Travel: New Hampshire is alive with natural beauty, bountiful history

STAR ISLAND, N.H. – The veranda of the Oceanic Hotel still feels like “the breeziest and comfortablest place in the world.”

In the mid-1800s, author Nathaniel Hawthorne was visiting a sister island in New Hampshire’s Isles of Shoals when he penned the description in a letter to a friend.

However, from rocking chairs on the hotel’s veranda, the view of the nine-island group, the Atlantic Ocean and the coastlines of New Hampshire and Maine fits Hawthorne’s observation very well.

A ferry ride aboard the vessel M/V Thomas Laighton out of Portsmouth, N.H., carried us to Star Island, a place steeped in history and natural beauty.

When Europeans first came upon the isles, the surrounding waters were so filled with huge cod that a sailor could walk to the mainland on the backs of fish, according to local lore. In the late 1800s, nearby Appledore Island became a bastion for authors and artists hosted by popular poet Celia Thaxter. Hawthorne, John Greenleaf Whittier and Oliver Wendell Holmes were among the many visitors.

A few years later, Oceanic Hotel, designed in the style of the grand hotels of New England, opened as a party haven for the wealthy. Today, the hotel dominates the island’s 34-structure community that also includes a stone chapel, history museum, gazebo and the Tucke Monument, a 46-foot obelisk. Visitors, whether overnight guests or day-trippers, enjoy lounging on the beach, walking through wildflower meadows and kayaking to nearby islands.

Old-style beach vibe

New Hampshire surprises with its many beautiful places. Visitors like island communities, such as picturesque New Castle, east of Portsmouth. Rye offers supreme seafood restaurants, surf shops, boardwalks and plenty of beach access. At the Atlantic Grill, patrons enjoy coastal classic cuisine in patio garden settings or seafoam-hued interior spaces. Perfectly prepared lobster, crab, shrimp and fish are served with a flavorful selection of sauces and side dishes.

Odiorne Point State Park, an emerald jewel along the state’s 18-mile coastline, has a sandy beach, salt marshes, rocky shoreline with tidal pools and views of four lighthouses. A three-mile loop trail winds through woodlands. The child-friendly Seacoast Science Center encourages interaction with nature by way of touch tanks and exhibits.

Hampton Beach State Park, a long, broad band of yellow sand, provides beach access to all. People go early, carting umbrellas and coolers, to spend time in the sun and surf. Just across Ocean Boulevard, hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment venues cater to beach-goers.

Portsmouth is the coastline’s headliner. Downtown retains an endearing historical mantle, yet mixes past and present. Nineteenth-century redbrick buildings with small shops and eateries edge narrow streets. We discovered Cava, a Spanish-influenced tapas and wine bar, tucked into an alley. We chose grilled Iberico pork and paella with chicken.

The history of Portsmouth unfolds at the Strawbery Banke Museum. English colonists established a settlement in 1623; however Native Americans had hunted and fished at this sheltered cove for thousands of years prior. Thirty-seven restored buildings cluster in the present 10-acre village site. For many years, the largely working-class neighborhood was called Puddle Dock.

Directly next to the museum, Prescott Park buffers the Piscataqua River. The 10-acre park’s brick walkways wind past blooming flower beds surrounding a centerpiece fountain. A bridge leads to Peirce Island, a grassy area with playgrounds, walking trails and a view of the U.S. Naval Shipyard, established in 1800.

In the heart of Portsmouth’s Market Square district, a restoration turned a brick church building into the 15-room Hotel Thaxter. Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club is around the corner. Performances occur in a landmark built in 1905 as a YMCA that was renovated to include a listening hall with state-of-the-art acoustics.

Heading to the interior

The temptation was great to stick to the coastline, but we heard the serene cry of the loon. The bird with a distinctive black-and-white collar lives in the clear waters of New Hampshire’s lake district. We drove to Lake Winnipesaukee, the state’s largest lake, dotted with more than 250 islands.

To grasp the grandeur of the lakes, we visited the Castle in the Clouds. It sits on a promontory, offering sweeping views of the Ossipee Mountains and Lake Winnipesaukee. Tom Plant, the owner of what was once the largest shoe factory in the world, oversaw the mansion’s completion in 1914. He called his 6,300-acre estate Lucknow. The Arts and Crafts-style architecture was designed to blend in with its natural surroundings. Ninety percent of the furnishings are original to the house.

Overcome by opulence, we selected simplicity for our next destination.

At its height back in the 1860s, Canterbury Shaker Village, 15 miles northeast of Concord, had about 400 residents. Twenty-five restored Shaker buildings occupy the 694 acres of land. Members of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing were called Shakers because of their religious services in which they danced wildly and spoke in tongues. They lived modestly. The first building in Canterbury, the Meeting House, was constructed in 1792. The 56-room Dwelling House, the largest building on site, was finished a year later.

Concord, the capital city

With 400 representatives, the New Hampshire House of Representatives is proud to be the fourth largest lower house governing body in the world behind only the U.S. House, the British House of Commons and India’s Lok Sabha. The gold-domed State House in Concord contains a Hall of Flags with more than 100 battle flags of New Hampshire. A statue of New Hampshire native Daniel Webster is among those perched on the grounds.

The State House building is woven into the downtown fabric of stores, restaurants and coffee shops along Main Street. A lively crowd attended the Concord Farmers’ Market right next to the capitol grounds on the morning we visited.

With its outdoor seating, the Revival Kitchen & Bar meshes with the downtown street scene. The shrimp-stuffed sole is an excellent choice. The Hotel Concord, in the heart of downtown, is just a five-minute walk from Eagle Square, a gathering spot for city dwellers and street performers.

Nearby is Pierce Manse, the white, two-story home of Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire’s only native son to reach the White House. Tours are available through rooms containing many original furnishings. Exhibit panels address Pierce’s accomplishments while serving as a U.S. representative, senator and president.

Concord’s McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center pays tribute to Christa McAuliffe, the Concord High School teacher who was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, and Alan Shepard, a native of Derry, N.H. In 1961, Shepard became the first American to fly in space; and, in 1971, he commanded the Apollo 14 mission to the moon.

A full-size replica of a Mercury Redstone rocket stands outside the center. A Crusader jet, a supersonic fighter from the 1950s, greets visitors on entry. A planetarium and numerous hands-on exhibits make this a stellar family attraction.

Museums in Manchester

In Manchester, two residences designed by Frank Lloyd Wright are open for tours coordinated by the Currier Museum of Art. The red-brick Zimmerman House seems to blend into a small hillside. By contrast, the Kalil House is a standout structure of concrete blocks. The Currier Museum contains an impressive collection, highlighted by paintings of American artist Andrew Wyeth and also including works by Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. After the museum visit, we treated ourselves to a grand seafood dinner at the Copper Door restaurant in Bedford near Manchester.

The Millyard District edges the Merrimack River that runs north-south through Manchester. A paved trail encourages strolls along the waterway. A southern segment of the riverwalk connects to Delta Dental Stadium, home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a Double-A Toronto Blue Jays baseball affiliate. Guests at the Hilton Garden Inn, located beyond the left field wall, can watch a minor league ball game out their room window.

Linda Lange and Steve Ahillen are travel writers living in Knoxville, Tennessee.