A short article in the Concord Monitor has alerted me to a potential great road trip we haven’t considered yet: Route 3 in New Hampshire! This one even crosses an international border into the Great White North of Canada! New Hampshire’s Office of Travel and Tourism Development are even marketing it as the “Retro Road Tour”.
I like it already—it’s as if they’re asking me to head on up to New Hampshire and do some shooting along 133 miles of Route 3’s northern reaches…and I’m already mighty tempted!
It starts at the Tilt’n Diner in Tilton and ends at the Cabins at Lopstick overlooking First Connecticut Lake in Pittsburg. Sojourners who make it that far (and, these days, who have their passports with them) should cross the border and experience Magnetic Hill in Chartierville, Quebec.
…Most of the motels and many of the attractions listed on the tour date back to the early ages of automobile travel. Rumney’s Polar Caves, for example, opened in 1922; Clark’s Trading Post in 1928; Funspot in Laconia in 1942; Storyland in Glen in 1954, and Six Gun City in Jefferson in 1957. The many stops listed on the tour complement the real attraction along Route 3, the gorgeous landscape and the opportunities for outdoor recreation that it offers.
Excuse me…sorry…just…hauling this…suitcase up the…stairs…*pant pant*
New Hampshire’s tourism office has put together what is really a fabulous little itinerary booklet, available for free at their website (I’ve stolen the cover for this post, as you can see) just click the gorgeous old car dashboard glowing away above the “Route 3 Retro Tour”. Again…swoon. There’s a great little overlay map of Route 3, with all of the interesting stops marked using an easy-to-understand (and attractive) colour key. And bless them, they even talk about the glory day of the American road trip—motor courts, restaurants and diners, and the coming of the interstate system. Continue reading
Victory Rolls and V8s 