A Dartmouth visit: oh, to be 18 again!

College is at the heart of Hanover, and town gets an `A' for amenities

By Barbara Claire Kasselmann, Globe Staff

IF YOU GO . . . Getting there: Take Interstate 93 north to Concord, N.H., then I-89 north to NH Route 120 (exit 18), north into Hanover. Staying there: I found Loch Lyme Lodge 800-423-2141 or 603-795-2141, 12 miles north of Hanover on Route 10, serene, lovely, and friendly. Rates, with breakfast, shared bath, are about $42-$56. Hanover Inn on The Green, 800-443-7024, is nice if you want to go upscale for $227-$297. The Chieftain, north on State Route 10, telephone 603-643-2550, has comfortable rooms in the $69-$95 range. Other 200-year-old inns in Lyme are Alden Country Inn at 800-794-2296, and The Dowds' Country Inn at 800-482-4712. For more on the Shaker Inn and Restaurant, call 603-632-7810. For more information on the Hanover/Lebanon/Norwich/Lyme areas, call Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce at 603-643-3115. Dining there: Dining choices are abundant. Zin's is perfect for a quiet evening and delicious dinner; Patrick Henry's is great for a cozy pub lunch or dinner. Lou's, at 30 South Main, is a 1947 lunch counter place with good breakfasts and sandwiches, and Everything But Anchovies, around the corner at 5 Allen St., looked popular and fun. Across the river in Norwich, Vt., are La Poule a Dents fine French restaurant (802-649-2922) and dining at the Norwich Inn. Also: Don't miss Dan & Whit's General Store, 157 Main St. in Norwich. ``Everything from hosiery to toothpaste,'' I was told on good authority. ``Gas, meat, and hardware, too.'' It's been a general store longer than anyone around can remember.

HANOVER, N.H. -- I arrived on the Dartmouth College campus on a brilliant Saturday afternoon in early October. The sky was breathtakingly blue, golden leaves littered the lawns, and students studied quietly under trees or strolled paths across The Green.

For a few brief shining moments, or perhaps the whole long and lovely weekend, I wanted to be 18 again. I'd be a freshman, or maybe a sophomore, and get a few more holes pierced in my ears. Back propped against a big old tree, I'd breathe in the fresh autumn air as I studied Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot, then I'd duck into the Sanborn Library when afternoon sunlight faded.

Late afternoon, I'd head over to the Dirt Cowboy Cafe on Main Street for a cappuccino and to see who might be hanging out there. Then back to the library for a little more studying, and later, into town for a burger and a brew. Oh, to be 18 again. One look at the Dartmouth campus, and I decided that's where I'd go back to school if I had it to do over again.

But, alas, my reveries were interrupted. Was that a pounding big bass drum I heard? And trumpets, trombones, and French horns? No wonder parking spaces had been limited. It was a fall football weekend. Parents and old grads were in town, and the parade was coming down Main Street.

Never one to miss a parade, I rushed over just in time to catch the marching band and the taste of victory. Everyone was either collegiate, collegiate once-upon-a-time, or collegiate wannabe, and all were reveling in the romance of college life without the agony of final exams.

Once the parade ended -- it wasn't exactly the Rose Bowl, so it didn't last long -- Main Street settled back into its short, quaint little New England self: a couple of blocks north into the campus, a couple of blocks south lined with old brick buildings and charming little shops and restaurants.

With a population barely topping 9,000, Hanover isn't what one might term a bustling metropolis. With an old Ivy League school at its heart, however, it offers the finest amenities: lovely old inns, dining choices from cellar pub to haute cuisine, lively theater, art museums and galleries, libraries, shopping, and fine old homes.

Dartmouth itself is a showpiece of American college campuses. Chartered in 1769 by King George III, it is the ninth-oldest college in the United States. With a broad, tree-bedecked green surrounded by stately old buildings and ivy-covered walls, it's the kind of college for which brochures were created.

Surrounded by lush forests and rolling mountains and bordered by the broad Connecticut River, Dartmouth and its hometown are the quintessence of picturesque. Small wonder the school's outdoor outings club is so popular and that crew is a big sport here.

Student or not -- this is a great place for reveling in the grandeurs of nature as well as the decadent delights of a cultured civilization. Surrounding towns in New Hampshire and across the river in Vermont also offer fascinating side trips.

As shadows lengthened along Hanover's streets, I finished my late lunch of hot stew and a cold beer and walked the half block back to campus to stroll its paths and explore its buildings.

I was thrilled to discover that Dartmouth is a trusting place and its dedicated students study in the libraries late into the night. I was able to wander in and out on a Saturday night, exploring fascinating buildings and getting a feel for what it would be like if I actually did go back to school at Dartmouth.

While the campus was beautiful in late afternoon, it was downright spellbinding at night. The tower clock in Baker Memorial Library at the north end of The Green was lit for the evening, and the sound of chimes rang across the cooling air. Yellow lights glimmered everywhere from long, narrow windows, and overhead I could see all the stars I had forgotten existed.

By the light of the stars, I set out exploring. The east edge of The Green is lined with some of the campus's earliest and most beautiful buildings, known as Dartmouth Row.

Near the north end of this strip on College Street, I happened upon a walkway lined with modern sculptures and leading back into the Sherman Fairchild Physical Sciences Center. Little courtyards of ivied walls and twinkly little white lights were tucked in among the buildings.

The newer part (circa 1974) of the science center, with long glass walls, was open. In the lobby, I discovered an interesting collection of old clocks, and, swinging from 70 feet above, a Foucault Pendulum demonstrated the specifics of Earth's rotation.

Just beyond the science center and across the street is the white-steepled Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. ``Gathered by Eleazar Wheelock in 1771,'' the church's sign invited: ``Enter Rest Pray.'' I tried the knob and the door yielded. Quietly, I slipped into a simple, old, white wooden pew, where I was treated to my own private organ concert coming from the loft above.

Having heard that Baker Library walls displayed 3,000 square feet of murals painted in 1932-'34 by Mexican artist Jose Clemente Orozco, I entered the side door on College Street that read ``Baker,'' to find the walls of art.

These huge, astonishing frescoes, depicting the history of civilization in the Americas, are worth the drive to Hanover. They are open daily 8 a.m. till midnight, though they close at 5 p.m. during campus holidays. At old scarred wooden tables, students study late into the night, surrounded by one of the most amazing epic works of art in America.

In bold, stormy blues, death grays, and blood reds, Orozco's frescoes depict wars and warriors, tyranny, mechanization, oppression and freedom, and the timeless struggle of mankind to maintain dignity amid the development of the Americas. The entire library is a treasury of art, history, and architectural beauty, its long, velvet-draped windows looking out over The Green.

Another campus beauty is the smaller Sanborn English House Library, to the right as you exit Baker's main doors. Inside, people young and old were reading in quiet nooks, curled up in big leather and overstuffed chairs, cozy lights burning tableside and an old grandfather clock ticking peacefully. Marble fireplaces and balconies of books bespoke gentle elegance and a love of knowledge.

If you'd like an expert guide around campus, free fall tours (till Wednesday before Thanksgiving) leave McNutt Hall on The Green's west side at 11:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays, at 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday. Information sessions are held one hour before tours. Call 603-646-2875 for info.

Over on Main Street, the pubs were picking up steam, but I was ready for quiet, a special dinner and pleasant service. If you're looking for such a combo, along with nice ambience, a good place to find them is at Zins in the Hanover Inn at the corner of Main and Wheelock. Zins has become a very popular, but still peaceful, wine bar and restaurant, with delicious and creative entrees and tapas selections, along with 30 different wines by the glass.

The music is cool and quiet, the pinot noir (and those 29 others) smooth, and the crispy duck with glazed acorn squash perfectly prepared. Grilled Atlantic salmon, cod and lamb specials, lobster raviolis, and venison burgers are but a few of the tempting choices. Entrees run about $13-$17.

Also in the Hanover Inn is the AAA four-diamond Daniel Webster Room. Elegant surroundings, award-winning wines, and haute cuisine choices like grilled rabbit or Moroccan spiced yellowfin tuna, priced in the $18-$32 range, would make for a lovely evening.

The 12-mile drive back to my lodging at Loch Lyme was a pleasure, winding along green forests and frosty fields sparkling in the starlight. My choice of inns had been a bolt of luck -- plan ahead for your Dartmouth weekend if you don't want to sleep at the jail. Prices go up, and rooms book early in fall, especially for football weekends.

Driving north from Hanover out Route 10 earlier in the day, just beyond the town of Lyme I had spotted a sign reading: ``Room for 2, $56.'' For one, it was just $42, including a delicious breakfast. It may have been the last room around, I later learned. Many people wind up opting for a school floor, a jail, a parking lot or a 50-mile drive.

The 18th-century Loch Lyme Lodge has been a family-operated inn for over 70 years. Fall and winter, four upstairs bedrooms with shared baths are open for guests. Twenty-four cottages, scattered about the woods and lakeside, are also available in summer, when swimming, boating, fishing, and picnics are added to the amenities.

The inn was a real find. When I returned after dinner, I walked across the road to Loch Lyme (Post Pond) and sat on the wooden dock to listen to the stillness of the water and to search for the constellations of stars in the sky.

Later, when I awoke about 3 a.m. and looked out my bedroom window, I thought I beheld the season's first snowfall covering the hills and barns and apple trees. In the morning, I found it was merely a heavy frost glistening white in the bright October moonlight.

For breakfast, we had fresh zucchini bread, melons, apples and coffee, plus eggs and sausages cooked to order. As morning sunlight streamed in through the old windows onto our breakfast table, and Liszt and Vivaldi entertained from the other room, we guests discussed last night's stars, coming home to Dartmouth, mountain hikes, sailing expeditions, Shakespeare, and lunar eclipses.

To escape from telephones, televisions, and video arcades for a retreat into the tranquillities of lakeside New Hampshire, with home-cooked food, gracious hosts, and fascinating company, I recommend Loch Lyme, if there's still room.

If that's not your style, The Hanover Inn on The Green, an elegant 19th-century inn, is conveniently located, but priced out of my range at $227-$297. Other choices include Chieftain Motor Inn ($69-$95), 2.5 miles north of Hanover on State Route 10, and a Days Inn, south on Route 120 in Lebanon. Nearby towns of Lebanon, West Lebanon, and Lyme, as well as Norwich and White River Junction, Vt., offer many lodging choices.

Staying at Loch Lyme opened up another world to explore around the charming town of Lyme. There's an old cemetery there, and a picturesque white-steepled church with a chiming bell cast by Paul Revere, a couple of inns, and an old country store where I stocked up on local cheeses, homemade breads, and muffins.

I also got my lunch here -- tuna sandwich and fresh, rich Vermont chocolate milk -- to take across the bridge to Vermont for a hilltop picnic with a marvelous view.

Thirty artists -- including painters, sculptors, weavers, and stained-glass artists -- will open their studios in the towns and hillsides all around the area Sept. 26, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets ($12) and self-guided tour maps will be available on the Lyme Common.

That pretty little white church, Lyme Congregational, holds its annual Fall Festival and Horseshed Crafts Fair on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. will feature homemade chicken pot pie, and the crafts fair in the church's historic long row of horse sheds promises all kinds of handmade items -- jams and jellies, baked goods, wreaths and Christmas specialties. Lyme's Pumpkin Festival will be Oct. 31, with a costume parade of the town's children.

Antiques abound in the area -- I found the old Lyme Creamery a half-mile north of Lyme on Route 10 to be too good to resist. The former creamery is filled with beautiful antique desks and chairs, quilts, lamps, crockery, and walls full of fine old prints and paintings. The host was knowledgeable and pleasant, and the views from the windows works of art in themselves.

In an area so richly endowed by Mother Nature with mountains, lakes, and forests, I could not pass up the opportunity to enjoy an autumn trek through the woods. The hosts at Loch Lyme were able to recommend a trail -- and also suggested the Dartmouth Outing Club or Hanover bookstores as sources of hiking information.

In a book at Loch Lyme, ``Walks & Rambles in the Upper Connecticut River Valley'' by Mary Kibling, I found the perfect hike -- a relatively modest climb to Holt's Ledge.

Trailhead for the 2.2-mile, two-hour hike can be found by heading 1.7 miles east out of Lyme from Route 10 to Lyme Center, then 1.5 miles to the fork at Dorchester Road. Just beyond the fork on the left are a few parking spots near a pond at the Dartmouth Skiway; the trailhead is across the road.

Both the Dartmouth Outing Club (orange blaze) and the Appalachian Trail (white), which crosses through here, keep the trail well marked.

The trail, through birch and maple forests, along old stone walls and carpets of ferns and wildflowers, is a pleasant trek, and rewards hikers with spectacular views of New Hampshire and Vermont mountains from the top at Holt's Ledge. Near the ledges, chairlifts for Dartmouth's Ski Club stood silently waiting for winter.

Don't miss the chance to take the road west out of Lyme, also. It crosses the bridge into Vermont, where a little exploring reveals scenic towns (many Thetfords), a state forest, and lovely stretches of old US Route 5 along the Connecticut River. For a little circle tour, take US 5 south to Norwich, Vt., then cross the bridge back to Hanover.

Norwich has an interesting shopping area, with fine old buildings and good restaurants. It is also home to the 200-year-old Norwich Inn (802-649-1143), which offers dining, lodging, parlors, charm, and a ghost. Most guests accept ``Ma Walker's'' presence, and many request ``her'' room. I've also heard that Captain Kangaroo lives in town and takes his morning coffee at the Norwich. (What a pair.)

Back across the river in Hanover, there's still much more to do. The town provides a great array of shopping, mostly on South Main and Lebanon streets. You'll find fine furniture and accessories, and lovely clothing shops. Some are quite traditional, and quite expensive, but I found Clay's, in Hanover Park, to have lovely, elegant things, and OBA! at 53 S. Main to have sufficient velvet dresses, elegant scarves, and silver jewelry to hook me. Some shops close on Sundays, so plan accordingly.

Stroll the streets for dining ops. Panda House and Bamboo Garden restaurants looked good, as did the Jewel of India, but I opted for a little downstairs pub dinner at Patrick Henry's (formerly Old Pete's Tavern).

Patrick Henry's has great cozy foods -- soups, stews, and hearty sandwiches, plus turkey pie and apple-chicken. Fish chowder and a Caesar salad were just what the doctor ordered for me. Beers from both old and New England, nice wines, and homemade desserts are featured at Patrick's. Duck down the steps and through the old wooden doorway for a real Ivy League pub feel.

Dartmouth also boasts a fine art museum and performing arts center, both located on Wheelock Street across from The Green. The Hood Museum of Art, one of the country's oldest college museums, features an impressive collection of some 60,000 works from American, European, Asian, African, Oceanian, and Native American artists.

Adjacent to the Hood, Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts, the Hop, may look familiar. It was the prototype for Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

This showpiece building hosts an exciting procession of films, plays, dance troupes, and musicians. Among this fall's events will be the Hop's Festival of International Puppetry, a world premiere of ``Going to the Wall'' by the Bebe Miller Dance Company, jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson, a presentation of Bertolt Brecht's ``The Good Woman of Szechuan,''; and performances by Mary Black, Marisa Monte, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and a host of other varied talents. (I may have to slip back into Hanover this fall, myself.) Call the HOP at 603-646-2422 for a schedule.

As a student, you might not find your way over to the Enfield Shaker Village, but as an adult, you'll have to -- especially in autumn when Mount Assurance is adorned with red and gold maples, yellow birches, and dark green firs, and Mascoma Lake is bluer than an Aegean sky.

This little bit of yesterday is just southeast of Hanover on Route 4A, south off US 4, at Enfield. Here, you'll find a museum of Shaker crafts and history and a shop that sells herbs, candles, quilts, and Shaker oval boxes.

The largest Shaker structure ever built -- a massive six-story Great Stone Dwelling -- plus other community buildings, photos, and exhibits, gives a peek into the lives of the community that lived and worked here in the ``Chosen Vale'' from 1793 to 1923.

The Shaker Harvest Festival, Saturday, Oct. 10, promises horse-drawn wagon rides; sheep-herding; ice cream-, butter-, and cider-making; and good, homemade Shaker rosewater apple pie, chili, sandwiches, and cookies ($5 adults, $2 children).

Other fall events at Shaker Village include a four-mile hike to canals, dams, and mills that powered Shaker industries, Oct. 3 at 8 a.m. ($12); and an evening of Shaker songs Friday, Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m. ($12). Call 603-632-4346 for more information. For a complete experience, you can now stay at the Shaker Inn in the Great Stone Dwelling, for $85-$165 per night for two, including full country breakfast. The inn offers fine gourmet dining with entrees averaging $12-$18.

A few days in the Hanover/Dartmouth area gave me a clearer insight into why idealists like the Shakers, early settlers, educators, artists, thinkers, hikers, skiers, and students have long sought the peace and beauty of this area along the Upper Connecticut.

Yes, if I were 18 again, I just might go to Dartmouth. I could hang out at Patrick Henry's, check out a flick at The HOP, eat all the ice cream I wanted, and let Daddy pay the bills. Final exams and 20-page papers? What are those? I'd forget my troubles atop Ragged Mountain. There could be worse places to spend four years studying.

Published 10/11/98 in the Boston Suday Globe's Travel Section