"Small town USA" Bristol by Agraichen

I lived in Bristol during the summer most of my younger life. When I was about 4 or 5 my parents stopped off for a weekend to visit old friends. My father's dentist had "retired" to Bristol and purchased a summer resort property.

The next year we stayed for a week, then two weeks then a month and then bought a place of our own. To some of the town kids I was almost a resident since I was there most every weekend through out the year.

Summers were spent on the lake water skiing and winters at Tenney Mountain. In fact we helped finance the building of the ski resourt when a friend of mine told me her father was looking for investors for the complex.

Free skiing for 10 years plus interest on our money. GREAT deal.

Newfound Lake was a mere 500 feet from the house but it was a steep 500 feet up the base of Mt Celo. Living in "the woods" was wonderful. You could not hear the traffic on the small 2 lane road that circumnavigated the lake and as it was the entrance to the Appalation Mt. Range, it provided endless hiking opportunities.

The center of the town of Bristol was about 3 miles from the lake (this is a picture heading out of town toward the Pemi river). The town has changed radically since the 1950's when I first came to live there, yet it still retains a lot of it's "small town" charm even today.

Yes there is now a traffic light at "the major intersection" and "downtown" has been completely rebuilt in sections, but for the most part it's still the same and people are still the same.

• Pros:Life is a lot slower even today
• Cons:Hmmmm....well it is a long drive for "big city culture"...but...
• In a nutshell:I don't miss the humidy but I do miss the town and people