruise the strip on a sultry 4th of July night. Cars passed in a solemn procession as if attending a state funeral, with the occupants mouthing “oh-my-God” over an over as they passed the Blinks Fry Dough stand and reached the remnants of the hotel. A few colorful boogie boards stood out among the charred timbers, one with a skull on it that summed up the message “Surf Hotel – R.I.P.”
Unless you’ve been to New Hampshire’s shining spot of coastline on a warm summer night, creamy cone of ice cream or hot sugar-laden fried dough in hand, streaming out of the center after a Wednesday night firework display, you can’t know the emotion that stirs with any change on Ocean Blvd. For generations, families have enjoyed Hampton, and look forward to seeing the familiar gift shops and Rexall Drug store filled with suntan lotion, t-shirts, beach chairs and the chance to people-watch as you jostle through the teeming sidewalks. Hampton Beach brings visitors from all over the US, and is a favorite vacation spot for our friends from Canada.
On the way home, we stopped for our compulsory meal at Browns. As the sun set over the marshes, we tried to figure out if the onion rings taste better after a scorching day on the beach, of in the chill of a February night. The jury is still out.
With Great Boars Head in the background, and the waves crashing on the shore and washing over the periwinkles clinging to the craggy rocks as ever, we know that Hampton will rebuild and keep the happy that always keeps us coming back for more. See you this summer!