The Granite State experienced a bit of a setback in 2003 when their most famous landmark, the Old Man in the Mountain, fell off the mountain. The Old Man, memorialized on the New Hampshire quarter and stamps, was once referred to by statesman Daniel Webster as the sign God hung in the mountains of New Hampshire “to show that there He makes men.”
Although that sign has now crumbled, the state is still full of the same spirit that made the Old Man the perfect symbol of New Hampshire’s granite stoicism and independent will. This is still the state whose motto (visible on license plates) is “Live Free or Die” after all. New Hampshire is the place that, in 1776, became the first sovereign nation in the Americas and was one of the original 13 to found the United States of America. The New Hampshire of today upholds that tradition of firsts by being the first state, every four years, to hold a presidential primary. The freedoms extend to the financial arena: this is a state with no general sales tax or personal income tax.
New Hampshire is the ideal place to go if you want to get down and dirty with United States history – or if you want to go skiing and hiking in the White Mountains, climb Mount Washington (and see for yourself the infamous “worst weather on earth”), roar with Laconia’s Motorcycle Week in June, or float down the Piscataqua River to Portsmouth Harbor.
The well-forested state attracts many visitors during the fall leaf-peeping season – a time when the foliage turns brilliant colors – or to try some New Hampshire maple syrup and fresh apple cider. You can also try your hand at winter ice fishing on the NH lakes, but stay too long and you might get caught up in one of the local nor’easters.
Concord is the capital of New Hampshire, but travelers tend to gravitate to New Hampshire’s tiny, 18-mile coast with the historic city of Portsmouth and popular Hampshire Beach. Along with the salt marshes, you’ll also find the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear reactor in New England. The state also has sap houses (open during the spring sugaring season), country fairs and summer camps.