Welcoming visitors

as seen at park street/downtown crossing. on the other side of the street is boston common, with the brewer fountain. nice! :)
yesterday we went to new hampshire, and upon entering that state we saw the following welcoming sign: "live free or die". we made jokes about that the rest of the day. we also imagined that being the welcoming sign to the netherlands ("leef in vrijheid, of.. sterf!!!" hmmm). right after that, there were state-owned liquor stores on either side of the highway, with a huge sign: "no tax, stock up and save!" now isnt that a warm welcome! then we climbed a mountain and enjoyed the fall colors (very nice, nicer than in boston, actually) and beautiful views. we didnt meet any NH people, luckily, what if they would determine whether we were free or... ?
today i caught up with my wikipedia reading and learned that "live free or die" is NH's state motto, adopted in 1945. the phrase comes from a toast written by general john stark in 1809. and yes, every state has a motto! the one for mass is: ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem that you ofcourse immediately translate into: by the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty. but i like californias motto best: eureka!!!