Whipple House Museum

The smart-looking brick home known as the Whipple House Museum (14 Pleasant St./Rte. 3, Ashland, 603/968-7716, www.oldashlandnh.org, 1–4 p.m. Wed. and Fri. July–Aug., free) was given to the town of Ashland for use as a historical museum by Nobel Prize–winning medical doctor George Whipple.

Glidden Toy Museum

On the grounds of the historical museum is also the Glidden Toy Museum (49 Main St., 603/968-7289, 1–4 p.m. Wed.–Fri. Jul.–Aug., $1 adults and youth over 12), a delightful trip down memory lane to the time when toys didn’t have to have a million lights and buzzers to grab a kid’s attention. The exhaustive collection of toys goes back to 1850, and includes doll houses, children’s books, trucks and trains, and Raggedy Andy and Shirley Temple dolls.

Ashland Railroad Station Museum

Ashland’s newest historical museum is equally appealing to kids: the Ashland Railroad Station Museum (69 Depot St./Route. 132, 1–4 p.m. Sat. Jul.–Aug.) is one of the best preserved 19th century depots in New England. It’s now chock-full of train photos and artifacts from the old Boston & Maine and Concord & Montreal Railroad companies.,/p>

Loon Center

If hanging out on the lakes for awhile makes you suddenly crazy for loons, learn more about the water bird with the eerie call at the Loon Center (183 Lee’s Mill Rd./off Rte. 25, Moultonborough, 603/476-5666, www.loon.org, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Sat. year-round, plus 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat.–Sun. July–mid-Oct., free). This home-grown museum explains such mysteries as why loons’ eyes are red, why chicks ride on their parents’ backs, and what that ghostly cry actually means. A nature trail along the shores of Moultonborough Bay, a branch of Lake Winni, takes in coves where loons are known to nest in spring.