The list nobody Instagrams. Where to grocery-shop on a Saturday afternoon. Which gas station's open at 11. Where the pharmacy is at six on a Sunday. The closest urgent care if the kid hits the dock the wrong way.
We list the boring stuff so the vacation works.
A member-owned grocery, bakery, and café on Newport Road, the New London branch of the Concord Food Co-op. Smaller and more locally sourced than the Hannaford up the road, with a bakery case worth a stop on its own. Open 9 to 6 Monday through Saturday, 10:30 to 4:30 Sunday, closed the major holidays. The better stop for anyone provisioning a week at the lake who wants NH-made products over a national chain's private label.
The area's full-service supermarket, on Newport Road with delivery and pickup available for anyone who'd rather not shop on arrival day. This is the stock-up stop for a week-long rental — deli counter, pharmacy counter, the works — rather than the smaller specialty option at the co-op down the road. Runs standard grocery-chain hours, open early and late daily. Pair a Hannaford run with the Evans Expressmart next door for gas on the same trip.
A second full grocery option in Newport, about fifteen minutes from the lake, useful as backup when the New London stores are picked over on a holiday weekend. Prices here run a little more reasonable than the lakefront options closer to Sunapee, which matters on a long-stay provisioning trip. Not the first stop for a quick supply run, but worth the drive for a full stock-up before a week with no dinner reservations planned.
The historic Georges Mills General Store, now Jake's Market & Deli, doubling as the neighborhood's grocery, gas station, and sandwich counter in one stop. Open early — 5:30 a.m. weekdays — and late, to 9 p.m. every night of the week. The closest thing to a corner store for anyone renting on the lake's northern end, where the next real grocery option is fifteen minutes south in New London. Grab ice and a deli sandwich before heading to the boat.
A gas-and-convenience stop on Main Street in New London, part of a small regional chain with locations across central New Hampshire and eastern Vermont. Pay-at-pump, a full convenience counter, and an ATM cover the basics between the lake and the highway. The closer option to New London's restaurants and the college, versus the Sunapee location nearer the harbor — check whichever is actually on the day's route rather than doubling back.
The Sunapee location of the same regional chain, on Route 11 with a small attached restaurant alongside the usual pay-at-pump and convenience counter. Closer to Georges Mills and the lake's northern end than the New London location, which makes it the better stop before or after a Goodhue Boat Company rental run. Beer and wine sold here too, worth knowing if a dockside dinner needs a last-minute bottle after the co-op has closed.
A 25-bed community hospital on County Road with a 24-hour emergency department — three trauma bays, five exam rooms, staffed around the clock by physicians and ambulance crews. Express Care Plus, in a separate wing with its own entrance and registration, handles non-life-threatening injuries and illness without an appointment when the full emergency room is overkill. The only hospital serving the lake directly; save the number before a boating or hiking day, not after.
A full pharmacy and small department store on Newport Road that's served New London since 1967 — long enough to predate most of the restaurants on this list. Beyond prescriptions, the shelves cover the basic stuff a rental always seems to be missing: sunscreen, bug spray, a phone charger. Standard weekday pharmacy hours; call ahead for a specific prescription transfer rather than assuming a walk-in fill on a holiday weekend.
A second independent pharmacy on Newport Road, a few doors from Colonial, useful as backup when a prescription needs filling and the first stop is backed up or out of stock. Smaller and less of a general store than Colonial, focused mainly on the pharmacy counter itself. Worth having both numbers saved for a longer lake stay where a maintenance medication runs out mid-trip and the nearest pharmacy beyond these two is back in Newport or Concord.