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36 Hours in Hanover

or How to Enjoy Winter in the North Country

Dartmouth was made for winter. Literally. Granite foundations, brick walls, and copper-sheathed roofs are standard features on most campus buildings. Those sturdy materials shrug off the ice, snow, and freezing temperatures that settle in after Thanksgiving and depart only reluctantly sometime after the vernal equinox.

A similar sturdiness is evident in most residents, who are either born with or acquire a "no-matter-the-weather" nonchalance. Dartmouth famously (almost) never closes on account of snow; on the contrary, it often gets livelier. So don't hesitate to book winter passage. In the spirit of the New York Times travel section, here are some suggestions for what to do in "36 (give or take a few) Hours in Hanover."

Friday

4:00 p.m. - Check the Bulletin Boards

You may not have the sort of redemptive experience J.D. Salinger's bulletin board-addicted GI protagonist had in "For Esmé - with Love and Squalor,” but the boards in Collis Hall, the Hinman Boxes area of the Hop, and Novack Café in Baker-Berry Library offer opportunities for a serendipitous Dartmouth experience. Listings for plays, recitals, talks, and informal gatherings open to all nest in these unruly aggregations of ads, notices, and miscellaneous postings. Alternatively, browse the campus calendar online.

5:30 p.m. - Chow Down on the AT

The days are getting longer, but when evening descends, the primeval urge to hunker down somewhere warm and eat still seizes even the most disciplined souls. Fortunately, there is a diverse clutch of restaurants in and around the three blocks of Main Street, south of Wheelock. The fact that you're eating right on the Appalachian Trail is a distinction that should somehow find its way into an anecdote when you get home. Walking the AT this time of year (other than the stretch that runs through town on West Wheelock, South Main, and Lebanon Streets) isn't a good idea without snowshoes, but you can get your picture taken with the landmark Hiker's Elm on the southwest corner of the Green.

7:00 p.m. - Hockey or Hop

The perennially highly ranked men's and women's hockey teams (here are the rules) alternate home stands every weekend in February, packing the house Fridays and Saturdays in Thompson Arena (women's games are generally at 4 p.m. on Saturday). Similarly, not a weekend passes at the Hopkins Center without a good show (shows generally start at 8 p.m.). The Dartmouth Glee Club kicks off the month with a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance Friday, February 6, and Saturday, February 7. Subsequent weekends feature the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, the Dartmouth Theater Department performing The Grapes of Wrath, the Dartmouth Wind Symphony, and more. Check the Hop's online listings and the bulletin boards, of course.


Saturday

9 a.m. - Get Inside

Dartmouth has some beautiful interior spaces—three of the finest within footsteps of each other. The Independence Hall-inspired Baker Library leads the list. Scott Meacham '95, author of the recent definitive guide to the campus, recommends visiting the Tower Room and the College History room at the west entrance. "It's tiny," he notes, "but is the closest thing Dartmouth has to a museum of its own past." To delve a little more into the College's past, visit Rauner Library in Webster Hall, a Beaux Arts building with a surprise inside. The third and final interior on this short tour is just across College Street. The non-denominational Rollins Chapel, designed in the Romanesque style, houses beautiful stained glass and a labyrinth for meditative walks.

1 p.m. - Get Outside

You don't need a physics professor to tell you that the coefficient of friction between your feet and the ground is lower when there's white stuff lying about. That can be a good thing if you're spending the afternoon at the Dartmouth Outdoor Club's Cross Country Ski Center on Occom Pond or at the Dartmouth Skiway. The DOC's center is a bit misnamed since you can also rent ice skates and snowshoes there. The pond and twenty-five kilometers of groomed trails on and around the golf course next door await. The Skiway, ten miles north of campus in Lyme, is a family-friendly alpine ski area complete with a classic New England timber frame lodge. There's even an hourly shuttle from Hanover on Saturdays.

All day and most of the night - Get Ready

Winter Carnival (February 13–15, 2009) is no longer the winter carnival featured in the 1939 movie Winter Carnival—mostly because women have been enrolled at the College since 1972 and thus no longer arrive on campus via train and bus from points south for the big weekend. Otherwise, Carnival is still the same enjoyable frozen spectacle it's been since its inception in 1911. Look for concerts and sports around campus; ski competitions at the Dartmouth Skiway; a polar bear swim in Occom Pond; a human dogsled race; and a showing of, yes, Winter Carnival. No need to look for the large Carnival-themed snow sculpture on the Green. You can't miss it.

P.S. It's not a bad idea to reserve tickets for some events in advance:

  • Order athletic event tickets by calling Big Green Tickets at 603-646-2466.
  • Order tickets for Hopkins Center events by calling 603-646-2422.

Sunday

10 a.m. - Breakfast at Lou's

Okay, it may not have the same panache as “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” but starting the day with breakfast (or brunch) at Lou's Restaurant and Bakery, a fixture on Main Street since 1947, is like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting and the perfect way to end your stay in town. Chances are you'll meet someone there you saw in your weekend of wandering. By all means, ask them what they like best on the well-stocked menu. Some swear by the crullers; others are partial to the omelets or the mile-high pie. Whatever you order will have you feeling warm on the way home.

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