Introducing myself, and some questions...

[miamiballoonguy]

Hello Everyone

I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself...  for those of you that have seen my postings on Free Talk Live, and more recently on the FSP boards, I am that crazy balloon guy that gets inside of balloons...  I'm also one of the folks that voted for New Hampshire as the home of the FSP...

Let me say that you guys are doing a great job up there!  Although I disagree a bit with the whole lauren and the driving violations thing somewhat(We got bigger fish to fry that drivers licenses, but that could be a discussion for another day).

Anyhow, I want to come out there this summer to check out the place and see if it is right for me...

In order for me to do this, I've gotta make it a somewhat working vacation so as to get my foot in the door so I can make a living while working on some computer projects(I was the first employee of a startup in Silicon Valley in the 90's, and I would love to meet and get to know people who would be interested in doing something like this with other FSP members...), finish my CS degree, and at the minimum be a hurricane season resident of New Hampshire for a few years until can get used to living in cold weather again, among other things.

I was looking through some New Hampshire festivals and events and came up with a list of a bunch of them.  Also, Could anyone let me know which ones occur between the 4th of July and Labor Day?  Also, are there any major upscale hotels, spa's, etc that cater to the Middle-class to Upper-class clientele (stuff like the Ritz Carlton, Hilton Hotels, Embassy suites, etc)?  Finally, are there any general tourist trap type places(down here, an example would be south beach, Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove).  Finally, Does anyone know of any family type restaurants that have kids nights where kids eat free, or major chains like the golden corral, Chilis, Sports Bars, etc...  Hell does anyone know if Murphy's might be interested in having me perform there a few times while I am there...  I'll even bring those giant balloons with me!

If I'm going, I might as well check out the possible venues where I would work while I am at it...

Here is a partial list of what I found:
Canterbury - Canterbury Fair
Center Barnstead - Half Moon Sober Festival
Colebrook - Annual Blessing of the Motorcycles & Great North Woods Ride In
Colebrook - North Country Mosse Festival
Concord - Somewhat North of Boston (SNOB) Film Festival
Danbury - NH Women's Music Festival
Exeter - Annual Yuletide Fair
Freedom - Freedom Old Home Week
Gilford - Soulfest
Greenfield - Southern NH Scottish Games & Celtic Music Festival
Hampton - Hampton Beach Seafood Festival
Hanover - Paddlepower
Hillsboro - Hillsboro Balloon Festival
Hopkinton - NH Highland Games
Jackson - NH Snow Sculpting Competition
Jackson - Wildquack River Festival
Keene - Pumpkin Festival
Kingston - NH Renaissance Faire & Samhain Celebration
Lincoln - Annual White Mountains Trackcar Meet
Littleton - Frostbite Follies Winter Carnival
Loudon - Laconia Motorcycle Weekend
Manchester - NH Farm & Forest Exposition
Meredith - Lake's Region Annual Fine Arts & Crafts Fair
Milford - Milford Great Pumpkin Festival
Milford - High Hopes Balloon Festival
Nashua - Nashua Country Fair
New Boston - Barnful of Blues
Newbury - League Of NH Craftsmen Fair
North Conway - Annual White Mountain Jazz & Blues Festival
Peterborough - Monadnock Summer Lyceum - 10 Cultural Events for Summer Sundays
Pittsfield - Pittsfield Balloon Festival
Portsmouth - NH Film Expo - Screenings, workshops, screenwriting competition, a tradeshow, awards, prizes, music, food & more
Portsmouth - Percussive Dance Festival
Portsmouth - Portsmouth Blues Festival
Portsmouth - Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival
Portsmouth - Prescott Park Arts Festival
Rochester - NH Drinking Water Week Festival
Rye - Rye By The Sea Duathlon
Salem - Rockingham Fishing & Hunting Expo
Thornton - White Mountain Boogie N' Blues Festival
Warner - Warner Fall Foliage Festival
West Campton - Pemi Valley Bluegrass Festival
Wilton - Wilton Arts & Film Festival
Wolfeboro - Great Waters Music Festival
Half Moon Sober Festival
NH Music Festival
NH Women's Music Festival
Trans-NH Bike Ride

Antrim - Hillsboro County Agricultural Fair
Belmont - Belknap County Fair
Center Sandwich - Sandwich Fair
Contoocook - Hopkinton State Fair
Cornish Flat - Cornish Fair
Deerfield - Deerfield Fair
Keene - Cheshire Fair
Lancaster - Lancaster Fair
Meredith - Lake's Region Annual Fine Arts & Crafts Fair
Newbury - League Of NH Craftsmen Fair
North Haverhill - North Haverhill Fair
Rochester - Rochester Fair
Sandwich - Sandwich Fair
Stratham - Stratham Fair


I apologize for the long post....

Anthony

[srqrebel]

Hi Anthony, welcome to the forum!

The annual Jaffrey Live Free or Die Rally is held in August.  There is also the Winchester Pickle Festival in late September.

Lake Winnipesaukee is a major summertime tourist attraction.

I moved to NH from Sarasota, Florida this past June, and have been really impressed with the quality of the people, as well as the freedom activism already being organized by the relatively few early movers.  I lived in FL for 13 years, and have never lived this far north, so I am certainly bracing myself for the shock of frigid weather -- but after spending only a few months here, I know I have finally found my home, and can't imagine ever trading it back for the People's Republic of Florida.

Hope we get to welcome you to the Live Free or Die state soon!  Will you be attending the Liberty Forum in January? http://freestateproject.org/libertyforum/

[miamiballoonguy]

Hi Anthony, welcome to the forum!

The annual Jaffrey Live Free or Die Rally is held in August.  There is also the Winchester Pickle Festival in late September.

Lake Winnipesaukee is a major summertime tourist attraction.

I moved to NH from Sarasota, Florida this past June, and have been really impressed with the quality of the people, as well as the freedom activism already being organized by the relatively few early movers.  I lived in FL for 13 years, and have never lived this far north, so I am certainly bracing myself for the shock of frigid weather -- but after spending only a few months here, I know I have finally found my home, and can't imagine ever trading it back for the People's Republic of Florida.

Hope we get to welcome you to the Live Free or Die state soon!  Will you be attending the Liberty Forum in January? http://freestateproject.org/libertyforum/

thanks for the info!  Unfortunately, I am not leaving the state until the January 29th Primary down here...  The Miami Ron Paul meetup has a lot of work to do before then.... 

I am going to attempt to make it to the balloon artist convention in Boston in February...  If I do, then I will definately stop by and try to meet as many people as I can while I'm there...

Get ready for the cold!  I've lived in California (San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Antioch), Mass (Boston, Brighton, Quincy) , Puerto Rico, And the majority of my life here in Miami.  Let me tell you something...  your probably going to crap your pants this, your first winter...  All I've gotta say is layers!  Be hopeful that you don't get a noreaster...  I was living in Boston during the time of the 1993 storm, and I didn't see my car for almost 2 weeks....  It was buried under snow...

Over the next few months I am going to be compiling this fair and festival info so that I can start cold calling in February...  Also, I'll give a small percentage to those that actually help me land some gigs up there...  Maybe $10 bucks per gig or something like that...

Anthony

[Riddler]

Hello Everyone

I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself...  for those of you that have seen my postings on Free Talk Live, and more recently on the FSP boards, I am that crazy balloon guy that gets inside of balloons...  I'm also one of the folks that voted for New Hampshire as the home of the FSP...

Let me say that you guys are doing a great job up there!  Although I disagree a bit with the whole lauren and the driving violations thing somewhat(We got bigger fish to fry that drivers licenses, but that could be a discussion for another day).

Anyhow, I want to come out there this summer to check out the place and see if it is right for me...

In order for me to do this, I've gotta make it a somewhat working vacation so as to get my foot in the door so I can make a living while working on some computer projects(I was the first employee of a startup in Silicon Valley in the 90's, and I would love to meet and get to know people who would be interested in doing something like this with other FSP members...), finish my CS degree, and at the minimum be a hurricane season resident of New Hampshire for a few years until can get used to living in cold weather again, among other things.

I was looking through some New Hampshire festivals and events and came up with a list of a bunch of them.  Also, Could anyone let me know which ones occur between the 4th of July and Labor Day?  Also, are there any major upscale hotels, spa's, etc that cater to the Middle-class to Upper-class clientele (stuff like the Ritz Carlton, Hilton Hotels, Embassy suites, etc)?  Finally, are there any general tourist trap type places(down here, an example would be south beach, Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove).  Finally, Does anyone know of any family type restaurants that have kids nights where kids eat free, or major chains like the golden corral, Chilis, Sports Bars, etc...  Hell does anyone know if Murphy's might be interested in having me perform there a few times while I am there...  I'll even bring those giant balloons with me!

If I'm going, I might as well check out the possible venues where I would work while I am at it...

Here is a partial list of what I found:
Canterbury - Canterbury Fair
Center Barnstead - Half Moon Sober Festival
Colebrook - Annual Blessing of the Motorcycles & Great North Woods Ride In
Colebrook - North Country Mosse Festival
Concord - Somewhat North of Boston (SNOB) Film Festival
Danbury - NH Women's Music Festival
Exeter - Annual Yuletide Fair
Freedom - Freedom Old Home Week
Gilford - Soulfest
Greenfield - Southern NH Scottish Games & Celtic Music Festival
Hampton - Hampton Beach Seafood Festival
Hanover - Paddlepower
Hillsboro - Hillsboro Balloon Festival
Hopkinton - NH Highland Games
Jackson - NH Snow Sculpting Competition
Jackson - Wildquack River Festival
Keene - Pumpkin Festival
Kingston - NH Renaissance Faire & Samhain Celebration
Lincoln - Annual White Mountains Trackcar Meet
Littleton - Frostbite Follies Winter Carnival
Loudon - Laconia Motorcycle Weekend
Manchester - NH Farm & Forest Exposition
Meredith - Lake's Region Annual Fine Arts & Crafts Fair
Milford - Milford Great Pumpkin Festival
Milford - High Hopes Balloon Festival
Nashua - Nashua Country Fair
New Boston - Barnful of Blues
Newbury - League Of NH Craftsmen Fair
North Conway - Annual White Mountain Jazz & Blues Festival
Peterborough - Monadnock Summer Lyceum - 10 Cultural Events for Summer Sundays
Pittsfield - Pittsfield Balloon Festival
Portsmouth - NH Film Expo - Screenings, workshops, screenwriting competition, a tradeshow, awards, prizes, music, food & more
Portsmouth - Percussive Dance Festival
Portsmouth - Portsmouth Blues Festival
Portsmouth - Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival
Portsmouth - Prescott Park Arts Festival
Rochester - NH Drinking Water Week Festival
Rye - Rye By The Sea Duathlon
Salem - Rockingham Fishing & Hunting Expo
Thornton - White Mountain Boogie N' Blues Festival
Warner - Warner Fall Foliage Festival
West Campton - Pemi Valley Bluegrass Festival
Wilton - Wilton Arts & Film Festival
Wolfeboro - Great Waters Music Festival
Half Moon Sober Festival
NH Music Festival
NH Women's Music Festival
Trans-NH Bike Ride

Antrim - Hillsboro County Agricultural Fair
Belmont - Belknap County Fair
Center Sandwich - Sandwich Fair
Contoocook - Hopkinton State Fair
Cornish Flat - Cornish Fair
Deerfield - Deerfield Fair
Keene - Cheshire Fair
Lancaster - Lancaster Fair
Meredith - Lake's Region Annual Fine Arts & Crafts Fair
Newbury - League Of NH Craftsmen Fair
North Haverhill - North Haverhill Fair
Rochester - Rochester Fair
Sandwich - Sandwich Fair
Stratham - Stratham Fair


I apologize for the long post....

Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Winters here definitely will be a shocker to you, coming from Fla..
But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak. (or Ted Kennedy at last call) Anyway, there are plenty of family oriented festivals, fairs, parades. Most towns are small-ish & low key. NH towns have been voted best place to live by Money magazine several years.

[margomaps]

Also, are there any major upscale hotels, spa's, etc that cater to the Middle-class to Upper-class clientele (stuff like the Ritz Carlton, Hilton Hotels, Embassy suites, etc)?

Not sure, but I believe there are a number of fairly upscale resorts/spas.  Off the top of my head, http://www.mtwashington.com/ comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others.

[KBCraig]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.

[Riddler]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.

Keep splittin' those hairs, big guy. Good to see you're on the beat. You should be a cop. PC-police experience will fit well on your resume. Caleb can give you a gold star recommendation, no doubt.

[miamiballoonguy]

Also, are there any major upscale hotels, spa's, etc that cater to the Middle-class to Upper-class clientele (stuff like the Ritz Carlton, Hilton Hotels, Embassy suites, etc)?

Not sure, but I believe there are a number of fairly upscale resorts/spas.  Off the top of my head, http://www.mtwashington.com/ comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others.

Thanks for the heads up...  I'll add it to my list...

Anthony

[miamiballoonguy]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.

Keep splittin' those hairs, big guy. Good to see you're on the beat. You should be a cop. PC-police experience will fit well on your resume. Caleb can give you a gold star recommendation, no doubt.

Can't we all just get along?   

[Riddler]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.


Keep splittin' those hairs, big guy. Good to see you're on the beat. You should be a cop. PC-police experience will fit well on your resume. Caleb can give you a gold star recommendation, no doubt.

[Tom Sawyer]

Welcome to the underground balloon guy... don't mind the troll.

Hey can we see a picture of you inside the balloon?

[Lloyd Danforth]

If you don't submit one Tom will just make one up

[Rosie the Riveter]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.

Keep splittin' those hairs, big guy. Good to see you're on the beat. You should be a cop. PC-police experience will fit well on your resume. Caleb can give you a gold star recommendation, no doubt.

Can't we all just get along?   

Welcome to nhfree. I hope to score a ride in that ballon when you are in NH 

[miamiballoonguy]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.

Keep splittin' those hairs, big guy. Good to see you're on the beat. You should be a cop. PC-police experience will fit well on your resume. Caleb can give you a gold star recommendation, no doubt.

Can't we all just get along?   

Welcome to nhfree. I hope to score a ride in that ballon when you are in NH 

Thanks, and I hope you are not claustrophobic!  Also, It gets real hot in there, real fast....  Although, I've never tried having two people inside that thing....  It would be interesting to try.... 

[Rosie the Riveter]

But, mind your P's & Q's re: Lauren Canario- Driver . Lic. arrest. I said almost EXACTLY what you said on this forum & was attacked like a pack of wild dogs after a raw steak.

Ummm, no. MBG said there are "bigger fish to fry" than driver licensing.

You said it was a "monumental waste of time" and nothing more than "feet stamping".

Hardly the exact same thing.

Keep splittin' those hairs, big guy. Good to see you're on the beat. You should be a cop. PC-police experience will fit well on your resume. Caleb can give you a gold star recommendation, no doubt.

Can't we all just get along?   

Welcome to nhfree. I hope to score a ride in that ballon when you are in NH 

Thanks, and I hope you are not claustrophobic!  Also, It gets real hot in there, real fast....  Although, I've never tried having two people inside that thing....  It would be interesting to try.... 

Ha -- obviously I though when you said "get in the ballon" that it was a ballon ride..... I didn't imagine you actually get in a ballon.....