Family Getaway: Portsmouth, NH

Weekend getaways are the best! It’s always great to escape from the mundane – work, pick up daughter, go home, relax for thirty minutes, go to bed, read, fall asleep, rinse, and repeat the same the next day, and the next, etc. This getaway was actually planned a few months ago, in the winter but as luck would have it, a great big snowstorm hit the Northeast and, thus, we had to cancel.

And so, here we are in Spring (allegedly) and this time nothing was going to stop us! There, there was a minor hiccup. We got caught in a rainstorm that was bundled with my favorite, traffic! What was a three-and-a-half-hour road trip turned into six hours on the road. Needless to say, by the time we got to New Hampshire at 7:00 PM, I was tired, hungry, and cranky as hell! First thing on the agenda? Food!

Fortunately, there was a diner nearby – like, very nearby. And, of course, being in New England and all, I had to have their New England clam chowder. This, of course, is a lie because no matter where I am there is no doubt that If it’s on the menu I’m ordering it. What can I say, I’m a sucker for “Das Chowder”.

It was also here, on this night, where my taste buds were first introduced to something new – something extraordinary. When my main course arrived, a tuna fish melt sandwich, a toothpick impaled a fried delicatessen through my sub. I grabbed what I thought was an odd-shaped, oval french fry and when I sunk my teeth into it there was an unexpected crunch followed by the familiar taste of a pickle. I just bit into my first fried pickle! Prior to this rather noteworthy event, the thought of a fried pickle disgusted me. But having taken a bite, unbeknownst to me, it was actually very good!
“Garcon,” I yelled out to the waitress as I pointed to my plate at the fried pickles. “More of these perfectly fried and greasy pickles, please!”


Okay, so maybe I didn’t order more as the thought of it still perturbed me, what with all that grease intermingled with heaps of sodium – but I wanted to!

The next thing on the agenda was to go back to the hotel room, decompress, watch a little TV, read, plan out the next day, and go to sleep.


The next day we awoke to birds chirping. I tip-toed to the window and parted the curtains. Sunshine temporarily blinded me and brought a smile to my face. Gone was the rain and grey skies that brought with it a feeling of dread. No, today was going to be a good day. First things first. Breakfast! On the menu, is a cheese-filled chorizo and bean omelet topped with guacamole. Cinnamon toast and fried potatoes on the side. Kudos to the Roundabout Diner & Lounge!

After that delicious breakfast, a good walk was in order. We headed to the Market Square to burn off some calories and check out some of the shops and stores. It was a little over five years since we were last in Portsmouth. It was our last “hurrah” before welcoming our first (and currently only) child to this world. I told my daughter the story of the first time we were there and how we went crazy buying her all this stuff: clothing, books, toys, you name it. Most of which, were neutral clothing and boys’ stuff because, well, because everyone convinced me that we would be having a boy even though I knew deep inside “it” would be a girl. I felt proud telling this nugget of a story to my daughter and all she could think of was, TOYS!


One day, I said to myself, one day she will appreciate these stories. And into the toy store, we went.

My wife and I promised not to gift something to my daughter in each store we entered because it was what she expected. No, I will not spoil her! So, we bought her a stuffed mermaid. Ok, I guess.

I, of course, had to get my fill of books and vinyl. First, I stopped in over at Bullmoose. I remembered this place from my initial visit to Portsmouth five years ago and left a happy camper. Times were different then. I would say that the vinyl resurgence was still in its infancy at the time and prices for records were moderate. Now, in the year 2018, the resurgence has passed and vinyl collecting is in full effect and vinyl has, once again, become somewhat of a norm in retail outfits. So, much to my dismay, I left empty-handed this time around. Make no mistake, they had a fantastic selection of records as well as horror Blu rays but I just wasn’t up to spending retail prices.

With regards to bookstores, there really wasn’t much in town save for two that I found. One featured a decent selection, mostly new stuff, and the other, Sheafe Street Bookstore, was a hole in the wall that had some pretty good stuff including a mint, first edition of Stephen King’s Carrie. The shop owner and I got to talking after he noticed my purchase of King’s 11/22/63 which was still missing from my King library. “What respectable bookstore in New England would be complete without a Stephen King book,” he said as he rang up my order to which I completely agreed.

He told me about finding this particular edition at a thrift store and purchasing it for one dollar. That’s ONE FREAKING DOLLAR! I almost flipped my lid. I, of course, asked him how much he was selling it for to which he replied, “$250.” 

Nope!

As much as I wanted it, there was no way in hell that I was going to pay that much for a book. Had it been signed, I may have contemplated it further. Either way, my wife would not be a happy camper. Then, he asked, “Do you want to see it?” Hell yeah, I did! He brought me over to an enclosed glass bookcase where all the goods were kept and after some searching he retrieved it and I feasted my eyes on the gem held before me. A million thoughts ran through my head but the one thought, should I buy it? kept pestering me. But, alas, my good conscious swept that thought under the rug and I walked away from that beauty. A tear ran down the side of my face. By the end of our mini-trip, I was able to make a few more pickups that satisfied my craving. More on that later. 

On the topic of books, it was only fitting that we visit the Portsmouth AthenaeumWhat is that? I asked my wife. Well, according to the website, it is “A non-profit membership library, gallery, and museum, incorporated in 1817 and located in the heart of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

To be surrounded by so many books is a thing of beauty whether or not I was interested in reading any of the books on the shelves. There is something about being inundated by so many books that makes me just want to move there – the smell, the lighting, the sound of the hardwood floor beneath me as it creaks under my weight, the balcony adorned with more books overlooking the main floor, the atmosphere. I loved everything about it! 

We walked around the town some more, eventually came to as stop and re-energized by eating some more food. Grass-fed hamburgers from Fat Belly’s Grill in Market Square which is what I had after I finished along with a glass of their home-brewed beer. Thank you and Yum!
After being up at the crack of dawn, walking for hours under the warm sun it was time to go back to the hotel and get some R&R, right? Wrong! There were still a few spots I wanted to check out before heading back to New York. One of which was a bookstore but ended up only picking up one book from there as I was not a big fan of their selection. We passed by a thrift store on our way to the hotel and holy Jesus I hit the jackpot! OK, so it was nothing insane but I ended up picking up a pretty decent haul. I located my wife, a heap of books stacked from my waist to my chin. She just looked at me with an Are you serious right now look. And yes, I was dead serious! Most of the books were $.99 or 90% off. How could I say no to that?! That Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill? First Edition.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 7:00 p.m. and we were flushed! Sort of, anyway. We kicked back and watched some TV until our respective fuel finally kicked the bucket.

On our final day, again, we were up bright and early and grabbed some breakfast. This time, I kept it simple and opted for the French toast with scrambled eggs deluxe or something, something. When we finished eating, we stepped outside and, you guessed it, we were met by rain. Hello and goodbye New Hampshire! Well, not quite yet. We stopped by to see the USS Albacore and squeezed our arses inside this small submarine. I couldn’t believe how anyone withstood being in such tight quarters! Sure, I can do it for a day or two, maybe, before I want to high-tail out of there and stretch my legs on land. I salute the men and women who spend such significant time in a submarine, miles below sea level to boot! Needless to say, although it was an awesome experience, I was glad to get out of it and bid adieu!

We took a few more pictures, and checked out a lighthouse, from a distance, as the rain started to really come down before calling it a day. Then, finally, we said our goodbyes to New Hampshire for maybe another few years and made it home in good time – three hours and forty minutes. Then, it was back to the grind! Work for us, school for my daughter. Can I get a big fat and extremely sarcastic high-five and a “YAY“!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *