One thing that was on my “to-do” list while I was in New Hampshire was to make a stop at Camping World. I wanted to use the gift certificates I got for sitting through the sales pitch for the camping club when I was in Branson. There was one near Concord, which also happens to be the state capitol.
Sounds like a field trip to me!
I strolled the aisles and picked up some things I needed and a few things I wanted. I also had to laugh at some of the things I saw for sale. For example, this cookbook:
Since I was wearing some of the new clothes that I bought the other day, I had the cashier snap a photo. I love end of season sales!
It’s not often that I have new clothes to show off. I managed to use up my $100 gift certificate and only go about $0.98 over. Good for me!
I drove the few miles from the store to the statehouse and found a parking spot. I meandered over to the statehouse and spotted one of the perks of winning an election. Parking!
I noticed that the governor gets two spaces.
A black walnut tree was also growing by the back of the state house. According to the plaque next to it, it came from Mount Vernon. It was planted in April 1931 by the Boy Scouts of the Daniel Webster Council.
They are also proud of their roll in the presidential primaries.
Speaking of points of pride, there is Daniel Webster. Born at Salisbury, New Hampshire January 18, 1782. He died at Marshfield, Massachusetts October 24, 1852.
Oh, and the statue was presented by Benjamin Pierce Cheney to the State of New Hampshire January 18, 1886. I guess ol’ B.J. Cheney memorialized himself too.
John P. Hale was a New Hampshire senator from 1847 to 1853 and again from 1855 to 1865, He was one of the first senators to make a stand against slavery. Republican? Democrat? Whig? Nope! He was a leading member of the Free Soil Party and was its presidential nominee in 1852.
They are also proud of native son Franklin Pierce, who was the 14th President of the United States from 1853 – 1857. He was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to the unity of the nation. He signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and enforced the Fugitive Slave Act, hoping that those measures would help hold the union together. It didn’t help.
Another native son of New Hampshire memorialized at the statehouse is Major General John Stark, born August 28, 1728 and dies May 8, 1822. He served as an officer in the British Army during the French and Indian War and was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was known as the “Hero of Bennington” for his exemplary performance at the Battle of Bennington in 1977. The state of New Hampshire erected the statue in 1890.
I wonder if they will ever get around to memorializing any of their native daughters?
Speaking of the American Revolution, there is also a copy of the liberty bell on the campus.
This bell was one of fifty-three given to the United States by France in 1950. The dimensions and tone are the same as the original liberty bell. It toured the state in 1950 as part of a Savings Bond Independence Drive.
There is a splendid gate that frames the entrance to the statehouse. Just in front of the gate is a time capsule.
I wonder what they decided to include? I’d like to say I’d come back in 2065 and check, but I don’t think I’ll make it. I’d be 110 by then.
By then, I had seen about all I had time to see. I headed back to Bart to return to the campground, and then I saw these interesting forms:
What interesting bike racks!
I arrived back at the campground in time for a lovely sunset.
What a great send off for New Hampshire. In the morning, on to Massachusetts!