Monday morning we left my friend Heather’s house and headed up the coast to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Which pretty much has the coolest historic downtown on the planet.
Settled in 1623 Portsmouth has an incredible amount of character. The sidewalks are lined with bricks, the streets are all pretty uneven and the old buildings are AMAZING. Seriously, everywhere you look is a little history lesson in the making.
I will never get tired of seeing old brick buildings trimmed in white or black.
Or snow covered paths. 😉
La Maison Navarre has scrumptious pastries if you are ever in the area. The Girl, who is a bit of a coffee snob, tried an affogato coffee and said it reminded her of Haagen Daz ice cream.
After a few hours in Portsmouth we headed north to Portland, Maine.
New favorite thing: Flatbread with corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage with mustard. A combination I would have never come up with on my own BUT HOLY COW MAN….it was so good!
Oh. And just in case you didn’t know… Maine has a $0.05 redemption value on cans and bottles. So of course The Girl is always on the lookout when she walks around town. 😉
But the best deal/find of the day? A free wooden chair from a local thrift store. Apparently they had too many and needed to get rid of a few. 🙂
Treasures… they’re around every corner. You just have to look for them.
Peace Out Girl Scouts… I’ll check in tomorrow.
~Mavis
Suzanne says
One of my favorite children’s books called The Ox-Cart Man features Portsmouth. If you haven’t read it you should check it out. It has great pictures.
Gail says
One of my favorites, too. I first heard it on the original Reading Rainbow show way back when my children were young.
Carolina says
Wow, you were in the next town over to where I live! So many cool things to see and do in Portsmouth, NH. I hope that if you are ever here again, you can check out Strawberry Bank (spell check would not let me write it as it should be, with the colonial spelling). It is right in downtown Portsmouth, and is a re-creation of a time in the history of the city. Each home, represents a different period, complete with occupants. There is also a WW 2 market, with authentic can goods from that time, and penny candy for sale—a real slice of Americana.
Marybeth says
Going to N.H. this summer. Now I know what we are doing one day. Went to Portland Maine 2 summers ago. It was beautiful. Also went blueberry picking on that trip. Best blueberries EVER!. We plan on going blueberry picking again this year.
Carolina says
Marybeth—for blueberry picking, I recommend BerryBogg Farm. They have a website, are not too far from Portsmouth—and it is just a fun place. Also close by is Union Lake Peach orchard. It is not pick your own, but they have great peaches. No website, but they do have a Facebook page.