This video, Gimme 3 Shots, by Valley Regional Hospital might inspire you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1J_qtaLBas

(If link doesn’t work, go to www.vrh.org and click on the yellow box on the home page.)

In the middle of running my errands, I realized I was hungry. Real hungry. But I didn’t want to go to a chain (I wanted to spend my dollars locally) and I was by myself (with no book to read), so I didn’t want a sit-down restaurant meal. I went down a side street – Glidden Street – that I don’t usually take, and there was my answer: Elaini’s Greek Cuisine. I ordered a souvlaki wrap to go. I thought I might sneak a bite in the car, then eat the rest of the sandwich when I arrived at my next destination. Well,  that one bite was pretty yummy. I kept eating – ignoring the cucumbers that occasionally rolled down my shirt -  and finished it off  in the car. It wasn’t until later that I noticed that I cut my face on the tin foil surrounding the sandwich. How’s that for a testimonial? That souvlaki wrap was so good that I didn’t notice my face was scratched and bleeding! If you’re in town, I recommend trying them out for lunch – or ordering something to bring home for dinner. I wish I lived in town – I’m thinking about mousaka (a lasagna type dish with eggplant and ground beef). Yummy.

My husband and I took a trip to Claremont for dinner and a movie. Although there is an abundance of new restaurants in town (four at last count), we decided to see if a restaurant of my childhood was still around. I grew up in Claremont and for 15 of my 18 years lived on Leslie Avenue, a street that runs parallel to the Claremont Country Club and intersects with Maple Avenue. I spent many afternoons walking down to King’s Department Store and The Hitchin Post, sometimes meeting friends. A small fry, a booth in the back, and several quarters for the jukebox would serve as entertainment for hours. King’s is long gone, but the restaurant was still there. We ordered the scallop dinner to share and read some of the new Claremont newspapers (five at last count) while we waited. The Hitchin Post hasn’t changed much – the wallpaper was the same, the orange food trays were the same, the jukeboxes were still there – and the food was surprisingly good. And you can still play your favorite song, full blast, for two dimes!

I was born in Claremont. I grew up in Claremont – we moved from Claremont to Grantham after I graduated high school. So I was sad to hear that the Eagle Times had closed; it was the paper of my childhood. I even have a clipping of my first published article – I was in eighth grade and I won a writing award in the Eagle Times Creative Writing Competition.

I don’t think the city will be without a newspaper for long. I’ve been receiving emails that a newspaper, based in Springfield, VT, is starting up very soon (just preparing some office space) and there’s already a weekly color newspaper, which I think is called the Claremont Post. But I wanted to let folks know that there are also some good online options for local news from the city:

http://yourclaremontpress.com

http://tinyurl.com/etickernews

Both are free, and the second one will send a PDF to your e-mail inbox every week, if you’d like. I know it’s a change for die-hard newspaper readers, but give the online options a chance. You’ll be able to see photos of your child playing in a little league game and a place to send news about your business!

It’s a humid 78 degree day and, although school isn’t out yet, I’m feeling like summer. As I’m looking at the Sophie & Zeke’s menu (the photo is my view out the dining room window), one item jumps out out me: lobster roll. Add some fries and that is one good summer lunch. I had to skip dessert (boo) because the portions were so big. Diane ordered the haddock sandwich (HUGE) and brought all her sweet potato fries home. We eyeballed pastries at Stone Arch Bakery and chocolate bars at Green Acres, but just couldn’t make the leap.

It was my first visit to the new S&Z location, and I liked the larger dining area, the window seating (two sides instead of just one) and got a peek at the conference space, which must be really handy for lunch meetings. The flower arrangements throughout the restaurant (like the one below) were done by Floral de Vine, also in Claremont.

A basement flood made a church unusable, but a Claremont family with construction know-how have turned the former building into a quilting shop. Four Pines Quilting, located on 24 Crescent Street, kept the steeple on the outside, but completely renovated the inside to hold a quilting machine, classroom space, yards and yards of fabric, and details of all kinds. It’s become the meeting place for the Pine Needles Stitchers Guild, a group of talented local ladies, and a great place for newbies to learn. You can drop in any Wednesday night at 6 p.m. and learn to quilt; there’s also a Stack-n-Whack class and open sewing afternoons. Learn more at www.fourpinesquilting.com.

The sign on the door said, “Curious? Come on in!” So I did. I gave myself a tour of the new Common Man Inn in Claremont. The rooms were lovely – old brick, wood beams and inverted trusses served as subtle reminders that the building used to be a mill. Many of the rooms had views of the river. All of them were tastefully appointed – and brand spanking new. You could still smell a bit of polyurethane (not a bad thing). The Common Man Restaurant, located in an adjacent brick building, is scheduled to open this Friday. The entryway was still being painted, but peeking over the rail you could see an extensive dining area, with similar decor as the inn. It all looks very lovely, and I recommend checking it out the next time you are in town.

It was a short walk over to Blackberry Patch, where Phyllis has an extensive inventory of scrapbooking items. I was in heaven. I am finishing a scrapbook now (holiday photos only) and will soon be ready to move on to a new one. I bought a few supplies while I was there, but loved this idea: There’s a room in the back where you can bring all your photos, buy the supplies, and sit down and make your pages. If you run out of photo corners, for example, you can go to the front of the store and buy more!

It’s been a while since I drove around my old hometown, so I started with dinner at Sophie & Zeke’s at their new location. The food was stellar, as always, but note to self: those mild chicken wings are in fact hot! After dinner I drove over to see if how the construction has been going over at the Sugar River Mills Redevelopment. A friend of mine had a tour of the interior with the Rotary recently, and it made me want to take a peek. There’s plenty going on, and the sign says (so it must be true) that the Common Man Inn & Restaurant will be open in June. Look! There’s even an empty spot on the sign in case your business wants to move in!

I used to go to the movies every week. In college, my friend Beth and I would see every new movie that came out – from cartoons to comedies to dramas to Indie films. It was our time to catch up, eat salty popcorn (balancing it between bites of chocolate), and escape to a different world for two hours. Then, as a single girl, I went to the movies with potential suitors. Some dates were awkward (one guy only laughed at a movie scene after I did) but some were great fun (a group of us had too many margaritas before one comedy). When my husband and I were married, we continued to go to the movies every week right up until the birth of our first child. Let’s just skip ahead and say that, with two small children, we’re lucky to see one or two movies a year!

We got a babysitter for Sunday afternoon and headed to Claremont Cinema Center on Washington Street. Longtime Claremont residents will remember that this location used to be a grocery store. Now it is six, big, comfortable theaters. It’s by far my favorite theater in the Upper Valley (one is always too dirty and the other is too crowded). We went to see the Watchman, which we both liked, but it was spoiled by a parent who brought two small children (under the age of 10) with him. This R-rated film had parts that would give me nightmares, so imagine what it would do to these children, who asked to go home. We weren’t sure who to talk to about this – should we have said something to the parent or said something to the movie theater owner, who took the money for the seats for those two small children? Please post a comment with your thoughts.