Newburyport...

On Thursday, we decided to skip breakfast at the B&B. The B&B was beautiful. It is only a year old, but was constructed to blend in with the century old homes that surround it. Our room was on the third floor, and offered a view of the harbor. While the bed was the best of the 3 inns that we stayed in, the breakfast was the least appealing. It was more of a continental breakfast...no protein or conversation with inn keepers.

The place that we ended up breakfasting at was in a diner that dates back to the 1700's. The food was fantastic, and the atmosphere was charming.

After breakfast, we drove to Strawberry Banke. The city was named by the founders due to the strawberries growing wild along the bank. A few years later, the name was changed to Portsmouth...evidently it better summoned the image of a busy port city at the mouth of the river that led to the ocean. Hmmm. I like the image that Strawberry Banke summons, but, they didn't ask me.

In Portsmouth, there is a section of town that is still called Strawberry Banke. This part of the town was bought by concerned citizens in the 1950's. Urban Renewal was the new buzzword...which meant the destruction of historic districts across the country. The townspeople joined together, and formed a working museum.

There are houses that represent hundreds of years of history. The oldest, dated back to the late 1600's. Here's a pic of the restored exterior...

And, here is pic from inside the Pitt Tavern.

The tavern was built in 1766 and was frequented by George Washington and John Hancock.

After dinner at a waterfront restaurant...where Mark was served the funniest lobster...oh how I wish I had taken my camera to dinner...we went to bed early. Hmmm...why would we go to bed early while on vacation...no, not just for that reason, keep it clean please, lol. We went to bed early because we were planning on going...