We drove up Mount Sunapee and took a quick look at the ski lift and downhill trails. Since neither of us has ever been skiing, we had very little idea what we were seeing. We laughed when we saw the first aid station and joked that we would both need to know its location if we ever tried skiing.
We went into the town of Newport for lunch at the Salt Hill Pub. They have pub food and traditional American fare. I had Stevie's Pot Roast which was served with mashed potatoes and a mixed winter squash. It was outstanding. Grandad had a cheeseburger which was served on a pretzel burger and came with all the traditional burger trimmings. He said it was really good.
After lunch the clerk at the local Rite-Aid recommended a drive up to Pillsbury State Park. He said it had beautiful views of the lake from the mountain top. When we got there, it was closed for the season. We decided just to keep driving down the same highway. It was a very rural area and it felt a little "Deliverance" if you know what I mean, so we didn't stop, we just kept going.
Eventually we came to a little town called Henniker. As we drove in to Henniker we saw homemade posters and signs advertising a community market in town square. We didn't really have any way to bring produce or baked goods home, but we decided to stop anyway and I'm so glad we did. The people were very friendly, the ginger cookie we bought from one of the vendors was huge and delicious, and the bittersweet chocolate-coconut scone was perfect for breakfast the next morning on the way to the airport.
The market was in a little park with a bandstand, complete with a band playing Texas-style Americana music.
Henniker is a beautiful little town, very picturesque. It is home to New England College which is a gorgeous little liberal arts college with about 1800 students. Most of the buildings are white clapboard construction in the New England style and the campus boasts its own covered bridge which spans the Contoocook River and connects the main campus to the athletic fields.
We saw five different covered bridges while we were in New Hampshire, this was my favorite. It was built using lattice truss construction. Both the construction of the bridge and the views from the bridge are beautiful. Interestingly, this bridge was built in 1972.
The brilliance of the autumn leaves was beginning to fade, but there was still some beautiful scenery in Henniker.
As the sun started to set, we headed back to the resort for our last night in New England. Tomorrow, we head back to South Texas.
