NORTH CONWAY, N.H. -- "You are entering the past," the sign says. "No cellphones."
Inside, the wooden floor creaks in spots and the aisles are crammed with everything from souvenir coffee mugs to toothpaste. There's even homemade fudge.
On the Register of Historic Places, the five-and-dime at the corner of Main and Kearsarge streets is this town's oldest continuously operating retail store -- 65 years last March.
"It all comes and goes, but we stay the same," says Shirley Alcott, who has owned the North Conway 5 and 10 Store with her husband, Phil, the fudge maker, since 1977.
Change occurs beyond the green facade of the five-and-dime, though. Stores and restaurants try new themes. Development marches on. An airport becomes the location for outlet stores. A onetime post office houses flannel and jewelry stores.
Drive down North Conway's Route 16. The "strip" has been tweaked, repaved, and expanded. A gas station by the car wash is closed, replaced by a supersize one across the street. Dunkin' Donuts has moved and enlarged. The cow is still on top of the Merlino's sign, but Bellini's has relocated and more than doubled in size from Seavey Street in the village to a mall about a mile and half away. Gunther's, the upstairs breakfast nook, is now Piccalilli's, but they've still got that game sausage.
The Kearsarge Inn is our base for exploration. It isn't exactly a long drive to the inn from home, about 10 miles, but there's nothing like being a backyard tourist. Oh, the things you'll find, to borrow from Dr. Seuss.
The mid-1800s inn, a former farmhouse complete with corncob insulation, was renovated and reopened last December with themed rooms decorated in everything from Tuckerman Ravine memorabilia to a Cranmore room. From it, we stroll, stopping in places both familiar and new.
We discover that the village, or downtown, has even more blocks. As part of the plan to alleviate traffic -- nope, still no bypass -- a road now parallels the strip. The North-South Road bisects a number of streets, providing more options for villagers to walk around the block.
With all the coffee shops that have sprouted, the village has a neighborhood feel to it. You can even get wireless Internet on Main Street.
One java junkie is the North Conway Library's director, Andrea Masters, who moved to the area five years ago. Originally from Frankfurt, she frequents the coffee shops for rejuvenation, a chance to chat and to read.
"I love the diversity," Masters said.