New Hampshire
6 Towns in New Hampshire With Thriving Local Businesses
Quaint is probably the best way to describe New Hampshire. This northeastern state is small in area and population but full of winsome woods and picturesque towns. Those towns, though quaint on the outside, are vibrant on the inside since they contain such splendid businesses as a giant independent bookstore, a 112-foot-long candy counter, a decades-old family-owned restaurant, and a brewpub in an 18th-century gristmill. See where to find the most thriving local businesses and other commercial attractions in the Granite State.
Exeter
Having gone from about 12,000 residents in 1990 to more than 16,000 in 2020, Exeter is a boom town and its businesses reflect that status. The Front Row Pizzeria has been serving scrumptious Italian food to Exeterites for 20-plus years; The Chocolatier has been handcrafting chocolates since 1978; Whirlygigs Toy Shop has been peddling puzzles, games, crafts, and plush toys in a family-owned establishment since 1986; and the Water Street Bookstore has been dealing paperbacks and hardcovers since 1991 and is considered the largest independent bookstore in New Hampshire’s seacoast region.
Beyond such seacoast staples, Exeter has a bevy of newer attractions like Alchemy & Herbs, OBA Noodle Bar, Sawbelly Brewing, Top Drawer, and Vino e Vivo. A tourist can mix old with new in this bustling community that began way back in 1638.
Littleton
A little town with a lot of color, Littleton claims roughly 6,000 residents and dozens of amazing businesses—some of which have been operating for over 100 years. Chutters opened in the late 1800s as a grocery store and became, according to a USA Today poll from 2023, the third-best candy shop in America. Even more impressive, Chutters boasts the world’s longest candy counter, which stretches 112 feet and supports around 600 jars of esoteric sweets. Another legendary Littleton locale is Schilling Beer Co., a brewpub that, although founded in 2013, operates in a gristmill from circa 1797.
After eating bottle caps at Chutters and popping bottle caps at Schilling, you can tour other downtown haunts like the Little Village Toy & Book Shop and The Coffee Pot Restaurant before venturing into the White Mountains with its campgrounds, lodges, and ski resorts. Littleton is colorful inside and out.
Hanover
Hanover is perhaps best known for Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university established in 1769. Although Dartmouth is an attraction in its own right (the Webster Cottage, Geisel School of Medicine, and Hanover Inn have been on-campus sentinels since the 1700s), its surrounding businesses are the best spots to stop for R&R. Serving thousands of students, residents, and tourists are Lou’s Restaurant & Bakery, which is a Main Street mainstay that opened in 1947; Molly’s Restaurant & Bar, another Main Street hang with a magnificent menu; and Murphy’s, yet another Main Street eatery that, having opened in 1992, is considered the “longest standing original family-owned business in Hanover.”
In addition to those Dartmouth and Dartmouth-adjacent digs, Hanover harbors many more relaxing retreats, including Jesse’s Steaks, Nugget Theaters, Base Camp Cafe, Dunk’s Sports Grill, Red Kite Candy, Nathan’s Garden, and Still North Books & Bar. Hanover is a great place for a hangover.
Amherst
A sizeable town of nearly 12,000, Amherst is also a sprawling oasis filled with several nature preserves. Chief among them are the Hodgman State Forest, Peabody Mill Environmental Center and Joe English Conservation Land, and Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary, the last of which spans 75ish acres of water, sphagnum moss, and oak-pine woods. Some of the town’s commercial attractions even have nature-inspired names, such as the Black Forest Cafe & Bakery and the Robin’s Egg eclectic décor and antique store.
Other lively businesses to patronize in Amherst include Smokehaus Barbecue, The Bistro at LaBelle Winery, Moulton’s Kitchen & Market, Earth and Tree Dollhouse and Miniature Shop, Monarquia Authentic Mexican Restaurant, ThaiLicious Asian Fusion, Bentley’s Roast Beef, The Flying Butcher, and Naji’s Pizza.
Conway
Located way out in northeastern New Hampshire, Conway has almost 10,000 residents and straddles roughly 800,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest. After hiking, biking, horseback riding, train riding, rock climbing, off-roading, fishing, kayaking, boating, and even moose viewing in the forest, adventurers can unwind in Conway proper at various establishments. Tuckerman Brewing Company, which sits on Hobbs Street, sells food and beer and brews about 8,000 barrels of the latter each year. Tours are offered on Fridays at 5 PM and Saturdays at 12 PM. Just a short drive away is Sweet Maple Café, which sweetens mornings with pancakes and waffles.
Moreover, tourists can visit more touristy North Conway for forays into Zeb’s General Store, Delaney’s Hole In the Wall, the Lobster Trap Restaurant, and the Muddy Moose Restaurant & Pub. Lastly, Center Conway can bring you back to basics for the Sherman Farm Market, a scenic showcase of local produce, meat, milk, and many other products.
Hancock
If Amherst is an oasis, Hancock is pure paradise. This town sits around 20 miles northwest of Amherst and has one-seventh the population. Instead of people, Hancock has an abundance of plants and animals that inhabit Norway Pond, Thumb Mountain, Nubanusit Lake, Skatutakee Mountain, the Welch Family Farm and Forest, and the Harris Center for Conservation Education. The few people who enter Hancock are treated with coffee at Fiddleheads Cafe, beer at Hornburg Brewing Company, produce at Hancock Market, and rest at The Hancock Inn (which closed for renovations and is expected to reopen in 2024).
New Hampshire is a quaint and picturesque state that is energetic and under-the-radar. Inside its tiny towns are lively businesses that have been operating for decades—and in some cases centuries. Check out Exeter, Littleton, Hanover, Amherst, Conway, and Hancock for their vibrant and historic steakhouses, pizzerias, bars, grocers, bakeries, bookstores, inns, cafes, breweries, antique stores, gift shops, candy shops, and toy stores.
The son of Cher is scheduled to be in court Wednesday for a hearing over allegations he broke into a New Hampshire home earlier this month.
It was the second arrest in a matter of days for Elijah Allman, 49, of Malibu, California, who was detained Feb. 27 after allegedly acting belligerently at a prestigious prep school in New Hampshire. It was unclear if Allman had any connection to either St. Paul’s School or the home in Windham, New Hampshire.
Allman remains in the Rockingham County Department of Corrections in what is called preventive detention, Superintendent Jonathan Banville said.
Allman, whose father was the late singer Gregg Allman, faces two counts of criminal mischief, one count of burglary and a count of breach of bail for breaking into the home on March 1. Police said in a report that Allman did not have permission to be at the home and forcibly entered it .
In the incident at the prep school, Allman was charged with four misdemeanors: two counts of simple assault, criminal trespass and criminal threatening. Allman was also charged with a violation of disorderly conduct, which is illegal in the state but not considered a crime.
At about 7 p.m. that day, Concord police responded to reports that Allman was disturbing people in the dining hall of St. Paul’s School. After charging Allman, police said he was released on bail as his case works through the court system.
Allman did not respond to an email requesting comment, and a phone number for him was not working. It was unclear from the court records if Allman has an attorney.
In December 2023, Cher filed a petition to become a temporary conservator overseeing her son’s money, saying Allman struggles with mental health issues and addiction have left him unable to manage his assets and potentially put his life in danger.
The petition from the singer and actress said Elijah Allman is entitled to regular payments from a trust fund. But “given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues,” she is “concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk,” the petition says.
A few weeks later, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica Uzcategui denied the request, saying she was not convinced that a conservatorship was urgently needed. Allman was in the courtroom with his his attorneys, who acknowledged his previous struggles but argued that he is in a good place now, attending meetings, getting treatment and reconciling with his previously estranged wife.
New Hampshire
Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.
“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.
“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”
Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.
He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”
Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.
For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.
“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”
Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.
CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”
Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.
29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.
“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.
While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.
“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,
“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.
“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.
Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.
“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.
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