A while ago, a friend told me about a conversation she had recently had with a freshman. When she told him that she was planning to live in Norwich for the spring, he asked, "Where's Norwich?"
Where's Norwich? A freshman might be excused for having no knowledge of Etna, Lyme, Enfield, or even White River Junction. But Norwich?
(Oh, you too? For the record, Norwich is Hanover's neighbor-across-the-river, a small Vermont town just a mile from the Green).
There's a reason why we call our time in New Hampshire "living in the Dartmouth bubble" -- nightlife, or any life, is commonly believed to exist only within the student community. One can spend weeks living quite comfortably without leaving campus or Hanover's city limits; the Hopkins Center, Webster Avenue, Baker-Berry Library on a Sunday night -- what else is there to do?
Plenty, actually.
When was the last time you left campus for reasons other than a Foodstop or Stinson's run? We live in a small but vibrant Upper Valley community, full of people with stories to tell, entertainment that's easy on the wallet and a beautiful natural environment just at our doorstep. There is no reason to limit your life to Dartmouth's borders.
Take Norwich, for one example.
If you like to eat well and are looking for a romantic getaway, Carpenter and Main has two tables in its restaurant nestled into secluded alcoves, perfect for a gourmet meal for two.
Sick of Keystone and sticky basements? The Norwich Inn has a pub in the back of its restaurant, specializing in local brews. Norwich also has a local bookstore, a well-stocked yarn shop, a quirky shoe boutique, and more.
If you're like me, for whom a fine restaurant meal or quality shopping is only a rare indulgence, there's free stuff, too -- every fall, hundreds of dogs converge noisily upon the town green for Bark in the Park, a giant dog show, and warm summer nights mean sitting out at sunset with a picnic dinner, listening to live music at the town's Concerts on the Green series.
Or wander through Dan and Whit's, a venerable general store so well stocked that their motto is "If we don't have it, you don't need it." Groceries, postcards, puzzles, local crafts, hardware, clothing and more pack the narrow aisles and snake through multiple levels and small, tucked-away rooms nearly bursting with things for sale.
Venturing a bit farther afield can be even more rewarding. Norwich is great, but it's also one of the wealthiest towns in Vermont, so you're more likely to meet a professor or a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center doctor than a native Vermonter. Rub elbows with some real New Hampsha' locals at The Fort, just a 10-minute drive away down Route 120. It's open 24 hours, and while they might laugh if you try to order a double mochaccino, the waitress will bring you a bottomless mug of diner coffee or an impossibly thick frappe.
P&H Truck Stop, 35 minutes north of Hanover on I-91, has an unbelievable (and cheap!) all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch buffet. Eggs, thick French toast, potatoes and gravy, bacon, pie, and coffee -- swilling truckers up to their elbows in it - just don't expect to find upholstered couches, free wireless, or Norah Jones on the stereo. For a great introduction to the Upper Valley, several campus organizations can provide the planning and logistics for you -- the Tucker Foundation sends hundreds of students out into local communities to volunteer, and the Dartmouth Outing Club visits diners and quirky cultural spots in addition to all of the local trails, rocks and rapids.
But my favorite means for exploring the area is with a good group of friends in a car. No car? Try Advance Transit. It's free, and it goes to many local downtowns every hour on weekdays, including Norwich.
There's always walking and biking, too. Pine Park and Mink Brook offer riverside trails for walking or jogging, and Balch Hill looks out on the entire campus (and there's a great climbing tree). You can explore on the cheap or high on the hog, whichever you please. Try to find the cheapest, biggest ice cream cone within a 30-minute drive (it used to be Whistlestop in Wilder; it may now be Udder Delight in Fairlee). Attend a contradance in Norwich or hit up Club Electra in White River Junction, the Upper Valley's only nightclub.
Part of the fun of living somewhere new is in exploring it. The experiences we can have here are unique; the four years we have at Dartmouth represent an opportunity to check out a different kind of life. Corn mazes in fall's brown fields, meandering roads along the river, live folk music every weekend at Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford. It won't be quite like anything you've done before, and that's the best part.
