Touring and Shopping in Portsmouth, N.H.

We only had a few hours in Portsmouth before sunset, but it was plenty of time to take in the brick sidewalks, tall steeples, quaint alleyways and of course, the stunning views of the harbor.

First, we checked into our hotel — the Hilton Garden Inn (perfectly respectable and very convenient).

Then we started our browsing:

A goat marionette? Come on:

Walking along…

We liked this dress in the window, but the shop was closed:

Good thing you can shop online!

Next, a cute little gallery called Three Graces:

What an adorable idea… a Teeny Tiny Art Vendor in an old cigarette machine!

Very beautiful bowls:

Couple wood tables.

The gallery also had paintings and jewelry and “wearable art.”

An old-fashioned souvenir shop was next:

OK, enough of that. Let’s get to the architecture and exploring!

A possibility for dinner… the Dolphin Striker:

Pretty cute inside:

Another possibility for dinner… the Black Trumpet:

Down by the harbor, the people in this restaurant look like they’re having fun:

Greg by the waterside:

Liz by the waterside:

This secondhand shop called Esta had some killer merch:

Many cool shoes and clothes:

I ended up with two pairs of shoes and a bag — all for under $100. Sweet!

Back on the streets… here’s the Portsmouth Brewery, where Boo and I had lunch the last time we were here.

Another view:

A few more street scenes:

We were thinking about going to Cava for dinner, too, but decided against it because it’s Spanish tapas and we have great Spanish tapas in New York!

The staff at Cava had been lighting the tiki torches outside, and the smoke filled the alleyway:

Kind of a cool photo, no?

Random urban beauty:

We stumbled upon this shop, Scallops: Mineral & Shell Emporium, and since we know a couple of little boys who really dig rocks, we decided to go in:

We settled on these minerals and semi-precious stones for the kids:

For Fischer, born in September, a sapphire:

For Reece, born in June, a rainbow moonstone:

Then we also got some Hematite:

Sodalite from Russia:

I believe we also picked up some lapis lazuli, bue I don’t have a photo of that. Good times. We hope the kids like them!

Greg liked the looks of The Rose restaurant…. like an old red sauce joint:

I liked the sign at The Common Man:

We were quite taken with this garden, which was in a bank parking lot, of all things!

A few more random street scenes:

A painting we quite liked in the Nahcotta gallery — which Boo and I also rather enjoyed on our last trip, too.

Captures the feel of the city nicely, doesn’t it!

The artist is Stacey Durand.

We’re almost at the end of our journey here, folks. But first, a historical house, owned by John Paul Jones:

A steakhouse, the Library Restaurant:

And the first of many, many cars with kayaks:

I’ll leave you with this photo of the moon rising over a steeple — the view from our hotel room:

I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour of Portsmouth, N.H.!