Visiting....
Parker's Maple Barn
While I currently don’t live in NH (let’s get that out of the way up front), I grew up there and visit as often as I can to see friends and family. New Hampshire, quite honestly, is a hidden gem. There are urban cities along with rural, woodsy areas that are gorgeous! (and I’ll visit a lot in upcoming substack adventures.) There are four seasons, no state tax (except in restaurants) and no state income tax. Growing up, my favorite places to visit were Hampton Beach and Bear Brook State Park.
Please forgive the delay in posting this section of my substack. I wish I had more time to write, but time is limited. My goal is to highlight some of my favorite places, towns, as well as researching some of the politics and state laws. One thing I found out recently is that NH has a carbon credits program. The good thing, as I understand it, the program is voluntary. Another good thing is that NH is very rural with lots of forestry. I hope to do a dig on how carbon credits affects the state in an upcoming article.
Right now, I’d like to talk about one of my favorite places – Parker’s Maple Barn. It’s all maple at the barn and that’s what makes this a fun place to visit.
Here’s a link to the website:
https://www.parkersmaplebarn.com/
The barn is in Mason, NH near Nashua and the Massachusetts border. I had a chance to visit for breakfast one year and it was a great experience. The menu is dedicated to breakfast. The ambience (it’s rustic, quaint and very folksy) took you to another place and time, and the homemade root beer is something my kids always enjoy having. Restaurant link: https://parkersmaplebarn.com/restaurant.php
Menu link: https://parkersmaplebarn.com/menu.php
The restaurant can get busy, especially on the weekends, so go early if it’s a weekend visit!
They even have an on site sugar house to harvest the maple! Maple season is roughly February though April. https://parkersmaplebarn.com/sugarhouse.php
I love to order the maple products, not only for myself, but they are great gifts for friends. There’s not a lot of maple here in Cali – maple donuts – that’s about it. The maple candies are my favorite: https://parkersmaplebarn.com/index.php?cPath=69_30
Some interesting notes: The maple barn is an authentic 1800’s dairy barn and silo.
The appeal of the Maple barn for me included the rustic authenticity of the buildings, from the restaurant to the gift shop to the sugar house. It felt like I was stepping back in time and it was well worth it to enjoy the slower, simpler way of life for a bit . My favorite products are the root beer, Jane’s mixed up salt, and the maple candies. The Maple Barn is always a must to visit when I’m in New Hampshire.
If you have a chance to visit, leave a note and let me know about your visit.
Address:
Parker’s Maple Barn
1316 Brookline Rd.
Mason, NH
603-878-2308
References to Carbon Credits:
https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/news/osi-grant-enables-completion-of-pioneering-carbon-offset-land-conservation-project-in-new-hampshires-ossipee-mountains
https://www.nhpr.org/environment/2020-11-21/outside-in-are-carbon-offsets-worth-it
https://carboncredits.com/the-4-best-carbon-offset-programs-for-2022/