5 Fun Escapes Around New England to Make this Fall

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The Berkshires, MA | Chatham, MA | Portsmouth, NH | Southern Vermont | Sunapee, NH

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

A thriving food scene, cultural sites and plenty of outdoor activities beckon in this bustling seaport city rich in history. By Dana Laverty

A scene at dusk in downtown Portsmouth. Getty images/ Dennis Tangney Jr.

For 400 years, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has been a bustling maritime hub at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, roiled and buoyed by the economic tides of shipbuilding and commerce. Luckily for us, the region has been on an upswing as of late, and a two-hour drive on Interstate 95 will reward travelers with hundreds of options for a quick getaway. Here are some of our favorite spots to scope out in the Seacoast Region.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: We check in to the Residence Inn by Marriott Portsmouth Downtown/Waterfront (marriott.com), our home base for the next two days. We have just enough time to peep the spacious digs — our suite is equipped with a kitchen, spacious seating area and a super-comfy king bed — before our growling stomachs lead us in search of lunch. OK, make that brunch: the Friendly Toast (thefriendlytoast.com), a regional chain, serves some of the finest breakfast foods around. I have an egg white scramble with cheddar cheese and Sriracha and thick, fluffy sourdough toast, while my boyfriend, Kurt, digs into New Hampshire’s Finest Scramble with goat cheese, bacon and asparagus.

Breakfast at the Friendly Toast. Photo by Dana Laverty.

Afterward, we walk a few short blocks to the Strawbery Banke Museum (strawberybanke.org), a living history museum filled with thirty-two buildings saved from the wrecking ball that show what life was like in Portsmouth from 1695 to 1954. We learn from actors in period costume, including a charming store owner whose sons were serving overseas during World War II, how people lived and worked through various time periods. Luckily for history buffs like us, the tickets are good for two consecutive days, so you can make sure to take in everything, including period gardens, workshops, homes and a working tavern.

TUESDAY EVENING: After all this history, we’re ready for some serious shopping. The Market Square area has been the heart of downtown since the 1700s and is still bustling today, full of pedestrians, open storefronts and Colonial architecture. We laugh at the sassy and local offerings at Off Piste (instagram.com/offpiste_portsmouthnh) and browse through adorable handmade stationery at Gus & Ruby Letterpress (gusandruby.com) before settling in for an early dinner at Cheese Louise (eatcheeselouise.com). I go with the Vermonter, a grilled cheese with Cabot cheddar and muenster on sourdough (I can never resist sourdough!) and my boyfriend devours the Godmother, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto and balsamic glaze on Tuscan bread, both with a side of tomato soup. We head back to the hotel, full and happy, to ready for another busy day in this lovely and supremely walkable city.

A historic Portsmouth street view. Photo by Dana Laverty.

WEDNESDAY MORNING: We fuel up at the hotel with some complimentary yogurt, fruit and other assorted carbs and head to the Portsmouth Historical Society for a ninety-minute walking tour (portsmouthhistory.org) with our excellent guide, Elizabeth. We learn that the city was once the nation’s busiest seaport and discover its close ties to the military, thanks to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Pease Air Force Base, now an Air National Guard base.

Beer barrels and assorted ephemera at the Portsmouth Historical Society’s Museum. Photo by Dana Laverty.

As with most Colonial coastal cities of its time, Portsmouth had a vested interest in the slave trade. In 2015, the Portsmouth African Burying Ground and Memorial Park was unveiled on the site of an eighteenth century gravesite containing enslaved and freed people. We walk by the stirring memorial structure, with an enslaved man on one side and a figure of Mother Africa behind him, each reaching back toward the other with outstretched hands. We also learn the city is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, with signature events like a parade, a Little Italy Carnival, oral histories, sculpture and more.

The African Burying Ground Memorial. Photo by Dana Laverty.

We end our tour back at the Historical Society’s headquarters and peek into the two-level museum. It’s filled with historical treasures and trinkets and remnants from old stores and restaurants.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: By now, we’re starving again (are you sensing a theme?) and walk over to the Goods (thegoodsnh.com), a half-cafe, half-local gift shop, browsing through the local honey and candles before dining al fresco on our vegetable quinoa bowl (mine) and chicken Caesar wrap (Kurt’s). Afterward, we embark on a search for a local gift for Kurt’s cat-sitter, who happens to be vegan. We find the perfect gift — and perhaps the finest chocolate I’ve ever sampled — at local chocolatier Byrne & Carlson (byrneandcarlson.com), where we oooh and aahhh over the luscious fruit jellies, decadent truffles and palets des fleurs, discs of Belgian dark chocolate topped with candied violets, cranberries and can died orange peel.

St. Johns’s Church steeple in Portsmouth. Getty Images/Ken Wiedemann.

St. Johns’s Church steeple in Portsmouth.

Treasures in hand, we travel to Portsmouth Book and Bar (bookandbar.com), an ingenious fusion of bookstore and cafe/bar nestled inside a grand building made of New Hampshire granite. (It was designed by Ammi Young, who also designed the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C.) We linger over the wide selection of new and used books and board games and take a bracing iced Americano to go.

WEDNESDAY EVENING: We change and head off to the swanky Rooftop at the Envio (rooftopportsmouth.com) for an open-air dinner with gorgeous views of the Piscataqua River. We share a charcuterie board, limoncello shrimp and mushroom toast — all divine — and split some cappuccino and sticky toffee pudding for a sweet end to our sunset feast and our time in Portsmouth.

The Portsmouth waterfront. Getty Images/Sean Pavone photo.

THURSDAY MORNING: Of course, we can’t leave this city of wonderful eateries without visiting just one more. The Green Room’s (greenroomnh.com) sunny, inviting vibe provides a soothing setting for my cinnamon rainbows toastie, a slice of sourdough (again!) topped with peanut butter, strawberries, blueberries and bananas and dusted with cinnamon, and Kurt’s breakfast burrito, both washed down with a tasty, high-octane cold brew. We depart for Little Rhody, happy and content, talking about all the things we loved about Portsmouth, and all the things we must do when we return. 

The cinnamon rainbows toastie at the Green Room. Photo by Dana Laverty

NUTS & BOLTS 

Travel Time: Two hours from Providence.

Miles: 110 miles.

How to Get There: I-95 North.

Best Season to Go: Spring and summer are peak tourist times, but fall in this historic city would be beautiful, too.

Bucket List for Next Time: A bike tour with the friendly folks at PortCity Bike Tours and a fresh seafood dinner at River House, a historic restaurant in Old Harbor with stunning river views.

Worth a Detour: The Museum of Printing in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a wonderland of printing presses, typesetters, fonts, typewriters, mimeographs (remember those?) and books.

Antique wood type letters at the Museum of Printing. Getty Images/Klikk.

INDEX

The Berkshires, MA | Chatham, MA | Portsmouth, NH | Southern Vermont | Sunapee, NH