"Live Free Or Die"

After yesterday's post on civil unions in New Hampshire, it got me thinking about the state that is only a few hours drive from here due East. I've been to every New England state except Rhode Island. It is probably quite similar from what I've seen of the others. I must like the guys from here — I dated a guy that grew up in Gloucester MA (yes, his father was a fisherman) and another from Providence RI (did you know that a lot of Portuguese immigrants settled there?).

My first memory of New Hampshire is a road trip with my parents and grandparents to the Cathedral of the Pines (forest green circle on the map). I was probably about six years old so I don't recall a whole lot about the trip, except:
• After we picked up my grandparents to start the trip, I pulled out a tooth filling chewing on red hot dollars. I've been wary of them since.
• There was some debate on the state's motto "Live Free Or Die" on the license plates. It's still on them.
• The "cathedral" wasn't what I had envisioned as a cathedral at all. I was thinking there would be a St. Patrick's Cathedral type edifice. Instead it was more of a memorial park set amongst a stand of pines. Nice and calming...no monstrosity in sight.
• At a restaurant on the way home, I was introduced to the fact that a milk shake was called a frappe in New Hampshire.

As I got older, we would drive through New Hampshire on our way to the Maine coast every summer. We always stayed at the Sandpiper Motel in Old Orchard Beach (orange circle on the map).
• The water temperature is freezing!
• Seeing a pregnant woman laying on the beach prompted me to say, "She really has a bun in the oven," which got a big laugh.
• We walked the beach a lot looking for shells, some of which I still have and have been packed away in boxes wherever I've lived.
• We had breakfast at a restaurant named "Pruett's" every morning.
• There were lots of Canadians speaking French on vacation from Quebec.

On our treks to Maine, we would drive through Hampton Beach which is on the very short New Hampshire coast line (purple circle on the map).
• We stayed at the Atlantic Motel which had some cool yellow chaise lounges on the patio.
• The beach was covered by stones that were, in turn, covered with barnacles and my feet were torn up wading in the water.
• I was flying a kite on the beach and it took a dive and landed out of sight across the road. My father went to retrieve it and upon his return he told me it hit a man on the head. I never really found out if that actually happened or if he just said that to get under my skin. My mother says she never knew the truth, either.

Lastly, my niece received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of New Hampshire in Durham (light blue circle on the map).
• I have a long sleeve t-shirt with the university logo on it that I received as a Christmas present. It's very comfortable and I wear it a lot.
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