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Travel Bloggers

Ali
Katie

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA

Waking up in a strange new town is always intriguing to me. It’s like a clean slate full of possibility (I know, that’s a little corny, but it’s true). Portsmouth was no different. After rising early again (8:00am NH time, but only 5:00am our time!), we set out to discover the downtown area.

I was completely pleasantly surprised at what we found there, partly because this was only meant to be a stopover on the way to Portland, Maine. Luckily for us, this town will probably turn out to be one of the highlights of this trip. Take a trek downtown on a rainy Sunday like we did and you’ll experience the character and small community feel of this New England town. Under our umbrellas, the rain was not a hindrance at all, it only added to the fun. Our first stop was a small coffee shop called Breaking New Grounds in Market Square near North Church, where we ordered vanilla soy steamers to warm us up and to escape the drizzle for a few minutes. We had almost unconsciously walked straight into a Starbucks on the opposite corner before we realized what we were doing. The barista behind the counter there probably wondered why we walked halfway in the door, laughed, and walked right back out again!

Continuing around Market Square we window shopped and gawked at all the great looking menus (amazingly Vegetarian and Organic friendly) like The Juicery. Through our stumbles we also came across a line that wrapped around the block for a small, cute breakfast joint called Friendly Toast. If we hadn’t already taken advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel (remember, we’re on a budget!), I would have dove into this restaurant, but since we were fed, we continued on. We passed the many other restaurants and pubs in Market Square including one called Fat Belly’s (clever, I guess, but I think I’d rather eat at some place called Sexy Six-Pack…maybe that’s just me). Another place that called our name was The Portsmouth Brewery, sadly since Katie is on medication for her inopportune Tonsillitis, we had to let that one slide (no alcohol for her for 10 days!!!).

To complete our Portsmouth experience, we continued around the quaint neighborhoods playing in the puddles and marveling at the non-Arizona-ness of it all. Then, when our pant legs were good and soaked, we packed up the Grand Marquis and hit the road towards Maine. It was a short stay in New Hampshire for now, but we knew we’d be returning to drive through the White Mountains, so we headed East and onto one of the most highly recommended cities by our friends and travel books, Portland, Maine.