I’m always surprised to find things that I don’t know about New Hampshire, even after living here for 25 years! As the image shows, New Hampshire is truly beautiful in the fall as we are known for our fall foliage, and we are enjoying every minute of it!

Here are some New Hampshire facts that I’d like to share with you: New Hampshire was the 9th state in the Union; it gained statehood on June 21, 1788. New Hampshire was the first of the original colonies to declare independence from England. Our house, attached to our Chesterfield NH inn, was built in the early 1780′s. The rest of the inn is not nearly as old, originally built as sheds and barns and dating back to the early 1900′s.

New Hampshire’s state motto is “Live Free or Die”. The motto comes from a statement written by the Revolutionary General John Stark, hero of the Battle of Bennington in Bennington, Vermont. Bennington is about 45 minutes away, across the Green Mountains on Route 9 in Vermont. Those of us who live here like to think of ourselves as independent, which means that we get a lot of visits from political candidates.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens from Cornish, New Hampshire was the first sculptor to design an American coin. You can visit his home, studios and sculpture gardens in Cornish, just an hour’s drive from the inn.

The first capital city of New Hampshire was in Exeter, but the capital was moved to Concord in 1808. The New Hampshire legislature still meets in their original chambers which are the oldest in the country. Concord also has the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, a planetarium named after Christa McAuliffe, the Concord teacher who died during the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986.

This is simply food for thought to provide our New Hampshire guests places to visit the next time they travel to our state and be sure to stay with us at our New Hampshire luxury inn.

It seems that winter has finally arrived in Southern New Hampshire and Vermont! Yesterday’s snowstorm dropped 6 inches of fluffy snow on our barren landscape, making everything look better. Now we have more options for outdoor play this weekend! Previously we were able to hike in the woods around our New Hampshire Bed and Breakfast, just like it was still November, or go ice-skating on ice that had never had snow on it. That was pretty great!

This weekend, we can snowshoe in Pisgah Park, Friedsam Forest or the Madame Sherri Forest in Chesterfield, and have the woods all to ourselves. The snow has covered the trees and made the forest into a winter wonderland that sparkles all around in the sunshine.

For cross-country skiing, I would suggest the ski center at Grafton Ponds in Grafton, Vermont. Grafton Ponds has been making snow on its lower loop all season and has been a popular place for all of the local racers to go to train. Now they have snow in the woods and plenty of trails open. They also have a ski shop for rentals and a lodge where you can enjoy a cup of hot cocoa. You can check their Facebook page for info on the ski conditions.

Downhill skiers have of course also benefited from the new snow. The downhill ski areas have been making snow and this new snow will only improve conditions. The ski areas closest to our New Hampshire Luxury Inn are Mount Snow, Stratton, Bromley and Killington, all about an hour’s drive.