3 Best Sights in Durham, The Seacoast

It's easy to lose yourself for a couple of hours, or longer if you pack a picnic lunch, as you wander along the peaceful trails and through the astoundingly gorgeous flower beds of this 30-acre former farm that's now a thriving public garden dotted with hundreds of sculptures and art installations. Features range from formal parterre and spiral gardens to more whimsical and impressionistic plantings. 

This campus of four impressive, historic museums consists of the 1675 Damm Garrison House, the 1813 Hale House (home to abolitionist Senator John P. Hale from 1840 to 1873), the 1818 Woodman House, and the 1825 Keefe House, which contains the excellent Thom Hindle Gallery. Exhibits focus on Early American cooking utensils, clothing, furniture, and Native American artifacts, as well as natural history and New Hampshire's involvement in the Civil War.

The state’s best and largest museum for kiddos is set inside a LEED-certified 1920s armory with big windows overlooking downtown Dover's Cocheco River. In this bright and colorful space, well-designed interactive exhibits on submarines, river ecosystems, dinosaurs, and music are geared to kids up to around age 12, and storytelling sessions are offered regularly.