It's Ice 🍨 Cream Day

Today is the third Sunday in July which means that it's also National Ice Cream Day.

Not only that, but this celebration lands in the middle of National Ice Cream Month which technically means you can celebrate ice cream everything all month long. Across the U.S., top chains and local parlors will be offering freebies and discounts to celebrate today. 

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5219 which established July as National Ice Cream Month and designated the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day. He also called ice cream as a nutritious and wholesome treat. That works for us!

We celebrated early and often by enjoying ice cream at various NH ice cream shops during recent day trips. All of these places were family-owned business rather than franchise operations. Our favorite flavors include Moose Tracks, Coffee Mocha, Salted Caramel and Peanut Butter Cup. But, we're always up to trying a regional or new-to-us flavor like the Kahlua fudge I enjoyed in the photo below.

Aaron’s Specialty Restaurant in Marlow, NH

Recipes for ice cream began appearing in England and America during the early 18th century. Quaker colonists brought ice recipes to the U.S, opening the first ice cream shops in NY and other cities during the colonial era. In 1851, a Quaker businessman, C. Jacob Fussel, built an ice cream house and opened the country's first commercial ice cream factory in York County, PA, creating the first commercially produced and distributed ice cream in the U.S. 

Oldest U.S. Ice Cream Shop

The oldest U.S. ice cream shop is Bassetts Ice Cream. Founded in 1861, the legendary parlor is located in Philadelphia's historic Reading Terminal Market, where it operates the market's only original merchant counter dating back to 1892. Its founder Lewis Dubois Bassett originally churned the frozen dairy using a mule-driven machine on his NJ farm.

Kellerhaus in the Weirs Beach area of Laconia, NH

U.S. Ice Cream Capital State

Le Mars, Iowa, is officially known as the "Ice Cream Capital of the World". The town produces more ice cream from a single location. Its home to the biggest ice cream factory in a single location, Wells Enterprises. This massive facility produces over 150 million gallons of ice cream annually. The campus features a public Visitor Center & Ice Cream Parlor.

Top U.S. Ice Cream

There's no single "official" #1 ice cream brand as rankings depend on the category and if you're looking at packaged pints, regional dairies or specialty shops. Also, best is subjective, and U.S. ice cream is often defined by retail sales, consumer search trends or awards. Top brands include Häagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's, Tillamook and Blue Bell.

Sawyers Dairy Bar, Gilford, NH

Country That Consumes Ice Cream Most

Globally, New Zealanders eat the most ice cream per person, consuming an average of some 28.4 liters (over 7.5 gallons) annually per capita. The U.S. is a close second with 20.8 liters per person each year, followed by Australia at 18 liters per capita.  Other top countries are Finland, Sweden and Canada. 

We met up with fellow blogger, Erika (BioArt Girl), at Sawyers

Unhealthiest Ice Cream

These are typically super-premium pints loaded with cream, sugar, and mix-ins. Options like Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter World or Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter have up to 1,200 calories, over 75g of fat, and 80g of sugar per pint.

Most Forgotten Ice Cream Flavor

Tutti frutti is considered as one of the most forgotten and lost old-school ice cream flavors. This colorful, fruit-studded treat was once a mid-century staple found in nearly every ice cream shop. It disappeared from major supermarket shelves due to the rising costs of the herbs used for its green candied specks. 

Puritan Backroom in Manchester, NH

Most Disliked Ice Cream Flavor

Surveys regularly rank Birthday Cake and Mint Chocolate Chip as the less liked flavors, largely due to their sweet frosting taste. In nationwide polls, Superman and Rum Raisin also frequently top the list of least-purchased options. 

Early U.S. Presidents Liked Ice Cream

Many U.S. presidents have famously loved ice cream. George Washington liked the dessert so much that he purchased ice cream pots and an ice cream maker for his home. Thomas Jefferson is credited with penning the first written ice cream recipe by an American. Abraham Lincoln famously served various flavors, like burnt almond, at his second inaugural ball.

Later Presidents Did Too

Gerald Ford enjoyed butter pecan as a go-to sweet treat during his time in office. Bill Clinton has made a few dietary changes, including going vegan, and now opts for raspberry sorbet. At a Pennsylvania campaign stop in 2006, George W. Bush had pralines and cream ice cream. For weeks afterwards, the flavor sold out at that ice cream shop. Barack Obama worked at an ice cream shop in his youth and enjoyed pretzels and ice cream.

Your Turn — will you enjoy ice cream today, if so, what's your favorite flavor?

Friday Funnies

This is the Lexington, a custom-designed 75-foot two-level paddle wheel boat operated by the Charles River Boat Company that offers cruises in Boston Harbor. 

It provides passenger cruises in Boston harbor and was especially popular this past week with the tall ships docked in the harbor. A properly loaded and balanced boat sits relatively flat on the water like in the above photo.

But, when it lists as seen above, it could mean that uneven weight distribution is the cause. In the above photo, passengers were probably gathering to one side as it passed by the tall ships. Apparently, this listing is common as there have been no reported capsizes and the Lexington has safely cruised Boston Harbor for years.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

It's going to be a quiet one in Nashua, NH.

Tall Ships Celebration

Today, is the last day for Sail Boston, a maritime event that celebrated the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. It went from July 11 to July 16 and featured over 50 international tall ships and military vessels. These ships had recently celebrated in NYC with the Parade of Sails for the Sail4th 250 event.

Yesterday, we went on a day trip to Boston harbor to view some of these magnificent tall ships. It was just in time as today, July 16, the ships will be leaving Boston throughout the day on their own schedules with no official schedule of the departures. Unfortunately, several ships left before our harbor tour including the USCGC Eagle, which left this past Tuesday.

Our trip, arranged by the senior center we're members of in Hudson, NH, included transport to and from Boston with a narrated harbor cruise followed by lunch. This was one of the most popular trips this season; two tour buses left NH before 8 am and returned by 3 pm. 

The harbor tour was completed on the Charles I, a custom designed 75-foot classic riverboat owned and operated by the Charles River Boat Company which provides narrated sightseeing cruises in Boston's inner harbor and the Charles River from May through October.

The Boston event began last weekend, Saturday, July 11, with a Parade of Sail led by the historic USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). The ships then docked at various Boston locations including the Seaport District, Boston Fish Pier and Charlestown. Many ships offered free, daily dockside tours. Unfortunately, our trip didn't include time for any ship tours.

Old Ironsides is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat. Launched in 1797, this three-masted wooden frigate was built to protect American merchant shipping. It gained the legendary moniker during the War of 1812 when British cannonballs seemed to bounce off the ships incredibly thick oak hull. Today, the ship is permanently berthed at Pier 1 in Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard. It's a free public museum and an active-duty U.S. Navy vessel.

Lingering smoke from Canadian wildfires created hazy skies over Boston during our tour. Also, all of the sails were furled (stowed) on the ships while they were docked. Below and in no special order or identification are some of the tall ships viewed from our riverboat cruise.

The U.S. lightship Nantucket (LV-112) is a National Historic Landmark lightship that served at the Lightship Nantucket position. It was the last serving lightship and, at time of its application as a landmark, one of only two capable of moving under their own power. It has served as the lightship for notable vessels including the liners United States, Queen Mary, and Normandie.

Some folks opt for more modern ships like the one above. The Excellence is a massive and extravagantly costly $230-million, 262-foot super yacht owned by Boston billionaire and auto mogul Herb Chambers. It was built by German shipyard Abeking & Rasmussen and is easily recognized by its futuristic reverse bow and extensive mirrored glass. 

This megayacht is often docked in Boston's Seaport district when in the area. However, its schedule fluctuates as it often cruises along the New England coast and makes stops in Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Newport, RI. In case anyone is interested, when not being used by its owners, it's available for luxury charters starting at over $1.2 million per week.

Yesterday was a special day not only for the chance to see these beautiful ships, but also in celebration of my husband Patrick's (aka Grenville) birthday. He enjoyed this ice cream treat on another adventure last week. I also helped him enjoy it.

Friday Funnies

Many times, I've taken photos and saved them in a photo file for future. What seems like an ordinary photo can be used as a photo phunny (an intentional misspelling and misuse).

That said, here's a few of those photos; please excuse my phun captions. These photos were taken over the past several years in museums, flea markets and outdoors.

Ball and Chain is an expression that can refer to a heavy physical restraint often used on prisoners to prevent their scape. It's also become a figure of speech used to describe any heavy responsibility or obligation that restricts freedom and sometimes, rather derogatorily, it refers to a spouse or partner.

Hosed ?

Hosed, used informally, can mean that something is broken, ruined, or totally messed up. Unfortunately, it can also mean that someone has been cheated or treated unfairly or is in serious trouble.

Nailed It ?

Nailed it is a term often used to successfully complete, execute, or explain something. This can refer to doing something successfully like a job or test. It's also been used as a popular internet slang to jokingly highlight a failed task.

Busting Out ?

Busting out commonly refers to escaping from captivity or a confined space, like a jail or prison. It can also be used describe to suddenly start an action, like laughing, or quitting a bad habit.

Unseated ?

Unseated can mean to have someone removed from a position of authority or office. When used in a literal sense, it can describe a sudden fall or being physically thrown from a seat or saddle or falling off a bicycle.

That's all for this time, folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed and/or chucked a bit at these photo selections and interpretations. As always, feel free to add your own in a comment.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're off on a short road trip and new-to-us NH experience.

Easy Pork Dinner

Like in many other states, we've had a hotter-than-usual summer in terms of temperature and humidity. That means easy at-home delicious meals are favorites with us.

And, this one is not only easy, delicious and economical as well.That's why we buy a couple of pork tenderloins when there's a sale at the local supermarket and that happens quite often. 

The recipe is very easy in terms of ingredients, prep and cooking times. It requires a high cooking temperature, which could be something to avoid on a really hot day. Be sure that the kitchen exhaust fan is turned on. Thankfully, the cook time is short.

Seasoned Pork Tenderloin

• 1-1/2 lb pork tenderloin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl until well blended. Rub seasonings over the tenderloin on both sides, pressing so seasoning adheres well to the tenderloin.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. 
3. Put tenderloin in skillet and cook for 10 minutes, searing each side; use tongs to turn it.
4. If the skillet is oven safe, transfer it to oven; if not, transfer to a roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes to 145 degrees. 
5. Let meat rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

I was busy preparing this meal and forgot to take photos. But, that would have been difficult once I was rubbing the spices on the pork. (Your hands become colorful and messy.)

Speaking of colorful, the tenderloin was served with a medley of zucchini, yellow squash, red and yellow peppers and onions. 

Veggies were cut into chunks, tossed with seasonings of thyme, rosemary, sage, kosher salt and pepper, and roasted at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. (Hint: start veggies 10 minutes before the pork is put in so the meal will be cooked and ready to serve at the same time.)

Grenville declared this meal a keeper with a forks up. And, we had leftovers, much appreciated, especially in summer. At times, to avoid lighting the kitchen oven, I've skipped the searing and cooked it in a countertop toaster oven.

A great thing about pork tenderloin is the variety of ways it can be prepared and cooked. besides being roasted whole, it can be cut in pieces creating pork medallions which can then be seasoned, cooked on top of the stove and served with a quick pan sauce: after removing the pork, deglaze the hot skillet with chicken broth or white wine to stir up the browned bits. Turn the heat to low and whisk in some butter and a dash of Dijon mustard for a quick and easy sauce.

Lighting the Sky

There’s only one official July 4 fireworks display in Nashua, NH. It caps off a full day of events at historic Holman Stadium, a local baseball field. In previous years, we've joined neighbors at nearby Renaissance Park to watch them. But, this year, the holiday ended on a hot and humid night, so we watched the display from our apartment. It started about 9:15 pm.

Despite the heat, we did see that folks had gathered in the nearby park and along the riverwalk. This photo was also taken from our apartment window.

Admittedly, I don't have good results when photographing fireworks. This time, I took videos with my cell phone, then extracted some screen shots. The smokestack could have been removed afterwards, but these are SOOC (straight out of camera).

To varying degrees, certain types of fireworks are legal in 49 states, plus Washington, D.C. 

Yet, you wouldn’t know that from national sales for Fourth of July fireworks which were up in many places this year, including in New England. The state of New Hampshire ranks 12th in U.S. fireworks sales per capita and is the leader in New England. Also, the absence of a state sales tax pulls in cross-border traffic from neighboring states.

I read an online article about Phantom Fireworks in Hinsdale, NH, which reported that the holiday’s top spender came from Massachusetts and spent over $6,000 in fireworks. That was interesting as MA is one of 4 states that bans the sale of consumer fireworks; however, it allows professionals to use them in approved displays. 

Four U.S. states have a ban on the sale of consumer fireworks: Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. But, Massachusetts is the only state with a complete ban on all where a law prohibits the sale, possession, and use of all fireworks by private citizens, even sparklers and firecrackers and even if legally purchased in another state. Vermont and Illinois have strict laws as well. In those states, only sparklers and "novelty" smoke devices can be sold to the general public. 

The states of Indiana, Missouri and Wyoming have some of the most lenient fireworks laws in the U.S. allowing nearly all types of consumer fireworks (including aerial and explosive devices) with minimal restrictions on their sale and use, although city and county ordinances may apply.

Did you know that Missouri is the top state in setting off the most fireworks in the U.S in total volume and per capita? Other states with the highest per capita firework usage are Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama and South Carolina. Lower population density and relaxed state laws generally drive these higher volume numbers. In contrast, states with dense populations and high wildfire risks like California (or those with total consumer firework bans) set off far less.

Your turn — Did you watch any fireworks displays in your area?

Friday Funnies

This weekend is a BIG birthday celebration here in the states. July 4, 2026 marks not only Independence Day but the historic 250th anniversary (semiquincentennial) of the U.S. and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Maxine was ready and decked out in her colorful finery at the senior center earlier this week minus footwear.

A jewelry store in downtown Nashua, NH, always has a holiday window display featuring tiny mice figurines appropriately garbed for the holiday. What makes these rather special on this holiday weekend is that they are all created and produced in the U.S. and remain a family business in the state of Massachusetts.

Some of these tiny figures even had some sweet holiday baked goods which seemed larger than the mouse.

These mini mice are very collectible and known as Wee Forest Folk® and are natives of New England! They were started by the Peterson family in Massachusetts in 1972. Today, a mouse figure begins as an original clay piece which is hand sculpted by one of three sculptors in the family. The finished sculpture is molded and hand cast at the "mouse factory" in Carlisle, MA. After, skilled artists hand paint each piece to create a unique mouse personality. 

Some of these tiny mice can cost upwards of several hundred dollars depending on the piece and the holiday. That's why, I continue to admire them in the downtown window display.

Wall mural in downtown Nashua, NH

Enjoy the 🇺🇸 Holiday Weekend, Everyone

It's been a hot 🥵 week in NH & no travel plans for us. 

We'll stay home and watch a local fireworks display.

Barges and Cranes

Bloggers often have posted photos that have been sitting in computer limbo for a while. The same is true for myself, since I'm blogging less often than others and this one has been in computer limbo.

Some rivers have cruise ships, but for most of last summer, there were barges on the Nashua River barge. The one below was the largest.

This barge went across both sides of the river bank on a daily basis wasn't for passengers. It was being used to transport heavy equipment and materials that were being used for construction of the recently opened riverwalk and Renaissance Park along the Nashua River on Memorial Day weekend within walking distance of our residence, Clocktower apartments.

There were several cranes loaded on it during the coarse of construction. These photos show the barge with pieces of equipment on board and construction that was being done. 

Several of these large cranes made for a photo opps collage.

There's also another type of crane. This Great Blue Heron has become a regular visitor to the Nashua River during warmer months.

For several months this past spring, there was a large crane in use right below our 5th floor apartment window. We watched daily as the one above moved materials being used to replace a wooden bridge. The bridge was in back of the mill apartments and heavy use by disposal and recycling trucks were causing strain on it. 

After several months, work has been completed on a new cement bridge and safety railing. As interesting as it was to watch the progress, it's much quieter below our window now.

Happy 🎂 to friends in Canada 🇨🇦 and welcome to a new month for everyone.

Thanks for your comments on my recent Friday Funnies post about Plainfield Teachers College, the nonexistent college and its winning, but also fake, football team. Like many others, I was fascinated and amused that this sports hoax fooled prominent media. outlets.