Live Free or Die?

New Hampshire’s state motto feels a little dramatic, but when it was written by General John Stark in 1809, it was the reality and an inspiration. My time in NH was, thankfully, less extreme.

On the way to our campsite in Bethlehem, we made stops in Manchester and Concord. There are two Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Manchester – curated through the Currier Museum of Art. I was able to get a tour time to see both homes and spend some time in the museum itself.

The Zimmerman house was built using the Usonian design and was set on this beautiful lot surrounded by trees and lush landscape. It felt like a family home – same uncomfortable-looking furniture but a warmer, lived-in feel. The kitchen still had the original appliances, including that neat in-sink dishwasher, an efficient sized fridge, and a huge chest freezer.

The house features these mitered window panes in the entry way (pictured above), which created this seamless view, bringing the outside in. I’m not sure how stable or wind resistant those windows were, but they were lovely to look out.

We were able to just stroll down the street to the second FLW house in Manchester, the Kalil Usonian Automatic house. In contrast to the Zimmerman house, the Kalil felt very modern and cold due to the hundreds of concrete bricks that made up its walls.

I thought this set of photos would be a good contrast the ones from the Zimmerman house. The Kalil house is a combination of solid blocks and blocks with windows. There was a lot of natural light, but you can tell by the first two pictures how industrial it felt. There was a mother-in-law building behind the house. Both homes were surrounded by trees, which added much to the atmosphere of living in nature.

The small building in the back had details about how the bricks were individually made and then stacked together to provide the structure of the house.

After the house tours, I spent a little time enjoying the Currier Museum itself and grabbed a quick lunch in the museum cafe. We made a pit stop on the way to Bethlehem in Concord for groceries, and then we were off.

We set-up to stay a week at the Apple Hill Campground. When you drive into a lot of RV parks, it can be hard to tell what to expect. Driving down to our site was like driving into a park. Our site was great – lots of trees and very quiet. We had some nice neighbors who were up from the DC area. The husband was an author, and the wife taught piano, but they were mostly retired. It was nice to chat with them and learn more about their travels. You can read more about them at their site: Greedy Travelers.

On Sunday, a co-worker who has a home in the area, stopped by, and we went for breakfast at the famous Polly’s Pancake Parlor. Thankfully, I was with a local who knew the ropes to getting a table and avoiding the lines. Polly’s started in what looked pretty much like a shack, but as it grew in popularity, they’ve built a really impressive restaurant. You can customize your pancakes, so I got three different ones – plain batter with blueberries, gingerbread with walnuts, and chocolate-covered maple toffee in the plain batter. They were all fantastic. If you go, call ahead for a reservation and go hungry. I wish I could’ve eaten more.

After pancakes, we drove over to Bretton Woods, which sits in the shadow of Mount Washington. It was a little overcast, so we couldn’t see the summit, but we did drive up to the Omni Mount Washington and got a great view of the area. It’s nice to drive around with a friend who is a local and can tell you all kinds of stories about the wonderful times that they’ve had in the area with their family.

We enjoyed the rest of the week, Arthur got some restful cat naps, and work felt manageable in the woods. The only real downside to this park was the showers. 🍫🍫🍫🍫 If I ever stayed there again, I would figure something else out for showers.