NH’s 1ST FIRST FAMILY

To the winner goes the spin. If New Hampshire had been settled three years earlier, would we see America in a different light today? The Granite State was founded by a Scottish gentleman seeking, not religious freedom, but wealth and security. But David Thomson disappeared and the pilgrims – well you know that story. Instead of his own national holiday, Thomson got nothing but a stone marker and a footnote.

13 AT DINNER IS BAD LUCK

American author Nathaniel Hawthorne came to New Hampshire for his health. He died here. The same thing happened to poet John Greenleaf whittier. Coincidence? Of course. But how else can we entice you to read the story of the death and burial of a minor romantic poet? Here is the story of the popular poets final days and journey home.

WHEN HELEN MET SARAH

Portsmouth, NH has had many historic walking guides over the years. The first and perhaps best in 1876 was the inspiration of Sarah Haven Foster, a local artist and writer. Her independent work inspired artist Helen Pearson to create her own fragile guidebook in 1913. Both have largely faded from memory, but deserve a new look.

THE MAN, THE CLAM, THE LEGEND

That thick white stuff with the flecks of pink and tiny potato cubes may be chowder to you. We call it a seafood frappe. Around the Robinson house, clam chowder is grayish, filled with whole clams, fresh potato and made with milk. It contains nothing else. That’s the way our Grampa Scott made it, and that’s the way we make it still.