Our first excursion to New Hampshire was to spend a week at a timeshare in the White Mountains and we were surprised at how much that the State had to offer to tourists.
After leaving the airport, we dropped down to Derry, New Hampshire to see the home of Robert Frost and learned that he had an enormous library which we were able to see. He had written hundreds of poems and stories and could have filled a good sized library with his own works.
We then headed to the Northern part of the State and would pass near Squam Lake National Science Center. Because we had seen the 1981 movie ‘On Golden Pond’ starring Peter Fonda and Catherine Hepburn, we felt obliged to go by and view it.
We then journeyed to the White Mountains where our timeshare was located… After getting settled in, we began several days of investigations into the excitement of seeing the Old Man of The Mountain. We were lucky in that this was before the Old man fell off his perch atop of the mountain.
The Old Man of the Mountain’ , also known as Great Stone Face or the Profile was a series of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
The rock formations appeared to be the jagged profile of a face when viewed from a certain area and a certain angle . This required one to go down a trail to get into position to see this image, even though it appeared to be further away than most pictures show it to be.
The rock profile was about 40 feet tall and about 25 feet wide.and about 1200 feet above the granite floor below. It was estimated that the formation of the profile probably took place about 12,000 years ago.
We found out that this Monument symbolized much pride and respect and was shown by the importance that the State placed on it. New Hampshire had printed a 3 cent stamp with the face printed on it in 1955.
Daniel Webster, a New Hampshire native, once wrote, “Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades, shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe, Jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth, but up in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men”.
Unfortunately, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed on April 26, 2003 at midnight and fell to the ground. Dismay over the collapse was so great that people left flowers and at the base of the cliffs, as a tribute.
We visited Franconia Notch State Park and the Flume Bridge over the Pemigewasset River which is about 500 feet long and a beautiful structure.
The flume is nearby and also is an attractive sight to see.
Later, we went to visit the Shaker Village in Canterbury and were shocked and amazed at the talents of the people who had been members of the sect and the many inventions and ideas they made known with the farm and the products that were available in the museum. They bought nothing in the stores but the bare essentials. They made everything they needed themselves. The also wrote good gospel songs, some of which are still popular in churches.
The buildings were well made and outstanding in design. Their furniture was impeccably made and above anything you would ever see in most stores nowadays.
They had some rather strange ideas when compared to our modern code of morality. Having the men and women enter different doors when going to church was one. Married couples were not allowed to copulate and spend time together. It is pretty obvious why the church died out. New members came from those who joined the village, not from family life within the village. Only two or three members are still alive. The tourists still abound in the Shaker Villages to see their crafts and amazing culture they created. It was a wonderful tour with an interesting story.
At the end of our week of timeshare, we moseyed South to Manchester and flew back to Texas, feeling that the trip had been one of the best.