Day Trip with Friends to Littleton, NH

When Laura's husband Ian arrived last weekend, we wasted no time before we were out on another exploration of the area. This was his vacation week after all, and he wanted to see New Hampshire as much as any of us. So on Sunday we headed north on I-93 through the Pemigewasset Valley, zooming past the Cannon Cliffs...

and on to Littleton and the farmers' market. Littleton has a newly constructed but traditionally designed covered bridge that passes over the Ammonoosuc River, right behind Main St.

It is a pedestrian only bridge.

On the other side is the small farmers market...

...where we found fresh local produce, locally raised and spun wools, maple products and some reportedly delicious basil flavored goat cheese.

Oh, and bicycle-ground coffee. That's a first. : )

Here's a view of the backside of Littleton, and the old mill.

Littleton is a lovely little New England town that seems to be doing OK on Main St.

You know how some towns have fundraisers where statues of locally popular animals or other things are painted by artists and then auctioned off? Well Littleton painted pianos. That's another first. Here's one that seemed to be in perfect working order. The theme of the event was "Make Music. Be Glad." It was painted above the keyboard of this piano.

There were other colorful touches as well. One of the pedestrian alleys was decorated with these umbrellas suspended overhead.

Then we found the biggest, most comprehensive and amazingly organized candy store ever: Chutters.  They had everything from gum balls, to Jelly Bellies, to fudge. Ian got caught with his hand in the licorice jar.

After lunch at Miller's Cafe and Bakery (winner of the 50 Best Sandwiches in the World Award, from the Food Network) we left Littleton and traveled back south down I-93 to Franconia Notch State Park's Flume Gorge. Rick and I had visited earlier, but Laura and Ian needed to see it too. We took the walking loop up to the Flume, over to Liberty Gorge, The Pool, and back to the parking lot. There was yet another covered bridge, this time over the Pemigewasset River.

I can't believe it, but our time here in Lincoln, NH is almost over. Laura and Ian have left, and I have only two more days of teaching left. We've taken lots of great hikes, some very long (for us), and some very vertical (for us).  We're in great shape now.  Bring on Mt Washington!!  : )  I hope we can at least see Mt. Washington before we leave. It's been raining, raining, raining, almost every day. More than when we were in Oregon and Washington. 

I'm going to try to squeeze one more post in before we leave NH. Stay tuned for a slice of real traditional New England life...