G-Town is my town: Why Grantham, NH is the best place to grow up

Grantham, New Hampshire: A town few have heard of, but many are fond of. Growing up in a town of 3,000 people had it’s pros and cons, but no matter how you slice it, those of us who grew up there grew up in the best hometown.

The best part about a small town is everyone knows everyone… Or at least we act like we do. When you drive down the street, you wave to everyone you see, regardless of if you know them or not. If you wave to someone walking and they don’t wave back, you know they’re from out of town. Grantham Village School was my home for my first seven years of school and with a class of about 30, we were all friends. We had co-ed sleepovers no matter what age we were because when you grow up around the same people, they become your siblings. The same friends I went to my first day of Kindergarten with are the same people I went to prom with.

 Grantham is isolated. Getting your license isn’t an option or a privilege – it’s a requirement. If you don’t get your license, good luck seeing your friends who all live 20 miles away or buying new clothes at the mall 65 miles away. Driving becomes a chore because we do it so often. There’s no, “I’m just going to run to CVS for more shampoo really quickly,” unless you want to drive 25 minutes to Lebanon to get it (and don’t forget the 25 minutes home after).

Mall trips are day trips and they don’t happen often. If you’re making the 130 mile round trip commitment, you better not walk out of Forever 21 empty handed.

I pretty much lived out of my car in high school. At any moment, you could find enough clothes, shoes and food for a week. Everything took place in Lebanon and there was rarely time to stop back at home in Grantham unless you were calling it a night. Having two free hours between school and practice was the worst, because it was never enough time to drive home. Hence, having your home in your car. Not to mention when winter came around. Maybe you can get to school in the morning without a problem, but when the snow gets bad in the afternoon and you have to stay to see the rival basketball game against Hanover, you have no choice but to put everything in your car to good use and sleep at a friend’s house.

Grocery shopping is done in Lebanon and there’s only one small option for last second needs in Grantham: Rum Brook Market, or as I know it, The Store. The Store was its name back in the day. It didn’t need another name because it’s the only store in all of Grantham.

During my years growing up in Grantham, the food choices expanded. When the town got a Dunkin Donuts and a Pizza Chef, our world changed forever. And now we have two sit-down restaurants: The Farmer’s Table and Bistro Nouveau, or as it used to be called, The Center. We’re all about the simple names in Grantham.

The Farmer’s Table is right next to The Store so you can get all your food needs covered in one stop… Or because there is no where else in Grantham to put anything. Bistro Nouveau is within the private community of Eastman that I live in, and floods with golfers and skiers depending on the season because it’s located at a golf course.

When there’s live music, trivia or a comedy show there, you go because you never know the next time something entertaining is going to happen in Grantham. Unless it’s The Fourth of July. Then you better be at Old Home Day with the entire town of Grantham.

Because there isn’t always a lot going on, we make our own entertainment. My parents and their friends have more of a social life than most 25 year-olds who live in New York City. From poker nights to cribbage league, half of what makes living in Grantham unique is the people you surround yourself with and the things you do together.

We may not have malls or big concerts, but we have multiple private beaches. South Cove is the beach to be at during the summer after you finished up a day of camp with the All Day Gang or the Adventure Program. The beach may be small and the lake only a mile long, but being able to walk to the beach from my house is something I wish I could have forever.

When I went to college and tried to explain Grantham, no one understood the town. My friends looked it up on Google maps, but all they could see were trees from bird’s-eye view. It even took me a solid 10 minutes to find my own house amongst the nature.

Grantham is a town that holds a special place in the hearts of everyone who grew up there. It made us who we are today and we will always remember that.