♪ TED: ON OUR TRAVELS, IT IS TRUE, I DO LOVE TO START THE DAY AT A DINER.
ALAS DURING THE PANDEMIC, ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE FOOD INDUSTRY.
DINERS HAVE TAKEN A PUNISHING HIT.
THE DINERS HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY TOUGH BY DESIGN.
THEY ARE SMALL, CONFINED, EXTREMELY LIMITED SEATING SO HOW DOES A DINER SURVIVE?
WE STOPPED BY A CLASSICAL FRIEND, THE LANDMARK PETERBOROUGH DINER, TO SEE HOW THEY WERE DOING.
>> AT FIRST, WE STARTED TO DO TO-GO’S FOR THAT DIDN’T TAKE OFF VERY WELL SO IT ENDED UP CLOSING FOR A MONTH AND A HALF UNTIL WE COULD DO THE OUTSIDE.
TED: DURING THE WARMER MONTHS, THE OUTDOOR SEATING HAS BEEN A GODSEND, AN OPTION MANY DINERS DO NOT HAVE.
INSIDE, THEY HAVE MADE SAFETY CHANGES.
A NEW EASIER TO CLEAN VINYL FLOOR.
BACK TO BACK FAMILY SEATING IN BOOTHS, NOW DIVIDED BY PLEXIGLAS.
AND AT MY FAVORITE SPOT, THE COUNTER, WELL, -- NO SITTING WITH THE PLASTIC.
YOU JUST HAVE TWO TOGETHER AT BIG INTERVALS.
YOU GOT TO BE FRIENDLY.
>> YES, YOU HAVE TO BE FAMILY.
TED: ON THE PLUS SIDE, IT IS OPEN.
THE COFFEE IS POURING AGAIN AND COZY COMFORT IN ALL OF THAT EVEN IF THINGS ARE A BIT DIFFERENT INSIDE.
>> IT IS KIND OF SAD TO SEE THE STOOLS AND LIMITED BOOTHS BUT IT IS GREAT TO SEE THEY ARE STILL OPEN DOING BUSINESS.
THE FOOD IS GREAT AS ALWAYS.
TED: LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE THESE DAYS, THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO GO ON.
>> WE ARE HANGING IN THERE.
YEAH.
PROBABLY BE HERE FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS.
TED: I WILL EAT THAT.
♪ IN NEARBY FRANCIESTOWN, A WATERY MYSTERY.
ON SOME MAPS, IT IS HAUNTED LAKE.
ON OTHERS, SCOBEE POND.
>> IT WAS FIRST KNOWN AS HAUNTED LAKE.
THE TREES ALL AROUND HERE, AS THE LEGEND GOES, THEY ALL BURNED DOWN AND THEN JUST STUMPS.
TED: SPOOKY.
>> YES.
TED: IT WAS NOT JUST THE TREES.
THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ALSO FILLED US IN ON THE SUSPECTED MURDER WAY BACK WHEN, AS WELL AS THE TRAPPER KILLED BY A MOUNTAIN LION.
WE KNOW THE LAKE HAS A BODY COUNT OF AT LEAST TWO.
>> WELL, WE DON’T KNOW WHETHER THEY ARE BOTH TRUE OR NOT.
ONE BODY HAS BEEN FOUND.
TED: SO THERE IS THAT.
>> I WOULD SAY NOW PEOPLE KNOW IT IS CALLED HAUNTED LAKE BUT LONG BEFORE, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CALLED SCOBEE AND THAT IS HOW PEOPLE HAVE KNOWN IT.
THE LEGENDS ARE FUN.
TED: BRAD OWNS THE FAMED SCOBEE HOUSEWARE IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THE ORIGINAL OWNER’S TEEN SONS MAY HAVE CREATED THE LAKE’S HAUNTED REPUTATION.
THIS IS THE AREA WHERE THE SCOBEE TEEN BOYS WOULD CAUSE TROUBLE?
>> YEAH.
THE BEST I CAN TELL, THIS WENT ACROSS THE ROAD SO THERE’S A WETLANDS THEY COULD HIDE IN AND SCARE THE HECK OUT OF PEOPLE.
TED: TODAY, ALL PAST LEGENDS ASIDE, FOLKS HAVE A LOT OF WORDS TO DESCRIBE THEIR LAKE, BUT SCARY IS NOT ONE OF THEM.
>> PRISTINE, BEAUTIFUL.
>> IT IS WHERE I LEARNED TO SWIM, WHERE I LEARNED TO FISH.
I STILL SWIM AND FISH.
IT’S A NICE PLACE DESPITE ITS HAUNTED NAME.
HAUNTED WITH GOOD MEMORIES.
TED: NOTHING HAUNTING ABOUT THE END OF OUR DAY.
PLENTY OF PEDALING THOUGH.
>> THE RAIL TRAIL IS FORTUNATE TO BE ALONG THE RIVER.
IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL.
TED: LOUISE ROBIE OF THE NEW BOSTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION LED ME ALONG THE TOWN’S STILL NEW RAIL TRAIL WHICH FOLLOWS THE PATH OF A FORMER LOCAL LINE, THE NEW BOSTON RAILROAD, WHICH
CEASED OPERATIONS IN 1931.
THE DEPOT IS STILL HERE BUT THE RAILS HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY A RECREATIONAL TRAIL WHICH WINDS EAST FOR UNDER FOUR MILES.
NOW MARKING ITS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, IT HAS BECOME MORE POPULAR EVERY YEAR.
>> FISHERMEN COME ON OUR TRAIL TO ACCESS THE RIVER.
BIKERS, JOGGERS, CROSS-COUNTRY SNOWSHOE.
TED: WHAT IS UNIQUE AND STRIKING TO A FIRST TIME USER IS THAT USUALLY WOODED THE TRAIL IS, LEAVING PEOPLE IN AND OUT OF THE TREES WHERE ONLY A TRAIN ONCE WE ENTERED.
>> IT WAS ALWAYS INTERESTING ON A RAIL TRAIL TO BE REMINDED OF THE ACTUAL RAILROAD PAST.
THIS WAS AN ORIGINAL RAIL STOP?
>> THAT USED TO COME PICK UP APPLES AND EGGS AND BAKED GOODS.
TED: IRONICALLY, THE BOSTON RAIL TRAIL IS HERE BECAUSE A SMALL GROUP OF LOCALS 40 YEARS AGO BOUGHT THE LAND TO PREVENT FUTURE DEVELOPMENT, 11 LOCALS TODAY TO SAVOR WHAT WAS SAVED.
♪ ANTHONY: TED TELLS US THAT ALTHOUGH SHE WAS TOO HUMBLE TO SAY IT, LOUISE ROBIE AND HER HUSBAND HAVE BEEN THE DRIVING LOCAL FORCES BEHIND BUILDING THE
NEW BOSTON RAIL TRAIL.
THE HOPE GOING FORWARD IS THAT THE TRAIL ULTIMATELY WILL BE CONNECTED TO THE NEIGHBORING GOFFSTOWN RAIL TRAIL, CREATING SOME OF THE MOST WOODED AND SCENIC BIKING IN SOUTHERN NEW
HAMPSHIRE.
COMING UP, A MOVING MONUMENT ON NEW HAMPSHIRE’S BLACK HERITAGE