Hooksett

Hooksett is what happens when a town agrees to be a pass-through. The I-93 and I-293 split runs straight through it, the toll plaza is a regional landmark, and the state liquor stores at the southbound rest area move enough cabernet to embarrass Massachusetts. For dating, that geography cuts both ways: you can be in Manchester proper in twelve minutes or up in Concord in twenty, which expands the dinner radius considerably. The town itself trends quiet, residential, and chain-restaurant heavy. Bring someone here for a Robie's Country Store coffee or a Merrimack walk and it lands as low-key charm. Bring them for the Applebee's and it lands as exactly that.