Beautiful weather for my day off today! To take full advantage of the multitude of Veterans Day appreciation meals in my state, I'd made a list (the night before) of all the potential stops I could make as part of my annual pursuit of available perks. Also started very early - left my condo by 0610. My first stop was to eat breakfast at Dennys in West Lebanon. I finished at 0650 and then drove south on I-89, continuing to the end and then proceeding down NH-3A to Hooksett. At 0805, stopped for a free breakfast (to go) at Wendy's and then (0815) drove across the street to Dunkin Donuts to get a free donut (to go). Instead of getting on I-93, I took NH-3A to reach a bike trail I'd seen on the map that was just on the outskirts of Manchester. To make room for lunch, I took a walk on the (paved) Piscataquog River Rail Trail (completed) and Goffstown Rail Trail (eastern half mile). Not a lot of people were out when I started (temps in 30s) but the crowds grew as it got warmer (mid 50s). This gave me a chance to ask locals about the area and I got a lot more good ideas for walking, paddling, skiing, restaurants and watching minor league baseball. Crossed the Merrimack River on a nice pedestrian bridge - wow! Finished up at around 1100 (after around five miles in two hours, counting the socializing). There was still lots of daylight so decided that I should pursue more outdoor time before I head home. I left the trailhead and drove (using some back roads until reaching I-293) to the Mall of New Hampshire. My first stop in that area was at the Texas Roadhouse, which had advertised a free meal voucher. There was a already a big line of cars when I arrived (1115) but I got the coupon easily. I then drove across NH-28 to reach the Buffalo Wild Wings (1130) for another free meal (to go). While waiting, I talked to a lot of other veterans who were doing the same "free stuff scramble" as me. Got back in the car and drove around to the other side of the mall to get a free burger from Red Robin (1145). Had thought I would need to eat in the restaurant but they let me take the meal to go (1200). This gave me an opportunity to have lunch at Bertuccis (finished at 1245). Despite only actually eating two free meals, I felt very full after this... And my car smelled really good! Getting greedy, I tried to see about another free meal voucher at Golden Corral but the line was huge (and, I guess, they were only allowing Veterans to eat free in person). This was my only "strike-out" but I didn't feel the need to keep pushing for more free stuff. By this point, I was forced to admit that my walk this morning probably wasn’t long enough to balance out my caloric intake… So, I looked at my rail trail map to see if another was close by - luckily, I found one in the town of Hooksett. Drove north, following US-3/NH-28, to a residential area on the east side of Concord/Manchester. After figuring out that Google maps took me to the wrong place, I finally located the parking for Head’s Pond Trail on US-3. The lot was completely full and only got a spot because someone was leaving. Just after 1330, I started walking to the southeast on a well maintained rail bed. I turned around after walking part way around Town Pond (after the rail bed disappeared). The contrasts between the morning walk and the afternoon walk were stark: the latter was warmer, busier and more remote. The swanky neighborhood (“Carriage Hill”) that was located just up again the trail boundary was also nothing like the graffiti-covered, gritty and homeless-camp-filled environment I’d seen earlier… Despite the differences, the exercise was almost the same - I wrapped up over four miles (after bushwhacking to one of the ponds) in about 1.5 hours. Best part: feel a bit less full of fatty cells after the walk-in-lieu-of-siesta! After I was done with my walk, used US-3/NH-28 (and some back roads) to get to the Friendly's on Loudon Road in Concord and, since it wasn't busy, went inside to get my free burger, fries and drink. Actually, I didn't really feel like eating them right then so I ordered a small sundae instead and enjoyed that while they made the rest of my dinner to-go (it was very nice of them). At 1615, I left for home (used I-93 and I-89) and arrived at my condo by 1715. Today was even better than last year, in terms of collecting "loot." I don't remember there being this many "thank you" gifts when I was on active duty - the businesses really go all-out now. I've got meals for almost a week now and can deliberately space out the calories... Plus, I had some fun and got some exercise. Happy Veteran's Day!
