Bloomin' in Nashua

It took quite a long time for spring to arrive in Nashua, NH, and it wasn't until late May and early June that flowers were seen in outdoor areas of Clocktower Place (CTP), our mill apartment residence.

This display is at the main entry as people drive into the apartment parking area. The mill apartment has two main entrances referred to as CTP 1 and CTP 1

This is the large flower pot that leads up to CTP1, which is our entry.

There isn't an entry ramp at CTP2. These flowers are placed in pots close to the main door.

These flower pots of colorful blooms are also at two of the side entrances.

Downtown Nashua has a lot of colorful blooms, like these at pedestrian crossings on Main Street. Most of the Main Street restaurants that offer outdoor dining have various floral arrangements.

Martha's Exchange is a popular restaurant and brewery serving lunch and dinner daily.

Surf Restaurant is a few doors down from Martha's, and specializes in seafood dining. It has been regularly named as the Best Seafood in New Hampshire. This restaurant also benefits from its location adjacent to the Nashua Center for the Arts and on show nights, there's usually a lengthy wait time to be seated.

Nearly all of the Main Street restaurants that offer outdoor dining have various flowers.

Red, white and nearly blue flowers are popular colors in many of the arrangements.

The city's Department of Public Works does a great job of regularly watering all of these flowers so that residents and visitors can enjoy them all summer.

Speaking of enjoyment, we celebrated 🎉 a special occasion yesterday — Patrick's 🎂.

His lunch time choice was to go to the Big One, a local family-owned ice cream stand for the lunch time special of two hot dogs, soda and chips capped off with a hot fudge sundae for dessert. This local visit is a once-a year treat, usually around the time of his birthday, this year, it was a timely one as well. 

That's because today, July 16, is National Hot 🌭 Dog Day, which is celebrated on the third Wednesday in July. The earliest known Hot Dog Day began in Alfred, NY, in 1972 started by two Alfred University students as a fundraiser for local charities and community organizations.

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) is an American trade association that promotes the hot dog and sausage industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it was founded in 1994 by the American Meat Institute, which promotes July as National Hot Dog Month and October as National Sausage Month. During the pandemic, the council designated the third July Wednesday as cause for a national celebration. According to council statistics, Americans eat about 7 billion hot dogs during hot dog season, or some 818 each second. 

That's a lot of  🌭. Patrick helped this week but won't be entering any eating contests !