Bath, New Hampshire nestles by the side of the beautiful White Mountains. It's a small town of a couple of hundred people with two and a half covered bridges and a gleefully touristy shoppe that claims to be the oldest General Store in America. We felt at home for two reasons: 1. we met a honeymooning couple from Bath, England, and 2. it rained a lot.

There is not, it has to be said, a lot to do here - the tourist buses stop for half an hour, everyone gets out, points at things, takes pictures of them, and sods off again - but the local people we talked to like living here for its sense of community and close-knit character. People really do help each other out here.

The place claims to be the site of the first Sunday School in the United States, but I wouldn't hold that against it.