I carefully research and plan all of my road trip adventures, but some of my favorite moments on my trips inevitably end up being the surprises that I discover along the way. On a recent trip in New England with my family, I planned to stop BRIEFLY in Littleton, NH because it had a candy store Chutters that has the World’s Longest Candy Counter. Seemed like something I had to see. So after our waterfall hiking adventure at the beautiful Flume Gorge, we drove to Littleton and even driving into town I was taken aback.
This adorable town captured my imagination even before we found a parking spot, and the fact that a quarter in the meter got us a full hour of parking was a delight to everyone. I had seen some Pollyanna stuff in my poking around of things to do in New Hampshire, but you know, candy store, and I didn’t think too much of it. But we ended up parking right in front of the town library where the effervescent Pollyanna statue stands shining. I liked the Pollyanna story as a kid, since I try and have sunny attitude and so does Pollyanna, and that appeals to me. This statue is one of the most joyful I’ve ever seen. If you visit, don’t forget to rub her boot for good luck.
The street posts around town have banners calling Littleton the Glad Town and I sure felt Glad to be there. The crosswalks are the cutest I’ve ever seen, painted a pretty turquoise with a Pollyanna outline that says “Stop Look Wave.” Seriously, how stinking adorable is that?
I was also mesmerized by the stunning Pollyanna Gateway. Something as simple as some brightly colored umbrellas really had a magical feel. My mom thinks this pic should be the cover of my book (when I get to write one). Bright colors, happy summer vibes, travel, yeah, it ticks a lot of boxes, so she’s not wrong. Anyway, the colors are cute and when I have a backyard, i’m totally stealing this idea for my shaded patio area!
My daughter loved the fact that there were pianos around town for the public to just play (super upping the charm game here) and the staff at the local pizza joint was very nice. And I’m a big sucker for a mural with the town name on it. Gives me vibes of those old school postcards that I love so much.
Of course Chutters was impressive, so many candy options. My daughter quibbled with the World’s Longest designation, but who am I to argue with a very long measuring stick? Also, I found out after our visit that I have a family connection to this store (and town), from my cousin. Her aunt (on her mom’s side of the family) actually owns the shop and my cousin worked there for a summer. Now, you may think, gee Angel, how did you not know that if it is your COUSIN, but I have a big family and when she was working there, I was already married and living several states away in New Jersey. Also – there wasn’t Facebook or social media then, so cut me some slack. Anyway, while the candy bar is an impressive treat, the fudge is the real star here. It’s delicious and there were so many flavor choices to pick from.
I hope sometime to go back and explore more, there were a lot of cute shops, but since there were other time-sensitive destinations on our list, we didn’t have much time to poke around. In the meantime, check out my quick TikTok video below to get more of a taste of Littleton, NH.
Angel's Going Places 