The Freighter's Arrival

Entries from November 2009

November 20, 2009

Bricks of Portsmouth

One of my favorite parts of walking around Portsmouth (mostly during lunch) is seeing the variety of different bricks amongst all the brick buildings in town.

Some are definitely very old bricks with a lot of character (see above), others have been painted over time and time again (see white bricks of Dos Amigos below along with the red door of The Red Door), with other brand new bricks aimed at matching the old style (just walk further down State Street or over to Congress Street). All in all it makes for an interesting feel around town, to say the least. The old rowhouses along Market Street have more awesome bricks, and near the salt piles and on Penhallow Street you’ll find some cool old advertising.

November 18, 2009

Bow Street & Memorial Bridge | Portsmouth Under Construction

Out for a walk during lunch a couple weeks back, I happened to catch these fine gentlemen doing some welding repairs on the Memorial Bridge grate – so that it might actually reopen for auto traffic soon. Current target date for reopening is reported for November 25th. Stay tuned on that front.

Also, unbelievably (and finally), the Martingale Wharf building is once again under construction. It was time to restore the road back to its previous condition (without the road barriers) – or to get rolling, and judging from the ongoing work at the site, the owners opted for the latter. With all of the construction going on in town, my car has taken a beating with all of the metal plates laid over the roadway. Here’s to looking forward to next spring when we’ve got a new park on Ceres Street, more new sidewalks…and some new buildings (including a Pier II reconstruction that should be well underway). More to follow on Pier II in the near future…

November 17, 2009

Red Ship | Piscataqua River

A red freighter known as the Sichem Ruby from Panama heads up the Piscataqua River to one of the stops further upriver. This October sunset was worth the shot with the windswept river matching the interesting clouds above.

November 16, 2009

An Afternoon with the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra

Sunday was the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra‘s November show at The Music Hall. The 3pm show was titled “American Landscapes“, and in addition to featuring pieces written by American composers, it featured a few photographs from local photographers on the backdrop behind the orchestra. I was fortunate have TWO pieces selected for the show, which you can see below!

Many thanks to the wonderful folks at the symphony – and kudos on what was a great show to all the members of the Orchestra and to special guest, cellist Mihai Marica. A wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon – I’ll be back! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post to enjoy a 2 minute snippet of Harris’ Symphony No. 3.

1 Comment

Filed under Fall, New Hampshire, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Arts

Tags: American Landscapes, New Hampshire, Portsmouth NH, Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, Portsmouth's Art, The Music Hall

November 15, 2009

The Dunaway has been Done Away With

Well, it appears to be official…The Dunaway Restaurant, which is located on Marcy Street alongside Strawbery Banke (and was recently sold), has been repainted and all its old signs have been removed. This leads me to believe that The Dunaway has officially been done away with. I’m still waiting for word on what might reside in the building going forward….right now it looks to be a new restaurant with an anticipated opening date of Spring 2010, see the old website here.

This rainy weekend was the first time I’d seen the building since it received its new red coat of paint, replacing the old eggplant color. Anyone have any news they can share?

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Filed under Fall, New Hampshire, Portsmouth, Restaurants, Streets of the South End

Tags: Fall, Marcy Street, Portsmouth NH, Prescott Park, Rain, Strawbery Banke, Streets of the South End, THe Dunaway

November 14, 2009

Here Come The Holidays

Portsmouth has begun to decorate itself in preparation for the Holiday Season. Standing at the corner of Pleasant Street and State Street, you catch a glimpse of the wreaths now adorning the street lights with the Custom House to the left and the Rusty Hammer off to the right. Even though it feels a bit early to prepare for the holidays, it’s a welcome sight here in town.

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Filed under Fall, New Hampshire, Portsmouth

Tags: Custom House, Decorations, Fall, Holidays, Pleasant Street, Portsmouth NH, Rusty Hammer, State Street, Wreaths

November 13, 2009

The Freighter's Arrival

As I was enjoying my walk around Portsmouth on Veterans Day, I stopped in to the Portsmouth Museum of Fine Art (posts to follow) to check it out. While I was down at Harbor Place, I happened to notice that the Memorial Bridge span was all the way up…for what I was hoping would be the arrival of a freighter. I was in luck…the Bosphorus Queen from Panama was just about to make its way under the bridge.