An Alternative Thought on the I-95 Bridge Between Maine and New Hampshire

Maine NH Bridge

We see it a lot more often during tourist season than outside of it, but regardless of the time of year or whether it’s from a tourist or local, the same sentiment is constantly echoed.

The I-95/Piscataqua River Bridge that connects Maine and New Hampshire always seems to stir up emotions. And, for the most part, it depends on which direction you’re driving.

Constantly in various Facebook groups, multiple posters and commenters will echo the sentiment that as they cross the bridge from New Hampshire into Maine, they feel at home with a full heart, and as they cross it going the opposite way, they feel a slight emptiness and sadness.

But I’d like to offer a different, alternative, possibly controversial view — it’s possible to feel at home no matter the direction you cross the bridge.

Welcome to Maine

I get the feeling, too. You take that final bend toward the right along 95, having passed the final Portsmouth, New Hampshire, exit a few miles back, and see that spectacular green steel structure in your path.

You feel the slight bump as your vehicle leaves the concrete above the ground and enters the concrete of the bridge. You look up, see that “Welcome to Maine” sign, and smile a bit. A few seconds later, you feel another bump, leaving the bridge, finding your vehicle on the concrete above the ground once again.

But this time, you’re in Maine, and suddenly your soul feels lighter and you get that “I’m home,” feeling. Because for a lot of us, Maine is the state we call home every day.

Welcome to NH

But here’s the thing. Other than a couple of years in Oklahoma, I’ve lived in New England my entire life, and most of those years were spent in New Hampshire. So, while others feel a sense of sadness, emptiness, and heaviness when they cross the bridge leaving Maine, I don’t.

That same feeling I described above as you cross the bridge entering Maine? I get that same feeling when I cross the bridge leaving Maine and entering New Hampshire, too. Because both states feel like home to me. Both states are home to me.

And maybe I’m one of the lucky, rare ones. Because, yes, the Piscataqua River Bridge/I-95 Bridge/Whatever-You-Call-It-Personally Bridge — it brings on a lot of emotion. But for me, no matter whether I’m driving north or south or heading into Vacationland or the Granite State…

…that emotion is always, “I’m home.”