Book excerpt: New Hampshire literally has something for everyone: urban types looking for bookstores, coffee shops, swank eateries, and nightclubs; outdoorsy folks searching for endless vistas atop the high peaks of the White Mountains; history buffs seeking clues to the state’s rich past; or snow-loving families hoping to schuss the slopes all day long. It is a place of quaint villages, swimming holes, general stores, and hillside farms. And its people, those singular Granite Staters, are the friendly caretakers who make sure it’s there for all to enjoy. Profiled within these pages are fifty classic symbols of this extraordinary state, revealing little-known facts, longtime secrets, and historical legends. From frost heaves to Robert Frost, from Stonyfield Yogurt to the New Hampshire State House, New Hampshire Icons offers up the inside story on the Granite State. Did you know that New Hampshire has the shortest coastline of any state (18 miles)? That Mt. Washington is the official home of the world’s worst weather? That pumpkins are the official state fruit? New Hampshire Icons features the people, places, events, foods, animals, and traditions that make it the singular state it is.