Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Saturday (Oct 5th) was cloudy and cool. We arrived in Portsmouth and went to Strawberry Banke which is a 10-acre living history museum of an actual seaport neighborhood. Many buildings and artifacts of the Puddle Dock area have been preserved/restored to reflect life as it was in this neighborhood during different time periods ranging from the early 1600's to the 1950's.

For example, the Pitt Tavern, built in 1766, is restored and furnished as it was during the Revolutionary War and has a costumed interpreter playing the part of the tavern-keeper's daughter.

The Marden-Abbott House is a furnished WWII-era home with an attached family-run grocery store.

Other buildings depict other time periods.

There are also craft demonstrations (weaving and building wooden casks).

Many of the exhibits include samples of children's toys or activities of the time period that visiting children are welcome to try out. The Jones House is devoted completely to children with a Family Discovery Center and play yard.

Family Discovery Center

An adorable Victorian Children's Garden at the Goodwin Mansion (1862)

Some of the exhibits also have period clothing for children to try on.

After our tour of Strawberry Banke, we left our vehicle in the parking lot and walked across the street to Prescott Park, down by the harbor, and around the nearby neighborhood. We stumbled across the Wentworth Gardner and Tobias Lear Historic Homes which were open for tours. Apparently they get very few visitors, because Anne, the docent, was very pleased to have someone stop to see the houses and gave us a wonderful, personally guided tour of both homes.

The Wentworth Gardner Home (1760) is an example of beautiful Georgian-style architecture.

Tobias Lear served as President George Washington's personal secretary for several years and President Washington had tea with Tobias' mother in the parlor of the Lear home.

Tobias Lear birthplace

Room where George Washington had tea with Mrs. Lear.

We also saw the Memorial Bridge across the Piscataqua River which was quite interesting. Instead of a drawbridge opening to allow boats through, the center portion of the bridge rises up in the horizontal position like an elevator to allow boats to pass beneath it. We've never seen anything like it before!

Memorial Bridge

Being lowered from the raised position.

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