7 Weird or Unique Things You Can Do in New Hampshire
One of the things I love about New Hampshire is that you can spend the morning hiking through the White Mountains and, a few hours later, find yourself cuddling a cow, surfing indoors or standing in front of the world's longest candy counter.
That's a pretty solid Tuesday.
Think about it for a minute... we have plenty of the things you'd expect, mountains, lakes, covered bridges and ridiculously beautiful fall foliage.
But we also have some stuff that makes you stop and say:
“Wait...that's in New Hampshire?”
Yep.
Here are seven of my favorites in the 603.
1. Cuddle a Mini Highland Cow — New Durham
Yes, New Hampshire has a place where you can hang out with ridiculously fluffy miniature Highland cows. If I ever come into a whole bunch of money, there will be signs.
Still Water Mini Highlands in New Durham offers meet-and-greet experiences where small groups can pet, brush, cuddle and take pictures with the mini cows. They’ve also brought the animals to weddings, birthday parties, photo shoots for Halloween, Christmas and other holidays and special events.
And this isn't just about getting an adorable picture for Instagram.
The farm has also brought its mini cows to nursing homes and has welcomed children dealing with illness and their families for visits, part of what it describes as its bigger mission in the community.
Honestly, there is something wonderfully New Hampshire when your afternoon plans involve hugging a tiny shaggy cow or two.
New Hampshire saw puppy cuddling and said, ‘Yeah, but what if it had horns and moo'd`?’
2. Ride the World's First Mountain-Climbing Cog Railway
3168 Base Station Road, Bretton Woods, NH
This isn't just an old train. This train is legendary
The Mount Washington Cog Railway opened in 1869 and became the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway. It still climbs the western side of Mount Washington today.
The average grade is around 25%, with sections approaching 38%, meaning there are moments when riding it feels considerably more like going up than going forward.
Depending on the season and weather, the railway can take passengers toward the summit of the highest peak in the Northeast. Let's Go. Book your trip
3. Walk the World's Longest Candy Counter — Littleton, New Hampshire
43 Main St, Littleton, NH
Hope you have absolutely zero self-control when you walk in here. You will walk out with all of the goodness.
At Chutters in downtown Littleton, you'll find a 112-foot candy counter lined with jars of gummies, chocolates, jelly beans, licorice, nostalgic candy and basically everything your dentist warned you about. Yes... 112-foot candy counter. How long is that?
To put 112 feet in perspective, that’s longer than an NBA basketball court and roughly the length of three school buses parked end to end... which feels less like a store and more like a personal challenge.
And it's not just marketing.
READ MORE: 5 Great New Hampshire Lunch Spots Where You Can Just Kick Back
The Littleton counter holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous candy counter.
You grab a bag and start working your way down.
Which sounds perfectly reasonable until you're 63 feet in and carrying nine pounds of Sour Patch Kids.
The biggest challenge isn't choosing candy. It's remembering that you're an adult with a checking account.
4. Play at the World's Largest Arcade — Laconia, New Hampshire
579 Endicott St N, Laconia, NH
Remember arcades?
Now imagine one that seemingly never ends.
Funspot in Laconia has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest arcade in the world. It's spread across multiple floors and includes hundreds of games, along with bowling, indoor mini golf and a huge collection of classic arcade machines.
This is one of those places where bringing your kids is a convenient excuse.
“Yeah, we're doing it for the children.”
Meanwhile Dad has been playing Galaga for 47 minutes. This is totally me taking me back to my youth.
Nothing exposes your actual age faster than getting genuinely excited when you see an arcade game from 1987.
5. Visit New Hampshire's Own Stonehenge — Salem
105 Haverhill Road, Salem, NH
Yes.
New Hampshire has a Stonehenge.
America's Stonehenge in Salem contains a maze of stone chambers, walls and astronomical alignments spread across the property. The site's exact origins and age have long been the subject of competing theories, which is honestly part of what makes visiting interesting.
Rather than getting a neat answer to everything, you walk around thinking:
“Okay...who built this, and what exactly was going on here?”
Which is my preferred amount of weird.
There is 4,000 years of human history and less than 1% of the site has been fully excavated. Sooo, never leave a stone unturned.
Basically, you arrive looking for answers and leave with 14 additional questions. I think I have more than 14 questions.
6. Go Surfing Indoors...in Nashua, New Hampshiere
100 Adventure Way, Nashua, NH 03060
There aren't many sentences that begin:
“You know where we should go surfing? Nashua.”
But here we are.
SkyVenture New Hampshire has an indoor surfing facility featuring a 32-foot SurfStream standing wave. The attraction describes itself as the largest indoor surfing facility in North America, and the SurfStream as the world's first standing-wave machine.
And if surfing in Nashua isn't weird enough, the same facility also has indoor skydiving and something called the Fishpipe... a rotating barrel water ride.
Because apparently doing one bizarre activity at a time wasn't enough.
Only in New Hampshire can “surfing or skydiving?” be an indoor decision when it's 25 degrees outside.
7. See 3 Million LEGO Bricks Recreate Manchester
200 Bedford St., Manchester, NH
This one might be the sleeper on the list.
Inside SEE Science Center in Manchester is a miniature recreation of the historic Amoskeag Millyard built with more than 3 million LEGO bricks and roughly 8,000 minifigures.
Guinness recognizes the LEGO Millyard as the largest permanent LEGO installation at minifigure scale in the world.
It recreates Manchester's Millyard around 1900, and the level of detail is nuts.
Three million pieces. How many is that?
That’s enough LEGO to step on one every day for more than 8,200 years.
If you lost one LEGO every minute, it would take almost 6 years to lose them all.
That’s roughly 375 LEGO bricks for every person in Manchester.
That’s enough LEGO for every parent in America to feel a phantom foot injury just reading the number.
Meanwhile I lose one LEGO piece underneath my couch and immediately abandon the project.
Somebody looked at Manchester's Millyard and thought, “You know what this needs? Three million LEGOs.”
I'm not walking barefoot here.
New Hampshire Is Delightfully Weird
Here's what I love about this list.
None of these experiences really have anything to do with each other.
We've got cows.
Candy.
LEGO.
Ancient-looking rocks.
Arcade games.
Indoor surfing.
And a train climbing straight up a mountain.
Yet somehow, put them all together and it feels extremely New Hampshire.
And I'm positive we're missing some.
15 New Hampshire roast beef stops that rose to the top of the listener conversation.
Gallery Credit: Garret Doll
Iconic Diners in New Hampshire
Gallery Credit: Garret Doll
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