I love the beach especially on those cloudy, rainy days when most people stay home curled up on the couch. Yesterday was Jay's birthday and as is our custom the birthday person gets to decide what they want to do. He couldn't decide, although I'd bet if the weather had been better he might have chosen golfing, so I decided for him.

NH has a small ocean coastline with only 18 miles of rocky and sandy very changeable coastline. It's an easy ride with much of the coast visible from the car.

From our home in Hampstead it is a quick 35 minute ride to Hampton beach.  We left around 1pm and thought we'd go pick up some lunch at Ceal's in Seabrook Beach and then drive up the coast.

Ceal's Clam Stand is nothing to look at but it is famous for it's homemade seafood chowder. When I say that your spoon literately can stand up in the bowl unassisted...I am dead serious. 

Last time we drove up for seafood chowder at Ceal's, they sold out just before we arrived so we both were a bit anxious that we might not get our "Ceal's fix".

We arrived at Ceal's only to find out that they had only one bowl left but if we came back in an hour the new batch of home made chowder would be ready. It was a no brainer...we told them we'd be back!

We headed north on Route 1 A and as we crossed the bridge over Hampton Harbor I looked down with envy at the Campers camping out on the beach at Hampton Beach State Park. I was jealous that my motor home was home in my driveway and not sitting in that park.

 Even though it was foggy I'd have gladly been there.

We continued north up the coast towards North Hampton. It was lovely and very unusual as there were hardly any people in sight.

Did I mention it was cold and rainy...hardy anyone on the beach! I love it like that!

We drove through North Hampton stopping to explore and take pictures. This is our backyard and we know it well but still every time we see it...we fall in love again. 

We talk as we drive and hold hands ( I know how corny) but that's us.  We dream about places yet to be seen, things we still want to do. But most importantly we realize how lucky we are to live where do and that we get to see at anytime we want, the beauty of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

We love our little part of the world...New Hampshire really does have it all.

After a while we turned around a drove south back to Ceal's for our chowder. I love the view as we round the bend in North Hampton...from the car the coast is breathtaking. My photo is taken from inside a moving car on a raining foggy day and still I think you can see a bit of what I see when I look at it.

Welcome to New Hampshire! Isn't it special?

 Even when the weather is bad the Coastline is beautiful. Can you imagine what it would look like on a sunny day?

Happy Birthday Honey! We had a very special day and our chowder was AWESOME just like it always is at Ceal's Clam Stand!