Portsmouth and Kittery.

8-6-19 VERMONT: Yesterday we did a day trip to Portsmouth, NH. We drove south to Concord and followed the signs to Portsmouth, which put us on Rt. 4, a two-lane road with traffic lights and construction delays. On the way back, we used Rt. 101 and saved an hour! We were supposed to go to visit Ken and Carol in Southwest Harbor, ME, this week, but canceled because of concerns for Gus’ health.

Portsmouth was settled in the early 1600’s and is named for Portsmouth, England, which is in Hampshire County. The first settlement, Strawberry Banke, named for the wild strawberries growing there, is a block from the water. The Strawberry Banke Museum now consists of about thirty buildings, most original to the site and dating from 1600’s for the earliest. The structures are in various states of restoration. We spent a couple hours seeing most of what was open yesterday. A block to the east is Water Street and the harbor. A couple blocks to the northwest is Market Square with shops and eateries and North Church, built, approximately, two hundred years ago and two hundred years after the first settlement.

We crossed the Piscataqua River to Kittery Maine and Bob’s Clam Hut, a fav, for lunch before heading back to VT.

Back in the pasture, while exercising the dogs, I noticed several Monarch butterfly caterpillars on one patch of milkweed.


Weathervane at Portsmouth Harbor.

Strawberry  Banke, Chase House above and below.

Fancy bedroom, Chase House.

Jefferson Street. The flags indicate which buildings are open today.

Aldrich House arbor with chairs in the shade.

Street corner of Jefferson and Atkinson. The flag is the 'Grand Union Flag', first USA flag, from 1775-1777.

Portsmouth Harbor.

Market Square, North Church, from early 1800's.

Back in Thetford, Monarch caterpillars are grazing on milkweed, I counted 7 on juct one patch.