Littleton NH, Cliff's House

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Cliff’s house - Littleton New Hampshire
Wednesday October 28, 2009

We arrive at Cliff and Nancy’s house in early evening. It’s the first time in many years that we’ve been here. It’s an attractive old farmhouse along a dirt road that’s high on a hill just outside of town. It’s such a great place to get away and relax. There’s a WiFi connection for me, and Karen settles in with jigsaw puzzles on the large coffee table in the living room. The town of Littleton has changed significantly since we were here last. It’s is a small city with a population of 5800 that serves the upper part of New Hampshire. It’s just north of the White Mountains and borders the Connecticut River. This former mill town was settled in the 1770’s on the banks of the Ammonoosuc River. The last time we were there more than 15 years ago we ate at the Clam Shell Restaurant and also enjoyed a drink at the Rexall Pharmacy Soda Fountain on Main Street. Now the Rexall Pharmacy is gone and the Clam Shell Restaurant site is a Walgreen’s Pharmacy. The most striking change is that the main strip west of Littleton on route 302 that was a rural country road has now become “Anywhere America.” It’s a strip of Lowe’s, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Staples, Applebee’s, and a variety of other box stores, motels and restaurants that have come to define commerce in the USA. Fortunately the Littleton Diner was still in the center of town serving the good quality comfort food we remembered. We ate there several times and enjoyed the menu of basic food and friendly local folks. Lahouts Country Store is still here too. This clothing and ski emporium offers a wide variety of clothing and ski equipment in three locations on the east side of town. Lahout’s claims to be the oldest ski shop in the USA, so we’ll take their word for it. We enjoy shopping in this unbox store and I get a couple of garments and Karen buys some shoes. On our way home we see the sky clearing so we take Route 18 South through Franconia to see the site of the former Old Man of The Mountain. Unfortunately when we got to the notch the valley is raining and foggy with less than 500 feet of visibility. We’ll have to return another day to take a look at the Old Man’s shadow.

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Photos

LITTLETON, NH
Cliff's house

LITTLETON, NH
Cliff's House

LITTLETON, NH
Littleton Diner