Concord, Senter Falls, Ashuelot River Park, New Hampshire

I arrived around 8am in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. I’d never been to Concord and didn’t know what to expect. I realized that parking was free on Sundays and parked in the parking garage a block from the State House. Coming out of the garage, on my way to the state house, I noticed a walkway with brightly colored umbrellas. I stopped to take a few photographs.

As I continued towards the State House, I could smell coffee and found myself standing in front of Revelstoke Coffee, directly across the street from the State House. There was a clock on the wall that once a minute made designs with its hands before changing the time. I stood mesmerized for five-minutes waiting for my coffee. The coffee was really good and the service friendly.

State House

It was an overcast morning with the sun shine through at times which produced interesting lighting for the god dome. An inscription on the building reads, “The Nation’s oldest state house in which the legislature still occupies its original chambers.” This was inscribed on the 250th anniversary of the State House. There various statues on the grounds. In front of the state house is a statue of Daniel Webster. He was a staunch federalist and represented New Hampshire and later Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress. Also on the grounds is a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. The bell is one of 53 made in France and dedicated in 1950. I’m not sure why there were so many made and what the significance of 1950 is.

I noticed a small plaque under a rather young tree that read, “American Liberty Elm: Named for the original Liberty Tree, symbol of freedom to the sons of liberty, and cut down by the British in 1775…” I tried to find details of why the Elm became a symbol of freedom.

Concord State House: Entrance with Statue of Daniel Webster

Concord State House: Gold Dome

Surrounding the State House are other beautiful buildings as follows:

Old Post Office and Courthouse Building

State Library

Memorial to Fallen Police Officers in the State

After walking around the capital building, I walked up main street. There has been a lot of money put into renovating the downtown shopping area. As I heard one young person say, there should be a coffee shop on every block. Indeed, it seemed that this was already the case.

The architecture of downtown Concord remains in good condition and maintains many styles of architecture from different periods of America’s growth. One of my favorites is the Morrill Brother’s Building.

Concord: Morrill Brother’s Building

There are many different styles of brick on the buildings. I’m assuming these are from different periods in the evolution of brick manufacturing in New England.

Senter Falls

My plan was to hike Garwin Fall in the Southern part of the state, but the falls have been permanently closed. It seems the property was purchased by a private owner and they are not allowing hiking at the falls. In some states, like connecticut, they have laws that allow private property to be opened for public use and prevent the owner from being sued when something happens on the land. I’m not sure if New Hampshire has such laws.

On the was to the falls, the sun was doing a nice job of lighting up the falls leaves.

Instead, I found Senter Falls. It met the criteria of being an easy hike, I already had a difficult hike this week, and it hopefully had running water for photographs. AllTrails calls the hike, The Senter Falls Loop Trail and lists it as .7 miles. The trail isn’t located close to anything, but it was easy to find. There was no one on the trail in the late afternoon. There was water in the falls, but they aren’t massive falls. It was a nice, relaxing hike.

At this time of the year it was getting darker and the exposures were constantly changing.

Keene: Ashuelot River Park

I still had time in the day, so I drove to Keene, NH. I’ve been to Keene a few times. On the way, I stopped to take photos of bridges and waterways.

The Pastels of Autumn

The park has a 26 mile tail which can be hiked or cycled. The path is dirt and gravel and runs around a river which seems more like a lake to me. The trees hadn’t changed as much as they had further North in New Hampshire, but were they had changed, they were spectacular. I parked in the Starbucks parking lot and hiked in about three miles and then returned.

There were a lot of students on the trail. Keene State is located nearby. I saw a woman trying to walk her cat on a leash. The cat wanted nothing to do with the leash. Her husband said, you’ll probably need to carry him as I passed by. When I returned she was carrying the massive cat.

Ashuelot River Park: Trees Changing

Ashuelot River Park: Unhappy Duck