New Hampshire

Join cool cat mascots Fungo and Slider for minor league baseball fun at a fraction of Fenway's prices. Future stars play in Manchester's riverside MerchantsAuto.com Stadium. It's a true Cat and Dog fight when the hometown New Hampshire Fisher Cats -- the Toronto Blue Jays' Eastern League Double A squad -- claw the Portland Sea Dogs, the Red Sox farm team. New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 1 Line Drive, Manchester, 603-641-2005, nhfishercats.com

Dreamy Isles

Cloaked in legend and mystery, the rocky Isles of Shoals are the focus of boat tours off New Hampshire's tiny seacoast. Each of the nine islands is privately owned (and some are actually in Maine waters); the island called Star houses a conference center and museum. Shoals Marine Laboratory, affiliated with Cornell University, and 19th-century poet Celia Thaxter's garden sit on Appledore Island, while the lighthouse shines from White. Shoals Marine Laboratory, 603-430-5220, sml.cornell.edu/sml_publiceducation.html; Island Cruises, 603-964-6446, uncleoscar.com

Moose on the Loose

You say you simply must see a moose? Take a drive on northern New Hampshire's "Moose Alley" -- Route 3 in Pittsburg -- near the Canadian border at dawn or dusk, when moose leave the woods for wallows rich with road salt. Motorists, from a safe distance, reap the rewards of an up-close look at the stately beasts, which weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. Moose Alley, Route 3, Pittsburg. For information, contact the North Country Chamber of Commerce, Colebrook, 800-698-8939, northcountrychamber.org.

Top of the Morning

Sip morning coffee while watching the seductive red-orange sunrise glow from the top of the Northeast's highest peak. Three times a summer, Mount Washington's winding Auto Road opens early (June 28 at 3:30 a.m., July 26 at 4 a.m., Aug. 30 at 4:30 a.m.), and fans get behind the wheel for a pre-dawn drive to the summit, where nature's curtain unveils everything from fickle fog to a sea of mountains. Mount Washington Auto Road, Route 16, Pinkham Notch, 603-466-3988, mountwashingtonautoroad.com

Silo Art

A groovy alternative to North Conway's outlet shops is the offbeat White Mountain Artisans Gallery housed in a renovated barn. Head to the silo to walk the spiral staircase around a huge sculptured metal tree. Brick walls and granite pillars make the downstairs showcase look more like an Alpine living room than a display room. Fine furniture, mixed media, and contemporary landscape paintings fill the place. White Mountain Artisans Gallery, 3358 White Mountain Highway (Route 16), North Conway, 800-451-0255, whitemountainartisansgallery.com

Lights, Camera, Bargain

The neighborhood Wilton Town Hall Theatre is a Granite State indie film mecca with its wooden floors, real buttered popcorn, curtained big screen, and small screening room. Hands-on owner Dennis Marka-verich runs the former vaudeville theater and silent-film house next to the town offices. He raised ticket prices last year for the first time since 1991 -- to a whopping six bucks. Wilton Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main Street, Wilton, 603-654-3456, wiltontownhalltheatre.com

Contemporary Currier

Boston's Ann Beha

Architects' refined and airy touches in a recent $21 million expansion brighten Manchester's splendid Currier Museum of Art. The new natural-light-filled Winter Garden -- complete with stone columns and mosaics from a former entrance -- is the museum's hub. Modernist European and American works by Matisse, Picasso, and O'Keeffe, along with regional artists, grace the roomy institution, which continues to mature from its Beaux-Arts building beginning. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash Street, Manchester, 603-669-6144, currier.org

Fresh Picked

Herbs and edible flowers go straight from the garden to the plate at secluded Pickity Place in southern New Hampshire. Flavored with charm and finery, the fragrant grounds, colorful gardens, and antique cottage cry quaint, but the theme is modern green. The seasons are reflected in the whimsical monthly five-course lunch menus. Pickity Place, 248 Nutting Hill Road, Mason, 603-878-1151, pickityplace.com; three seatings daily at 11:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 2 p.m. Reservations recommended.

Streetwise

Hanover's handsome Main Street combines Ivy League chic with traditional brick-faced New England storefronts. To stroll is to shop. Fashionable clothing, shelves of textbooks, Dartmouth paraphernalia, knickknacks, boutique jewelry, art, and a wealth of guitars are among the finds just steps from the trim college green. Don't forget to explore the side streets in the Upper Valley's downtown treasure. Main Street, Hanover; for information, contact the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce, 603-643-3115, hanoverchamber.org.

Happy Hike

Fall in love with New Hampshire hiking on the sunny ledges of low-lying West Rattlesnake Mountain, which overlooks Squam Lake's tranquil islands and coves. The lake, made famous in the 1981 classic On Golden Pond, is a gorgeous prize and a lunch spot during an easy 2-mile round-trip Lakes Region trek along the benign Old Bridle Path in Holderness. From the junction of routes 113 and 3 in Holderness, travel about 6 miles on Route 113 to trailhead parking. For more information, contact the Squam Lakes Association, 534 US Route 3, Holderness, 603-968-7336, squamlakes.org.

Meet Quaint

Pass through the white picket fence on Bethlehem's mellow Main Street to a simple delight: Cold Mountain Cafe. Lunch on the gorgonzola- and walnut-loaded David's savory salad or the grilled marinated-chicken sandwich. Dinner choices include grilled pork tenderloin with apricot-raisin chutney, or crab cakes topped with lime-cilantro dressing. Changing displays of art line the walls of the intimate, maroon-accented cafe. Cold Mountain Cafe, 2015 Main Street, Bethlehem, 603-869-2500, coldmountaincafe.com; entertainment some nights. No credit cards.

Arts and Crafts

New Hampshire's hardy heritage lives on among its craftsmen and artisans. Thousands of people wander through the tents at Mount Sunapee beginning the first Saturday in August for the nine-day Annual League of NH Craftsmen's Fair. See and purchase current and traditional handiwork, including furniture, metalwork, blown glass, and paintings. Enjoy the food, workshops, and imaginative sculpture garden. 76th Annual League of NH Craftsmen's Fair, Mount Sunapee Resort, Newbury, August 1-9,

603-224-3375, nhcrafts.org

Sundae Buffet

The potentially gut-busting ice cream buffet at Kellerhaus is a decadent Lakes Region tradition. First, choose your weapon from small bowls that hold one scoop to colossal ones that accommodate 10, and fill with the cold stuff. Drizzle on the savory hot fudge sauce, spray on the whipped cream, and top off your sweet-tooth creation with colorful M&Ms, crunches, and sprinkles. Then feed the player piano a quarter. Served with a side of gift-shop kitsch. Kellerhaus, 259 Endicott Street North, Weirs Beach, 888-557-4287, kellerhaus.com