I Made it!

Had a good nite's rest and we were noff nthis morning non acold..drizzly and raining Northeast day! Brrrrr! Drove to Concord, New Hampshire..the address for President Franlin Pierce was sort of vague...so had a little difficulty finding Information Center nearby...and to our dismay the Pierce Manse would only be opening for the season this weekend!,,,and after driviong in thee rain and thru the beautiful and imposing White mountains!....BUT...the person behind the desk gave me some information and several npublished pamphlets that told of the major house of his lifetime...and I called the number and it too was closed!...however not being daunted nI found a number to call if desirious of a personal tour of this major home which was about 35 miles farther North....and I called...and Glory be!...the man who answered who lived several miles from the locationj...volunteered graciously to meet us there and give us THE PERSONAL TOUR! We hustled and blundered on the mountain roads in the rain and found it....
The guide was an elerly gent who really lived Pierce...and when the house was open actually wore the 1830 dress of the day!
We saw the barn attached to the house and the interior of the house as well...AQlmost all the original furnishings and personal items were nther for us to0 explore...almost without any restriction...We walked thru about 20 rooms on both floors and saw all the original paintings and certificates...with authentic signatures.. President Pierce's father was a very dominant influence on Frank(lin)...and the President also had an older brother who was his hero...The father and son were both in the Military during Revolution and war of 1812.. The House which was built by the father waqs used as an INn..a Tavern..a Post-Office and a Sherrif's station...and his father had been..owner of Inn and Tavern...Postmaster and Sherrif at various time including several local political offices and Governor of New Hampshire twice...Not only was he extremely active,,but charismatically handsome!...What an act for the young Franlin to follow...but he did!...He too was Handsome with a large shock of black hair over his right brow..but waqs extremely shy, particularly with the women! Franlin lived in the house from infancy to about age 36...so the influences of all the patrons, politicians and Military who utilized the various functions of the house must of played an important part in his development...He attended Bowdoin collegenin Maine and then, Dartmouth...for law.....we learned much more of his personna...and it will be useful for my book...We spent about 2 1/2 hours with him, and at the conclusion we were all exhausted...After much thank you's to this gracious man we left to drive back down to Concord and find a route that would take us to our next location which would be over the Connecticut River into Vermont...We also learned that it is virtually impossible to drive across East West roads...since they barely existed!...Therefor it is necessary to retrace steps from North to South again to commence a new direction North to the next stop...Obviously itg is due to the position of all the mountain ranges....
We found our way therfore to Lebanon, New Hampshire for dinner and lodging and tomorrow AM we drive about 50-60 miles to Plymout Notch, Vermontt which is the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. See you then!