Amazing place for kids and adults alike. Kids can play with this from past generations while older…read morefolks can see stuff from their childhood and before. We appreciate everything the Ice House Museum does for the community.

Outstanding collection of antique cars, paraphernalia, and kitschy retro toys and promotional items…read morehaving to do with various modes of transportation and industry through the ages. Meticulously arranged compound of vintage vehicles, machinery, accessories, signage, appliances, and so much more. This is an ideal place whether you tinker or just appreciate the ingenuity of how things used to work. So many of these old utilitarian items are also works of art unto themselves. Eager volunteers will tell you more about everything on display. A charming and truly impressive garage gallery with interesting and quirky things to admire for all ages. Hidden gem.

On our second visit to the Zimmerman House, we were blessed with two docents (guides) from the…read moreCurrier Museum, both were very knowledgeable about Wright and the building. I learned a few new things on this visit, and we also got to walk to the Kalil house just down the street, which the museum has recently taken under its control. That could hardly be more different, yet still recognisably a Wright house.

Not what you might expect to find in Manchester, NH…read more Connected to the Currier Art Museum, they provide tours that are hosted by two volunteers. You can see this home and there is one two blocks away called the Kalili Home. If you appreciate Frank Lloyd Wright, this is a must of you're in Manchester.

This museum is absolutely 100% worth a visit it's lovely! Super clean and thoughtfully curated and…read morelaid out with a ton of information, history and nostalgia. Also a great assortment of items for kids to touch and try.

There were a couple of reasons that we decided to check out this museum:…read more1) We both had educational and professional backgrounds involving telecommunications. 2) It was a convenient mid-way stopping point before lunch on our drive back to Boston from Vermont. The museum is in a converted house and covers the (probably expanded) main floor. The ladies who staffed the place and sold us the tickets were friendly and gave us a quick overview before starting a short orientation video. After that finished, we wandered around at our own pace. The museum was put together by some locals who had careers in telephony. Thus they had an inside track for getting obsolete equipment that was being replaced donated instead of destroyed. And once they had a core of exhibits, it was probably easier to get other items donated. The exhibits are arranged roughly chronologically. It begins with Alexander Graham Bell and moves forward. There are many old phone sets, from the wall mounted wooden variety up through a shelf of 2000s-era cell phones. They also have a number of switchboard desks showing how manual connections worked. Though most of the items displayed are phones, they also have minor side-exhibits on telephone linemen, historical oddities (what town had the last manual switchboard into the 1980s), etc. This may be somewhat of a niche museum, but I think most elementary school kids might enjoy it. If you are an adult with a general technical / engineering bent, you will also probably enjoy a stop here.

I wasn't completely sure what to expect from the American Precision Museum, but given our technical…read morebackgrounds, it seemed likely to be interesting. It is a bit difficult to access their parking; the turn from the main road is pretty sharp. You park 'in back' but it wasn't clear if that included some spaces along the side or just in back. Parking is all on various gravel areas and was limited, but there were not a lot of other guests on the weekday morning that we visited. The museum is built into an old machine shop / manufacturing mill where they had a large water wheel in the basement powering overhead axels with belts, etc. So some of the exhibits were actually made in this building 150 years ago. The lady who sold the tickets (I think it was $8 or $10 apiece) was friendly and helpful. She also recommended another stop for our afternoon (the Saint-Gaudens Historic Site) which we liked. She cued up the short intro video for us after which we entered the main exhibit space and browsed. They provided a historical context for the museum, citing the area as the nineteenth century's rough analog to Silicon Valley. The work done in shops along the Connecticut River accelerated machining of parts and machine tools and trained apprentices that spread out across the U.S. They also had a lot of different machine / product examples and how they evolved into things one might be familiar with now. They went from mass producing gun-stocks to making parts for bicycles and typewriters. There were also examples of precision tools. Ultimately shops in the area also produced the expanded range of industrial machine/tools that produced smaller parts for various uses. We spent just over an hour here and felt it was a very worthwhile stop. Though we didn't bring any kids, I'd think that those over 8 might find some of the exhibits interesting.

Lovely little museum tucked away. I went because my nerdy dd wanted to learn about 19th century…read moremanufacturing - but I stayed because it was so interesting. I had no idea that Vermont was the cradle of major innovation in manufacturing. The exhibits actually make it interesting, even to non-engineering types like me. Needless to say, my daughter was completely fascinated.

This is an amazing hidden gem in Manchester located in the old airport terminal…read more It's entirely staffed by a great group of volunteers who know a lot about aviation and the history of the airport. The parking lot is right across from the runway and is a great place for plane watching. The $10 admission covers a lot including use of their cool flight simulator which I really enjoyed. The staff are incredibly kind and helpful, and there are some cool exhibits to view including a jet engine and more! Visit this amazing museum if you're an aviation fan and in the area!

Longstanding and with so much history with regards to the airport. This was such a nice local find…read moreand you can tell the staff care so much about the exhibit. One of the best parts is the simulation which lets you fly the plane - and they said it is very accurate you can fly anywhere in the world and it will show what the landscape is like there. Naturally our resident pilot did an A+ on take off and landing! Such a cool piece of history and not expensive for admission at all. Highly recommend!

The NH Historical Society Museum is a very good museum that is packed with a variety of state…read morehistorical treasures. Admission is a very reasonable $7.00 per adult. There are exhibits on several floors and visitors get to prowl around on their own as they checkout the stuff. In one end of the Museum is a research library that is chock full of original NH documents, books, records, letters and so forth - all available to the public. The library staff are extremely friendly and helpful. All in all this is a very worthwhile stop! A WORD OF WARNING: the Museum sits close to the State House and if our legislators happen to be at "work" they sure make it hard to find a parking space!

I visited this place last year in the spring sometime. It is not too far and close to shopping and…read morerestaurants. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised about this museum. A bit of everything and even the special exhibit was quite interesting on America's Kitchens. I especially loved the kiddy section where you can pretend that you are in a old country store shopping. There is also a cool observatory deck to teach you about forest fires, etc. Volunteers were great and explained about rural life back in the days on the first floor. Afterwards, you can visit downtown Concord with some nice quaint stores. Plus, the state capitol is just across the street. We just had bagel sandwiches for lunch down the street at the Works Bakery Cafe. I tried a honey bear smoothie which was especially good. Then, you can stop by the LL Bean factory store not too far away.

My only disappointment today is that I didn't time travel when I touched the monoliths…read more In all seriousness though, super cool spot to visit and spend a few hours walking around. Would recommend gym shoes, but I made it around just fine in sandals in case you forget some. Everything is clearly marked and labeled and I wish we lived closer, I can guarantee my husband and I would be visiting all the time. Looooooved the gift shop, and the alpacas at the end are adorable. Def going to have to drive up for the next solstice for sureeeee.

The overall experience is good, liked the short movie explaining the site; must wear good walking…read moreshoes because of uneven ground. As far as the picnic tables, they were in very bad shape and need updating; also the picnic area is full of weeds and not attractive.

I'm a cheese head…read more So when my friend was making our itinerary for a trip to VT, I was really excited to try this place! Weather got a little hariy getting there with the slushy roads, but we made it! It's pretty remote location with no street lights, so if driving in the dark look for the signs to get there and trust your GPS. There's a large parking lot across from the entrance to the little store/shop. The shop is actually the owners old family home I belive. We arrived pretty much at closing time, but we were still welcomed warmly. We got a cheese & maple syrup tasting which was yum and informative, and the staff member that did it was really nice, I forgot her name, but see photo below. One of the cheeses has won a cheese competition, very cool. We also got to meet the owner, but she was busy getting Christmas orders together. I perused all of the cheeses I wanted and settled on 4. We got to try 2 out of the 4 from the cheese sampling. The nice lady that checked me out even gave me some nice to-go samples as well. The smoked cheese was my fav, and the sage. But I enjoyed them all. I was able to easily fly home to TX with them due to the cold weather of the season. After the tasting, we got to peruse the store. They have so much other stuff to buy in additon to cheese and maple, tons of knick-knacks and gifts and merch. We didn't get to explore the farm after since it was pitch black when we left, too bad. Enjoy!

Some years ago I tried the maple syrup from Sugarbush Farms and never looked back. No other syrup…read morecompares and I always go out of my way to visit anytime I'm anywhere in the greater New England area! Sadly this year I didn't get to visit New England - but lucky for me Sugarbush ships nationwide!! So I tried it out and ordered some of their syrup and my fave cheeses. Ordering online via their website was super easy. I ordered my fave dark variety of their maple syrup and 4 cheeses: horseradish cheddar, jalapeño cheddar, sharp cheddar, and Monterey Jack. Their horseradish cheddar is my absolute fave - a wonderful kick of the spicy horseradish blends so well with their rich cheddar. I really love the jalapeño cheddar too - packed full of flavor with just the right amount of kick - not overwhelming but enough to taste it. The other two were great as well - you can definitely tell their cheeses are made fresh on site - flavors are just next level compared to industrial-manufactured cheeses from the grocery store chains. And the maple syrup is also in a league of its own - nothing mass-manufactured from any grocery chain holds a candle to the rich, complex flavors and velvety texture. The syrups also last quite a long time so I'm able to keep my stocks full yearly! Since I was ordering cheese with a long way to travel, and it was still quite warm in parts of the US, their website suggested adding one of their insulated shipping boxes for an extra fee of $8. I didn't want to risk ruining my cheese so I did and all arrived in excellent condition! They pack it in extra insulated styrofoam with ice packs. So it's definitely worth it imo. Next year I'll be in Maine in October so I'll definitely be planning an extra day or two to pop over to Sugarbush on my way back out haha!! See yall next fall!

What an imposing residence.... And what a wonderful space now dedicated to the arts and special…read moreevents. The Kimball-Jenkins Estate has been gracing the old estate section of New Hampshire's capital city since before the American Revolution. A stone's throw from the site of the first Garrison House built during the French and Indian Wars in the 1740s, the site of the first house built in Concord NH in 1726, and the beautiful, Greek Revival home of President Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States. The Kimball-Jenkins Estate is a gorgeous Victorian estate with several annex buildings. The main building houses events and part of the display collection, which this month had beautiful paintings drawn by former Kimball-Jenkins students. I especially liked some that had a little Pollock infusion. The annex buildings house the Academy of Arts and the carriage house is used for special events. In several visits here, I've been in two different events at the carriage house, which is a superb place for events. The rest of the campus is also beautiful and well suited for weddings or just a stroll. A unique, beautiful, and historical gem in New Hampshire's Capital City.

Great staff, beautiful buildings and lots of opportunity to be expressive and engaged in learning…read moresomething new!

I grew up in New Hampshire but never visited the Manse until a decade and a half after leaving. I…read moreemailed the Manse's Pierce Brigade (their volunteer group) to see if they could offer a tour for the day after Thanksgiving. They put it together and brought our group of four on a very in-depth tour. You will learn so much about NH's only president, about society at the time of Pierce's life and presidency, and what local homes were like in that era. Our volunteer was able to answer every question that we lobbed her way, even on things not directly related to the Pierces. Bonus: you can see the dress that Pierce wore as a child. My one quibble was that our tour guide seemed to dismiss our personal anecdotes that we offered that connected with what we were seeing, which was disappointing as I used to be a docent at a presidential library, and learned the most from people on my tours. She also was very short with me when she saw me taking some photos (non-flash!), but she hadn't told me that it was not allowed. Apparently there was a sign in the lobby but I hadn't seen it. Overall, totally worth spending an hour while you're in New Hampshire to learn some history!

What a great museum about probably one of the least well known presidents our country has ever had…read more Sadly remembered as one of the worst presidents (if he is remembered at all) - mostly because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act -President Pierce actually had some rather great accomplishments during his tenure. To be honest, I knew almost nothing about Franklin Pierce when we went here and expected to be in the museum an hour or so......it is after all just a house he used to live in so how much could there be to see? Well, it was less about the house and more about what our docent offered us. She was so knowledgeable (sorry I have forgotten her name but she had a lovely Bostonian accent) and very happy to entertain our questions. We must have been there several hours soaking up all her knowledge and the stories she had to share. The Pierce's had quite a tragic family life. Having already lost one child in infancy and another as a toddler, Franklin Pierce began his presidency grief stricken by a tragic accident that took his older son's life. But, he had to deal with a country in turmoil and actually managed to accomplish quite a few positive things during his term. I was glad to come away from our visit with a much better understanding (and much more positive views) of our 14th President. I highly recommend this museum!