This year has been a bit….traumatic.
This year I’ve begun having panic attacks. I have long periods where I realize I’m not breathing at all. My undiagnosed ADHD has been out of control, borderline dangerous.
With everything going on this year Zac and I had a wedding to attend…and it was a perfect opportunity to find a needed respite.
And where do I go when I need healing?
The Ocean.
There’s something about a sea breeze and the salty ocean air that helps you slow down, recharge, and breathe deep.
We spent one night in Manchester, NH…we had a great time at his friend’s wedding and enjoyed a warm summer night walk back to our hotel. Thank GOD for memory foam flats. The 20 year old days of 6 inch stilettos are long past.
The next morning we enjoyed a complementary breakfast and headed out on the road for the ocean.
Having been born in New Hampshire and spending my life going to Hampton Beach I haven’t explored more than the state’s beaches. We decided to check out the Seacoast Science Center and Odiorne Point State Park.
https://www.seacoastsciencecenter.org/
What an incredible place! We paid to park and paid to enter the science center; they were very reasonable in price and I don’t mind supporting them one bit. We enjoyed some of the exhibits; there were aquariums of all types. We saw blue lobster, a rare “cotton candy” lobster, seahorses and more.
After checking out the center we set out for what we came for. The ocean! The state park has miles of trails. We walked the coastline and found a rock wall to climb. We sat on the rocks and enjoyed the rhythms of the ocean waves, you could hear the water in the rock crevices below us.
When we started to notice the tide was rising we realized it was time to go, so we got up and continued our walk. We walked more of the coastline and came up to the boat launch. The trail continued into the woods. It took us up hills and we saw some world war structures. It was fascinating but I wish I knew more about it.
The walk was amazing. We easily hit 20,000 steps and were having a blast being present in the moment. No deadlines. No trauma. No work. No animals (Thank you moms for taking care of all our kids!). It was Zac, me, nature, and the ocean.
We ate a guilt free dinner after our explorations at the famous Petey’s Seafood. https://peteys.com/index.html
You really can’t get this quality inland so I don’t often have the pleasure of eating seafood.
We checked into our hotel. It was a condo and we were given a free upgrade to an ocean view room on the top floor. WOW!
Of all my trips to Hampton Beach I haven’t been able to stay ocean view! The condo was up quite a ways from the shops. It was walking distance but far enough from any hustle and bustle. We walked down to shops which were closed but Blink’s was still open. We shared their famous fried dough and made our way back with a detour to dip our toes in the ocean for the walk back. We slept that night with the doors open and we listened to the ocean waves.
The next morning we awoke to the seagulls, sun, and sea. We walked down to Blue Harbor Coffee for breakfast. We took our order to go and ate on our private balcony. What a fantastic coffee shop! They roast their own blends. The coffee was amazing and the breakfast sandwiches were on the same level.
After checkout we walked the shops and made our way to the beach. We took off our shoes and found ourselves a perfect spot in the sand. I read, Zac dozed. Then I dozed off some, too. We stayed as long as we possibly could but by 3pm we had to start making our way back home.
I know this post didn’t have anything to do with horses…but sometimes we all need an escape. An escape from absolutely everything. For 48 hours my only responsibility was to find some relaxation and inner peace. To live in the moment without the dark cloud of worry and stress looming.
What a perfect escape it was.
The Green Horseman 
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