New England, old haunts

DAY 3
Although there's a free, guided tour of the Mount Washington Hotel this morning, we decide to bypass it because we want to take a ride on The Mount Washington Cog Railway. To say that the rail line to the top of nearby Mount Washington is the highlight of the trip for my dad is an understatement. "Anyone who comes here and doesn't ride the train is crazy," he says afterwards. I suppose that if I can get excited over obscure video games from my childhood, he has a right to feel this strongly about a train ride.

Built in the late 1860s, the cog railway was the first in the world to be able to climb a mountain. The coal-fired locomotive pushes the passenger car up the mountain very slowly — at a speed of about three miles per hour. Both the locomotive and the passenger car also have brakes to keep the train from speeding out of control on the way down. Dad is fascinated by the train's history, especially the fact that it's known as the "Railway to the Moon" because a state lawmaker deemed the project so foolish during the planning stages that he said the builder should be given a charter to extend the railway all the way to outer space.

Brad DeCecco Built in the 1860s, the Mount Washington Cog Railway was the first in the world to be able to climb a mountain.

The Littleton Diner is the most fitting place possible for us to eat lunch after our morning ride: It's a train car transformed into a restaurant. The 1930 Sterling Steamliner diner car has old wooden benches and the original arched ceiling, which keeps the narrow space from feeling cramped. I order the Reuben, and Dad has a hot dog with a side of homemade baked beans. While the food is just OK, the waitresses' T-shirts are truly memorable, with a philosophy for good living on the backs: EAT IN DINERS. RIDE TRAINS. PUT A PORCH ON YOUR HOUSE. SHOP ON MAIN STREET. LIVE IN A WALKABLE COMMUNITY. Littleton pretty much fits the bill.

We take a leisurely drive back to the Lake Winnipesaukee area and find a room at the Boulders Motel & Cottages in Holderness. Then the two of us get down to some serious card playing in our screened-in sitting room. Cribbage is more exciting to us than the cog railway ride and the arcade combined. Since Dad taught me the game when I was in high school, I've gotten a lot more practice at it than he has, but filial piety prevents me from revealing who usually wins.

We play a couple of games and then go in search of dinner down the road at Walter's Basin, a restaurant on the shore of Little Squam Lake whose claim to fame is that it was in the film “On Golden Pond.” We sit by one of the huge windows inside and gaze out at the water, wishing we could eat every meal on a lake (or on a pond, for that matter).

LODGING
Boulders Motel & Cottages
981 Rte. 3, Holderness, 800/968-3601, boulderslakefrontmotel.com, from $60

FOOD
Littleton Diner
145 Main St., Littleton, 603/444-3994, littletondiner.com, Reuben $6.50

Walter's Basin
859 Rte. 3, Holderness, 603/968-4412, haddock $17

ACTIVITIES
The Mount Washington Cog Railway
Off Rte. 302, Bretton Woods, 800/922-8825, thecog.com, $59

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DAY 4
I'm surprised that after all this time in the New Hampshire countryside, we haven't really seen any wildlife. In an effort to remedy that, we take a morning stroll at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, where a number of species that are native to the state, such as black bears, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and mountain lions, are kept in fenced-in wooded areas along a pleasant path. The majority of the animals are either orphaned or injured and are not able to survive on their own in the wilderness. Interestingly, the science center doesn't have moose, because they don't do very well in captivity. Instead, there's a life-size sculpture of one.

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I've planned one last stop in Portsmouth: a self-guided tour of the USS Albacore, an experimental nuclear submarine built in the 1950s at the town's Naval Shipyard. But on the way, I start to have second thoughts about whether this is a good idea. My dad has a low opinion of subs after 20 years in the Navy, and setting foot on one might be the last thing he wants to do. I'm relieved, however, when he says he's game for the tour. And he even serves as a guide, telling me all about how subs are built and how this one differs from those still in operation.

I enjoy listening to his stories from the past, especially those about our summers here. Our trip back 30 years later has been eventful, too, despite the fact I didn't win any prizes from the goldfish pond and Dad didn't wind up with a broken nose.

ACTIVITIES
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
23 Science Center Rd., Holderness, 603/968-7194, nhnature.org, $13

USS Albacore
600 Market St., Portsmouth, 603/436-3680, ussalbacore.org, $5

FINDING THE WAY
Manchester is the more convenient city to fly into, but Portland, Maine, can be cheaper. One of the most scenic drives is on Route 11, which hugs the southern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee.

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