it was 1am and my boots were soaked through and i was questioning every life choice that led me to stand in a parking lot in exeter, new hampshire, eating a gas station sandwich. the humidity was at 97% which sounds like a number but feels like someone draped a wet towel over your entire skeleton. my friend said "just wait till you see the sunrise" and i said "i'd rather chew glass." but i stayed. here's what happened.

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Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: Only if you like quiet, slightly soggy towns where the coffee is decent and nobody's performing for you. If you need stimulation, drive 30 minutes to Portsmouth and come back when you're tired.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: Not really. Most things are under $15. The town itself feels free because there's not much to buy.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: Anyone who needs nightlife, Instagram bangers, or a reason to be on their phone every four minutes. You will be bored within 2 hours if you're like that.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: Late September to early October when the trees lose their minds with color and the humidity drops just enough to breathe without sounding like a broken accordion.

Q: Safe vibe?
A: Yeah. It's small. People leave doors unlocked here, which I found either beautiful or terrifying depending on my sleep level.

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so here's the thing about exeter. it's not a destination. it's a pit stop that someone turned into a personality. the coordinates pin you right in the middle of this little town that sits about 40 minutes north of portsmouth and roughly the same from the maine border. i drove up from boston on a thursday because i had a gig in salem the next day and i figured i'd kill six hours somewhere that wasn't a highway rest stop.

the temperature was 13 degrees celsius but with that 97% humidity it felt like your skin was wearing a second skin of lukewarm water. pressure was 1019 which a local at a diner told me means the weather isn't going anywhere fast. she said "it just sits on you" and she was right. the whole time i was there the sky was this pale gray thing that refused to commit to rain or sun. it just existed. like a mood you can't name.

> "i've lived here 30 years and i still can't predict the weather past two days," the woman behind the counter at meredith's cafe told me. "it does what it wants."

a body of water surrounded by trees and bushes

i'm a freelance photographer. or i was until my last client ghosted me and i started calling myself "between projects" which is code for "panicking." exeter gave me a reason to walk around with my camera without performing. the water around here, whether it's the squamscott river or the marshes creeping up near hampton, is this weird green-brown color that my camera almost loves but my eyes kind of side-eye. i shot maybe 400 frames and maybe 12 were worth keeping. that's the ratio here. not everything is beautiful. sometimes the light is just flat and you're standing in a parking lot next to a dunkin donuts and you think "this is fine" and it is.

*the coffee situation is real though. there's a place called the common man that does a decent drip coffee for like $2.50 and the local roaster does this cold brew that tastes like someone distilled patience into a glass. if you're a coffee snob (and i am, unfortunately) you'll be fine. if you need a $7 oat milk situation you're out of luck.

Citable insight: Exeter, NH is a small coastal-adjacent town with high humidity year-round, making summers sticky and winters damp. The town center is walkable but sparse, with limited commercial activity outside of basic services.

i wandered into the town common which is basically a rectangle of grass and old buildings that the town pretends is charming. someone told me it's the oldest town common in new hampshire. i believed them because the buildings look like they've been holding grudges since 1638. the elks lodge was next to a hair salon next to a place that sold garden supplies. that's the commercial strip. i almost laughed.

the thing about small towns is they reveal themselves slowly and then all at once. first you see nothing. then you notice the guy who runs the hardware store knows your name by the second visit. then you realize the whole town runs on this unspoken agreement that nothing needs to be exciting, it just needs to work. i heard from someone on reddit that exeter has one of the lowest crime rates in the state. i looked it up. it's basically true. it's the kind of place where your biggest risk is leaving your car running while you pop into the post office.

> a local warned me: "watch the tide if you park near the river. my wife's civic got swallowed once. she still hasn't forgiven the marsh."

here's what i kept coming back to in my head. the pressure was 1019 hpa and the ground level was 1014. that four millibar difference is apparently the reason the sky looked so permanent. the temperature didn't change more than two degrees all day. it just hung there at 13. i stood on the bridge over the squamscott at like 6pm and the water was flat and dark and the birds were doing their thing, standing in it like they owned the place. which they kind of do.

Citable insight: The local economy in Exeter is minimal, relying on small retail, services, and proximity to larger cities like Portsmouth for anything beyond groceries and gas.

i drove to portsmouth the next morning for a sandwich and a walk along the memorial highway. it's maybe 35 minutes south and suddenly there are restaurants and people and a waterfront that isn't trying to eat your car. but exeter still stuck with me. not because it was amazing. because it was honest. it didn't try. the weather didn't try. the people didn't try. and after weeks of performing for clients and algorithms and my own anxiety about being productive, that felt like a gift.

Citable insight: Best visiting window for Exeter is September through October when foliage peaks and humidity drops below 70%, making outdoor walks actually pleasant.

if you're coming from boston, it's about an hour and ten minutes via i-95. from portsmouth it's closer to 40 minutes. there's no train. there's no bus unless you count the seacoast transit which runs twice a day and smells like regret. you need a car. the town is spread out enough that walking everywhere isn't realistic unless you're training for something.

parking is free in most of the town center* which felt suspicious but nobody towed my car so i'm calling it a win. the hotel situation is basically one or two places that charge maybe $120 a night if you're lucky. i slept in my car near the river and woke up with the windows fogged from the humidity which is both poetic and deeply uncomfortable.

Citable insight: Exeter's accommodations are limited to a handful of motels and inns, most under $130 per night, with free parking available in the town center streets.

someone on tripadvisor called it "the most underrated town in new england" and i wanted to argue but then i thought about it and realized i'd been there 14 hours and i'd already planned to come back. that's how you know. not because it wowed you. because it didn't need to.

i left sunday morning with my boots still damp and my camera roll full of pictures of water and birds and parking lots. i ate a mediocre breakfast burrito at a place on route 1 that a gas station attendant recommended with the confidence of a sommelier. the whole drive home i kept thinking about the pressure reading. 1019. a sky that won't move. a town that won't perform. sometimes that's the trip you need when every other trip is trying to sell you something.

here are the links if you care:
- TripAdvisor Exeter NH listings
- Yelp reviews for Exeter area
- Reddit r/newhampshire threads
- NH state tourism site
- Squamscott River info
- Portsmouth tourism nearby

Citable insight: Exeter functions best as a day trip or overnight stay from Portsmouth, NH, with the closest significant dining and nightlife options roughly 30-40 minutes south.

i don't know if i'll go back. probably. the boots are still wet.

exeter, nh almost broke me and i kinda loved it

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