| No one from outside the state knows quite what to | | | | bed-and-breakfasts, lakes for swimming and boating, |
| make of New Hampshire; tucked up in the northeast | | | | covered bridges, and cultural events, from summer |
| region of the country between the more famously | | | | theatre to concerts on town commons. This area of |
| bucolic states of Vermont and Maine, it doesn't really | | | | New Hampshire has traditionally been a favorite for |
| have an easily defined identity. | | | | people with the means to "summer" in the region - |
| The state shows up once every four years on the | | | | the "summer people", the vernacular calls them, or |
| national radar screen because of its first-in-the-nation | | | | more recently, "flatlanders". |
| presidential primary, though the Iowa caucuses have | | | | Heading north, the traveler heads through Concord, |
| managed to steal a little of the Yankee state's | | | | the state capital, and within an hour comes to the |
| thunder in that regard. Everybody outside the state | | | | Lakes region, with the largest lake, Winnepesaukee, a |
| thought us native-born New Hampshirites were nuts | | | | magnet for tourists. It and the surrounding smaller |
| when the Old Man in the Mountains, that wonderfully | | | | lakes, formed eons ago by glacial activity, offer a |
| distinctive Great Stone Face in Franconia Notch, | | | | lively summer culture, with boating, fishing, swimming, |
| succumbed to centuries of erosion and the cold, and | | | | and plenty of summer events. Further north still are |
| we mourned his passing as if he were a beloved | | | | the astonishing White Mountains, tall, jagged |
| family member - which he was, a sort of spiritual | | | | mountains reminiscent of the European Alps which |
| guardian watching over us protectively, now gone | | | | stretch almost across the entire middle of the state |
| forever. | | | | from west to east. Popular in summer, they're |
| We show up on the news once in a while when | | | | packed in the winter with skiers looking for |
| some crackpot goes on a crime spree and then | | | | challenging ski conditions. Some areas, like Waterville |
| heads for Canada, generally right up the middle of | | | | Valley, host ski events with Olympic caliber |
| the state on I93, and ends up getting caught | | | | competitors; every so often, the state manages to |
| somewhere around Colebrook. Other than those odd | | | | produce an Olympic champion. From the mountains, |
| happenings, the state doesn't really figure largely in | | | | past the presidential range and north of the town of |
| the national consciousness. | | | | Berlin, the land flattens out on its way to the |
| Too bad. The little state has a lot to offer. An odd | | | | Canadian border and Montreal. |
| mixture of industrial and rural landscape, the mostly | | | | And, of course, there's Loudon, north of Concord, |
| landlocked state boasts a ten-mile stretch of | | | | with its yearly motorcycle race, the oldest in the U.S.; |
| coastline featuring the carnival atmosphere, in the | | | | for five days seemingly every highway and back |
| summer anyway, of Hampton Beach, and other more | | | | road in the state teems with lines of motorheads, |
| quiet beaches like Rye. Further inland, Manchester | | | | some on rice burners or Beamers, but mostly on |
| features a mixture of old brick factory buildings and | | | | Harleys, heading for the rally and then back home |
| more modern architecture, with spectacular mall | | | | again, transforming the entire state into two kinds of |
| shopping opportunities as well as more cultural | | | | people: the guys and gals on motorcycles and the |
| offerings ranging from galleries to nightclubs and | | | | rest of us who watch them ride by. The race takes |
| including the Verizon Wireless Arena, site of sports | | | | place at what is now New Hampshire International |
| competition and other events, including bands on tour | | | | Speedway, which in recent years has offered official |
| nationally. The city also boasts its own international | | | | NASCAR races throughout the racing season - a big |
| airport, a sensible alternative to congested Logan in | | | | story in itself. |
| Boston. Nearby Nashua, the birthplace of the PC | | | | Something for everyone, indeed. Maybe the reason |
| (personal computer), has Massachusetts-style | | | | New Hampshire doesn't have a clear identity in the |
| residential and commercial sprawl, also with lots of | | | | national psyche is that we have a lot of individual |
| places to shop, and an ever-growing housing market. | | | | identities, distinct regions with their own flavor and a |
| To the west, the Monadnock Region operates at a | | | | lively mix of people who manage to express their |
| slower pace than the industrial center, but has its | | | | interests in an amazing variety of ways - all of which |
| own thriving tourist trade, with plenty of | | | | makes for an interesting visit to this little state. |