We went up to Concord, NH on Tuesday. Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman (YES) were playing at the Capital Center for the Arts and it was my birthday so it was a nice treat.
I thought the downtown area was nice. There was a fair amount of foot traffic and the buildings generally seem in good shape. I feel the downtown is certainly in better shape than Peabody and Lynn.
We had narrowed our choices for dinner to three places we found online but after talking to a local business owner, we went for a drink instead at a bar/restaurant called O and ended up eating dinner at the bar. The bar and surrounding area was packed; the rest of the restaurant not so much, but it was a Tuesday night. I was impressed that it was even that busy. I figured the sidewalks rolled up quickly in Concord (and, they do; coming back after the concert, O was closed, at 10:30pm).
They have some sort of trolley going up and down the main street up there; not sure where it goes or if anyone uses it. There were some funky retail shops and at least one or two bars.
A block away from the main street is a strip mall with a Market Basket, CVS, etc. A very interesting situation where the chains are built so close to the traditional main street that it might have saved Main Street from dying forever.
Does anyone have an opinion on Concord? We liked it. The worst part of going up there is, of course, the driving. We went up at 2:30pm, so we were ahead of rush hour, but it was still an annoying ride. Going from four lanes to two to three to two or whatever on Route 93 is a sure way to slow down traffic. We made good time though, only about an hour and twenty minutes. Coming back, only about an hour and ten.
Here are two links to the restaurant. Tip: if you open a restaurant, naming it "O" will ruin your chances of ever ranking high on Google, unless someone actually types in "Concord, NH restaurant O".
http://www.opentable.com/o-steaks-and-seafood-south
http://magicfoodsrestaurantgroup.com/o_steak_and_seafood.php
Below, my thoughts about one guy's business. A really, really odd business.
We ended up going into this guy's shop where he sells single K-Cups for $.75. No, I'm not kidding. You could a box of one brand for $14.95 or you could buy 24 singles for $14.95 but the idea was that you could mix and match the flavors of coffee you like.
Terry wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible but I forced him to stay in there for a good 20 minutes. We ended up picking out 24 singles (it was actually hard to find eight or nine flavors we liked).
They had Green Mountain, Timothy's, Wolfgang Puck, Dunkin Donuts, and three or four other brands. Starbucks is on the way.
What do you think? Interesting idea or biggest bomb since Ned Flanders' Left-Hand Emporium (what was its name again?)?
