Old Stomping Ground

The lovely Portsmouth, NH. One of my single favorite cities on the face of the planet. So formative a place for me in my "youth." I fell in love with its buildings, its bars, and its coffeeshops. I wrote many of my favorite songs sitting in "breaking new grounds" or "Cafe Brioche." I played music, live, for the first time in the basement coffeehouse of the Unitarian Church. Some will understand this: It is a place that lends itself to romance. Longing. Solace. At its heart, it is a working waterfront--salt piles and cranes and Navy shipyard--and it makes no apologies for its disheveldness and its "rawness." It is what it is and it knows this. Isnt this how the best romances begin? At night, you'd leave a bar or a cafe, and it would be chilly as you'd walk down the road, and you'd look to one side and see "The Press Room" with its live music and packed booths--and you'd hear nothing, but you'd see it--and then you'd look out to sea and see the blinking lights warning planes not to hit bridges or cranes....you'd hear big boats make their way up the Pisquatica River. And this would be the only sound. And you'd feel so alone. And it was so beautiful.

I think my favorite thing about Portsmouth was it was the place where I really fell in love with my wife--not at the hip breweries or restaurants. But on a bridge. An old bridge. A bridge that was going to be shut down until Maine and NH decided to get together and fix it. I guess (and Sarah, can you help me?) it is just called "the route 1 bridge." It leaves from Portsmouth, crosses Badger's Island, continues over the Pisquatica, and leaves you in Kittery, Maine. It was our bridge. We stopped in Portsmouth a few weeks ago on our way back from Mass. I didnt expect the emotional profundity of bringing my children to a place that, in their youth, they couldnt possibly understand in terms of the power it holds over their mom and dad.

But it has tugboats, so call it a tie......
Standing on our bridge, looking out at the Naval Shipyard (in Kittery or Portsmouth---the two states are eventually going to war over this you know....). Two cool things: The tan building with the greenish roof was a HIGH SECURITY prison for POWs during WWII. I hear it is haunted. Big time. I also heard that part of THE SHINING was filmed there? Sarah? Second, in the center, you'll see a Coast Guard cutter. This was the exact boat that went to search for the _____(I cant remember the name), which was the boat from the story THE PERFECT STORM. Also cool is that 1 second after we put the camera away, we saw a seal poke its little head up and search around at what was going on....by the time we turned the camera on again, it has dived down...
Looking west toward the "Route 95 bridge," the big one that brings you into Maine or NH....
Maira WAS wrapped....but the wind kept wreaking havoc....
The tree garden between Prescott Park and Strawberry Banke....home of the famous beer and chili festival!
Prescott Park--Callum LOVED running around here.....