Meredith

Meredith sits on Meredith Bay, one of the quieter northern inlets of Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire’s largest lake, close enough to the busier tourist stretch around Weirs Beach to borrow its restaurants and boat traffic but calm enough on its own shoreline that Lia and I could hear loons calling across the water at dusk. The town itself centers on a converted textile mill, Mill Falls Marketplace, where a working waterfall still tumbles beside shops and restaurants built into the old brick works.

Paddling Meredith Bay

We rented sea kayaks from a spot right on the marina and spent an afternoon working along the shoreline, past boathouses and docks stacked with kids doing cannonballs, the White Mountains visible as a hazy blue line to the north. Winnipesaukee has 274 islands scattered across it, most privately owned, and we paddled close enough to a couple of the smaller ones to see rope swings and fire pits tucked among the pines — clearly loved, clearly not ours to land on, so we kept moving.

Mill Falls and the town docks

Back at Mill Falls, the old textile mill’s waterwheel and falls still run behind glass in the marketplace, a nice bit of industrial history kept visible rather than gutted for retail space, and we had dinner on a deck overlooking the marina as the sun went down behind the hills. A short walk along Main Street took us past a genuinely good independent bookstore and an ice cream shop with a line out the door, small-town lake-life rituals that felt unforced rather than staged for tourists.

Getting There

The nearest airport is Manchester-Boston Regional (MHT), about an hour south by car via I-93 and Route 3, or Boston Logan (BOS), roughly two hours south. A car is essential for reaching the lake and getting between marinas, trailheads, and downtown, since public transit in the Lakes Region is minimal.