The holiday road trip to Hinsdale New Hampshire was a big success!  With sub sandwiches from D'Angelo's on our laps we pretty much took Route 119 from Fitchburg straight up to Hinsdale.  Our objective was known simply as “The License Plate House”…

I found out about this place from my friend Jude, who had once passed it while biking through New Hampshire.  It took about an hour or so for us to get to Hinsdale, but I wasn't sure exactly where in town this place was.  Jude said, “I wouldn't worry about THAT, Chuck.  Once you get to that town, I'm sure anyone who lived there would be able to give directions to such a garish landmark.”

He was right, I stopped at a liquor store and mentioned what I was looking for and the guy working there said “Oh yeah, I know THAT place.”  He went on to say that he thought the man who had covered the place with license plates had since passed away, and that his girlfriend lived there now.

Neya's eyes just about bugged out of her head when we got there.  “Oh my God!  Look at THAT place!”

The house is covered on all four sides with plates… that's got to be somewhere in excess of 2,000 license plates.  I could see several matched pairs of plates from my vantage on the road.  Since it was a residence and people were living there, I didn't want to bother anyone, so I just snapped the picture above.

The License Plate House doesn't appear to be very well known.  Searching the web for it results in only one hit.

On the way out there we got to see a deer run across the road (Neya's first deer sighting), and a number of interesting structures such as the Ashuelot Covered Bridge, an incredibly narrow house, and what we could only describe as “the funky garage“–a one-car garage painted pink, purple, orange, and yellow.

On the way back we stopped at Macreay Landy Antiques of Fitzwilliam, NH.  We didn't have a lot of cash on us, which is probably just as well because the place was chock full of charming little sculptures, paintings, and various other old treasures.  I was a nervous wreck that Neya would knock something over, but she was very careful.

After that we stopped at Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, New Hampshire.  Of course, I am not a religious person, but the idea of an open-air church really appeals to me.  It was a beautiful place including gardens with outdoor chapels, a museum and gift shop, a bed and breakfast, and a dramatic stone tower with electronic bells that played snippets of various songs.  The tower was a memorial to women who have served their country in wartime.

Neya asked if we would be allowed in, since we didn't believe in God.  I smiled and told her “Of course we're allowed in, honey.”

The primary area of worship consisted of rows of benches arranged beneath the pines facing an altar beyond which there was a majestic view of a distant mountain.  It was really quite lovely.  I thought of Theresa while I was there, resting in a similarly beautiful garden-like spot.

It was a very pretty place, definitely worth a visit if you are passing through Rindge.

We arrived back home at about 4:30 PM, about 3 and a half hours after we left.  Pat's back was really hurting, as she had pulled a muscle earlier in the day, so she relaxed in the pool with Neya and I came inside to write about the day.

You can check out other pictures from the trip in my Independence Day Roadtrip photo album.