NEW HAMPSHIRE - Monadnock

This place is a gold mine for weaves and knitters. Harrisville Designs on Main Street in Harrisville is a family-owned and -operated business founded in 1971 to preserve and re-establish the economic vitality of the historic 18th century textile village of Harrisville. Woolen yarn has been spun in the water-powered, mill town of Harrisville since 1794. This village in the Monadnock Highlands is the only industrial community of the early 19th century that still survives in America in its original form. Today, the center offers products for the weaving and knitting enthusiast, as well as the Friendly Loom line of educational toys for children. Weaving Center Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone: 603-827-3996.

From knitting baskets to bicycle baskets to picnic and pie baskets – and other uses you have never imagined -- Peterborough Basket Company and its factory outlet store on Grove Street in Peterborough are ready to serve your basketry needs. Hand-made Peterborough baskets are made from Appalachian white ash, the same hardwood that baseball bats, snowshoes, and axe handles are made from. The wood is harvested from Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and the baskets’ solid brass nails prevent rusting. All of the baskets are made on site at the factory in Peterborough, and the factory store has great bargains and wonderful gift ideas. Factory outlet store hours are Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Closed most holidays. Phone: 603-371-9020

New Hampshire Antique Co-op at 323 Elm Street in Milford was founded in 1983 as one of the first group shops in New England. More than 200 dealers from New England, South America, England, and western United States exhibit here. Whether they are offering it be ancient Chinese art, sterling silver, Viennese bronze or Federal furniture, all areas of interest are covered. Go antiquing through the co-op's Main Street, Small Treasures Hall, Market Square's, and Discovery Barn. View 19th and 20th century fine art in Tower and Upstairs Galleries. You will find 20,000 square feet of changing merchandise. Open daily, year-round from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Phone: 603-673-8499

The exhibit New Hampshire Glassmakers: 1780-1886 celebrates the extraordinary glass manufacturing industry in the Granite State from the Revolutionary War era through the Industrial Revolution. This exhibit is open to the public November 13, 2010, to February 19, 2011, at the Peterborough Historical Society, 19 Grove Street in Peterborough. New Hampshire was home to five early American glasshouses, producing bottles, flasks, and tableware for more than a century. Working under cruelly primitive working conditions, early glassmakers conquered their harsh environment to produce wonderful utilitarian objects and creative works of art. About 250 rare examples will now be assembled under one roof. Open: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Phone: 603-924-3235.

Bequaert Old Books at 37 Route119 West in the town of Fitzwilliam is a treasure house for people who love old books on abstruse topics. The store has a stock of more than 40,000 books and paper items, with particularly strong collections of children's, European monarchy, and technical books. There is also an extensive stock of books on American history, the Civil War, cooking, travel and adventure, polar and mountaineering, hiking and the outdoors and transportation. When you're in the area, stop by and immerse yourself. Or make a day of it with lunch at a local restaurant and an afternoon in any of the town's numerous antique shops. Hours: April through mid-November, Thursday through Sunday. Other times of the year, call ahead to make an appointment. Phone: 603- 585-3448.

Stonewall Farm, at 242 Chesterfield Road in Keene, is a working farm and educational center with a mission to connect people to the land and to the role of local agriculture in their lives. Set in a scenic valley, the farm consists of pastures, fields and woodlands and is open, free of charge, every day of the year. The farm offers a nostalgic 45-minute horse-drawn sleigh ride or hayride, followed by hot chocolate, cider and roasted marshmallows. (A fee is charged.) Call ahead to make arrangements for rides. Phone: 603-357-7278.

Vacation is time for indulgence, and New Hampshire has a chocolate and martini road trip that can guide you through some fabulous flavors of both of these intoxicants. In the Mondanock region, a good place to start is the town of Walpole, home to L.A. Burdick Chocolate Shop and Café at 47 Main Street in Walpole. The cafe offers an extensive variety of pastries and drinks in a serene environment. It's also the location of Burdick’s chocolate and pastry production facility (603-756-2882). Also in Walpole, stop at Bellows House Bakery for one of its famous Whoopie Pies and other prize-winning baked goods (800-358-6302). Drift over to the nearby town of Marlborough to visit Unbridled Chocolates at 135 Main Street (603-876-4700). Be sure to taste the rich, handmade Belgian chocolate bonbons, and browse the selection of natural herbal chocolates.

The sweet little cottage at Pickity Place on Nutting Hill Road in the town of Mason has stood for more than 200 years (historic note: Pickity is the setting for Little Golden Books’s 1948 version of “Little Red Riding Hood”). These days, the cottage is a place to enjoy peaceful gardens, a greenhouse shop, and elegant gourmet luncheons accented with herbs and edible flowers. Lunch is served every day and the menu changes monthly. Open daily, year-round. Phone: 603-878-1151.

Hannah Grimes Marketplace on Main Street in Keene is a education center and incubator for New Hampshire products, crafts, and artwork. For visitors, the Marketplace is a great place to browse for local foods, including maple syrup, children’s books, and luxuries from fancy shampoos to original art. Think about your gift shopping for the next several months, and go explore what Hannah has to offer. Hours: Store Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 11a.m.- p.m. Phone: 603-352-6862.

Stonewall Farm on Chesterfield Road in Keene is a farm with an organic attitude, and the public is welcome to come and check it out. The farm showcases local vendors such as Cheshire Gardens of Winchester, which produces preserves, mustards, vinegars, salsas and sauces. Visitors are welcome daily from dawn to dusk for milking, educational events, and shopping at the farm stand and gift shop. Phone: 603-357-7278.

Hillsborough Center retains the atmosphere of a 19th century New England town, with its central Common, surrounded by buildings that once housed taverns, a blacksmith shop, and a post office. This is the workplace of pewtersmith Jon Gibson, owner of Gibson Pewter on East Washington Road. Watch Gibson create pewter objects in the 200-year-old barn where he apprenticed as a boy. More than 100 traditional and contemporary pieces are for sale. Phone: 603-464-3410

Racing fans don’t need to vegetate indoors during the winter. On Sunday afternoons from January to March the Jaffrey Ice Racing Association hosts stock car races on a quarter-mile oval track on Lake Contoocook (also known as Sunshine Lake), on Squantam Road in Jaffrey. Two divisions, modified and four-cylinder, race 10-lap heats and 20-lap feature races. Racing takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Of course, Mother Nature has to cooperate; the races take place only if the ice is just right. Phone: 603-593-5181.

Bowerbird & Friends, an unusual little gift-and-antiques shop in the town of Peterborough, promises to sate your appetite for beautiful, rare treasures, even after repeated visits. A trip to bowerbird is a captivating encounter with the pieces and parts that make a home warm, special, and romantic. The decorative and functional items within the shop are ready to bring beauty and pleasure to your home. Industrial home décor melds with flow blue china, vintage jewelry, European plaster, candlesticks, antiques, rare books, and reclaimed tables. A small greenhouse is home to diminutive houseplants and garden accessories.

The Sharon Arts Center on Grove Street in Peterborough offers fine art galleries, a fine craft store, and even a school of arts and crafts. The craft store is a warm and colorful excursion into beautiful, highbrow textiles, pottery, jewelry, glass art, wooden objects, and more from regional and national craftsmen. Phone: 603-924-2787.