Today, Jim and I had some business to do at the seacoast so we thought we would include a little ride along the beach from Rye, through Hampton, and to the dividing line between New Hampshire and Salisbury, Massachusetts. We stopped at one of the pull off points, and I asked Jim to take a photo of the Isles of Shoals, barely visible, even on a clear day. The shoals were a favorite gathering place of poets and artists in the nineteenth century. Celia Thaxter is perhaps one of the more famous ones.
As I looked out on the Atlantic Ocean, I thought of all the ships that made their way across those waters, bringing cargo to Portsmouth Harbor. Portsmouth was once a thriving port city, at one time.
I remembered the time that my mother and I helped to chaperone a field trip for my son’s school class who wanted to go on a Whale Watch. I fondly thought of the whales we saw that day, including baby whales swimming alongside their mothers. The big mammals are amazing, and so friendly!
I thought about the cruises they have out to the Isles of Shoals and how much fun it might be to do that sometime.
http://www.islesofshoals.com/
The errand that we went to do could not be done. The shop had moved and we did not know that, assuming it had just gone out of business, until we checked the internet at home. We stopped at a needlework shop. As luck would have it, bad luck that is, it is closed on Monday. We did stop to have lunch at Ixtapa. Their pollo yucatan, arroz, y refritos , with flan for dessert cannot be beat. We needed some time away from home. When one works from home, one works all the time, so to relax, it is necessary to leave. It’s good to have a change of scenery.
I came home to a barage of phone calls to return, e-mails to answer, and things to do, but in the meantime, it was fun riding around in a special area of the state. There are many changes, some not for the better. Yoken’s Restaurant, a favorite of many, for years, is no longer there. A parking lot stands in its place. A hotel inn at the Portsmouth traffic circle has been torn down, and there is a lot of industrial land for lease in the whole seacoast area, as well as homes for sale, including some of the seacoast’s stately mansions.
Mostly, the attractions for turistas have not opened yet. The seagulls kept us company, while the crash of waves on the rocks had a soothing effect. I was glad that I wore a sweater and had a windbreaker, as it was so chilly!
New Hampshire is varied in topography. The instructor for the class we just took in early New Hampshire history stated that it took settlers 200 years to reach the northernmost points of New Hampshire. Parts of New Hampshire are on the Canadian border! We learned a lot from the class, and appreciate our home state even more, if that is possible.
Those are my ramblings. From the “Live Free or Die” state …
Until next time,
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
