Christmases past and present blend seamlessly in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Walking along the brick sidewalks recently dusted with snow, it’s easy to picture the streets filled with horse-drawn buggies and carolers carrying lanterns.I love to walk along the Piscataqua River, past tugboats strung with Christmas lights. Prescott Park features views of the rushing river […]
strawbery banke
View a sampling of sites along New England’s “Maritime Trail,” covering 400 years of seafaring history.
Best of Portsmouth, NH | 2013 Editors’ Choice Awards
BEST ATTRACTIONS IN PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE BEST PUBLIC PARK PRESCOTT PARK, Portsmouth Ten acres of flower gardens, walking paths, and grassy areas alongside the Piscataqua River make the perfect backdrop for arts festivals, outdoor concerts, and performances during summer months. Events are free, but donations are accepted. Marcy St. 603-431-8748; cityofportsmouth.com/prescottpark BEST MARINE SCIENCE MUSEUM […]
There’s a lot to see in do in the Granite State, but some activities really stand the test of time. Read our picks for the best classic attractions in New Hampshire. BEST BEACH HAMPTON BEACH, Hampton Take a beautiful stretch of sandy coastline (nhstateparks.org) and add a splash of kitsch and you have yourself a memorable […]
A sampling of destinations in the Portsmouth area … For pricing, seasonal schedules, and other details, see the venue Web sites listed below. For additional suggestions for dining, lodging, events, and activities, visit: portsmouthchamber.org, portsmouthnh.com, portsmouthhistory.org, seacoastonline.com, and visitnh.gov WHERE TO STAY IN PORTSMOUTH Ale House Inn 121 Bow St., Portsmouth 603-431-7760; alehouseinn.com Ashworth by […]
Finding Christmas in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
A small city by the sea, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, keeps traditional holiday spirit alive at Christmas.
Christmas Comes to Portsmouth
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has many different identities. There’s Market Square, of course, and buzz of shops and restaurants that rivals Boston’s Newbury Street, minus the parking nightmares. Its compact size and sheer number locally owned stores, however, gives it a small town feel. It’s a working waterfront city, too, with tugboats and bigger ships on […]
The Liberation of Color
In his classic A Child’s Christmas in Wales, Dylan Thomas remembers “a painting book in which I could make the grass, the trees, the sea and the animals any color I pleased, and still the dazzling sky-blue sheep are grazing in the red field under the rainbow-billed and pea-green birds.” There is an exhilaration that […]
Weekend in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is the artsy black sheep of New Hampshire. A tiny seaside enclave dotted with galleries and cafes, it doesn’t really fit the rugged alpine character of the rest of the Granite State. Both hip and historic, it’s an ideal getaway spot for anyone in search of a low-key weekend to indulge his or her […]
New Hampshire Seacoast: 18-Mile Vacation
The New Hampshire seacoast is the Lichtenstein of New England–a small, generally overlooked principality much beloved by the few who know it, and given little thought by the rest of us. That’s ripe for change. In an era when the long weekend has replaced the two-week vacation (itself a replacement of the months-long summer sojourn […]
African Slaves in Portsmouth
Excerpt from Yankee Magazine February 1999 It is 1968, and in the dark back room of St. John’s Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a young black woman is seated at a small table, bent over church records. This is not the beginning of Valerie Cunningham’ s search, but it is the beginning of her success. […]
New Hampshire: The Granite State
By David Lyon and Patricia Harris New Hampshire is Yankee country, and our woodsy home town of Dublin is right in the middle of it. To the east lies Peterborough, with its famed MacDowell Colony of painters, poets and thinkers. To the west, the handsome college town of Keene boasts one of the widest Main […]