East

Yesterday we went to the Atlantic Ocean by way of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  It was a beautiful day and from what we are hearing we are getting a serious cold spell coming this week so this was a perfect time to go.  As we were driving to Portsmouth we passed some escaped chickens and three white turkeys who obviously weren't where we were suppose to be.  I had to stop so we could get pictures.  I am beginning to think that New Hampshire is right up there with Minnesota when it comes to lakes.  We passed another beautiful one on our way.  Once in Portsmouth we went to Fort McClary.  It was built during the Revolutionary War.  When you are up in the top you can see out into bay where any ships coming in would be seen right away.  It wasn't recreated but there were still two of the original cannons there.  The view around the area was really beautiful.  We could see a light house off to the right and an island with a big house on it just off the shore.  If you double click on the pictures you can get a better view or the pictures.

From the fort we drove into downtown Portsmouth and visited the Strawberry Banke Museum. The area was named Strawberry Banke when the Indians first came into the area and found wild strawberries growing.  The area consists of recreated houses from the 1700s up to the 1950s when the area began to lose population.  People were moving inland to the suburbs.  The museum has volunteers who role play in five areas of the museum but yesterday there was only one person working in the herb garden of the governors mansion.  We plan to go back next summer when more tourists are around so they have all of the areas open.

Governor's Mansion

Children's table and chair set

One of seventeen houses remaining in the Strawberry Banke

Grocery store of the 1940s

Typical stove for the 1900s

Typical Menu or the 1790s and 1940s (I'd go for the 1940 menu!)

This was one of the 1790 buildings

We browsed through the various houses and had lunch in their cafe and then it began to rain so we began to run--back to the car.  It was a very nice day.