On the Road: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Boiled lobster at Water View Grill

I love the ocean.  The ocean is endless possibility.  The ocean is beauty, power and life.  It is the unknown and the unknowable, its depths the earthly realm most inaccessible to humanity.

I enjoy being in a place with deep connections to the sea.  A nautical community has an entirely different vibe from what I've experienced for most of my life.  Yes, I grew up in a tiny state - Maryland - with over 3,000 miles of coastline, the highest coastline-to-area ratio of any state in the US (depending how you measure).  Between the Chesapeake, the Atlantic and the Potomac, Maryland often feels like it's more water than land.  But I grew up well inland and family vacations more frequently took us towards woods and mountains.  They still do.  

Oysters at Row 34

Proximity to the ocean inspires romantic longings for an historic past rather than a personal one.  I'm currently reading Moby Dick, too, which feeds my faux nostalgia.  A beach has its place but it's not what I'm after when I visit the coast.  I want a view of a serene harbor, the salty air in my nose and a boiled crustacean in front of me along with the crude implements required to eat it.  I want the iconography of the sea on the signs around town.  I want time in a place like Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Tide clock

We went to Portsmouth for the first time 22 years ago for an anniversary weekend.  I planned the adventure without telling my wife where we were going.  We hadn't been back until this past weekend.

South Meeting House

South Street & Vine (left) and Sanders Fish Market

Portsmouth is a small city with a population of 22,733 and manageable on foot.  Lots of clapboard on the older buildings, especially close to the shore.  I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition between the hippie vibe of the local community and the trappings of a working harbor, the huge road salt mounds in clear view from the yoga studios.  

Portsmouth is sort of a smaller version of Portland, Maine, a city we agree that we prefer.  It's easier to imagine going back to Portland simply because there would be more to do in a larger community.  But I can't deny the quieter, more manageable charms of Portsmouth.