Blogs from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States, North America

We keep being SO literal on this leg. We moved from Rockport because we're not fond of rocking so much. Now we're up the coast in Portsmouth, pretty well anchored in the port's mouth. High seas, fog and scattered storms have been the order of the day so we're looking for a calm spot to hole up in until Tropical Storm Leslie works her way up and out of the area sometime after Sunday next week. Hopefully she isn't too eager to adopt the title hurricane as she whirls north in the company of upstart TS Michael a little further out in the Atlantic. For now, we're 'forced' to eat amazing bagels with salmon cream cheese at the Bagel Works in order top blog e vous! If we hunker down here for a while you might ... read more

Exeter NH is what I oftentimes have imagined when I visualized a small New England city – colonial homes close enough to the tree-lined street to clutch one side of the sidewalk, classic churches with steeples that command at least a glance against a brilliant blue sky, ornate public buildings that taunt us in melody, “If you knew what I know,” and streets that radiate from the core like spokes on the wheel of a horse-drawn carriage. My drive from Salem MA to The Green Gate Campground in Exeter NH on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 was uneventful, and I was pleased to find that I had only a short 1-1/2 mile drive from the campground to town. Several area towns hosted attractions which made my “to do” list, but my main reason for selecting Exeter as ... read more

Back in Portsmouth, NH this week. Arrived very late last evening, early morning. I had an excellent flight on Continental/United from Houston via Newark to Boston. Amazingly, our planes left on time and arrived on time in both locations. This is awesome news. This week I am staying at a Homewood Suites by Hilton. Arriving at 12:30am in the morning, I did not know what to expect at this hotel, or any hotel that time of night. Pleasantly surprised the front desk person was friendly as you can be at that time of the morning. This hotel is fairly close the one I stayed at that last week, however this week is much nicer. It is located in a small residential area and plenty of walking/running areas. Early in the morning I was up and running. ... read more

This morning started my week long business trip to Portsmouth, NH. This week will be the longest business trip I have taken since the end of July. Felt a little odd packing, driving to the airport, going through security, and dealing with delays. We were about 40 minutes delayed leaving Houston today due to fog. Once we finally left American Airlines moved quickly to arrive in DFW. I have 20 minutes from when I landed to when my connecting flight to Boston was scheduled to depart. I arrived at the American gate with 10 minutes to spare. Amazingly they mentioned my name at the gate and when I got to the plane, the flight crew welcomed me again by name and told me that they had space for my bags set aside (I was sitting in ... read more

Sunday, July 24, 2011 After having breakfast with my dad, he went to church while I stayed back to work on some unfinished business from the prior week. Once he returned from church, we heading to McDonalds for lunch. The Southwest Salad is awesome. After leaving we drove to Gardner, MA to visit my grandmother, my Dad’s mom. Her health is not well so I thought since I am in the area it behooved me to visit her. She is staying at a beautiful facility called Wachusett Manor. It was so great seeing her, although I think it was a struggle for her to remember me. My grandmother is so blessed to have a daughter (my Dad’s sister) that is caring for her during these difficult times. After visiting my grandmother, I traveled back to Boston ... read more

Hey everyone! Well, its Sunday evening and Korina just came over to pack up the car! Taking off for our first stop (NYC) at 10am tomorrow! It doesn't feel real...I don't think it will feel real until we leave New England! Its been a sad week saying goodbye to all of our friends and family, but we consider it "see ya later" as opposed to a a real goodbye. Hopefully we will be back on Christmas and be able to see all of you. We will keep you updated on our travels with entries and pictures so keep checking our blog! Love you all. -Jenn... read more

Pan Pan Pan, this is element quest, element quest, element quest... we are in distress Dear jesus please make those words stop swirling around in my head in the same fashion as the red bull can floating in the corner of my room.The possibility of death was great, in my mind and my heat. The boys will tell you another story but to watch a boat fill with at least 4 feet of water spraying in ever direction you'd feel the same too. We're all ok for the most part. I have a strong feeling that whiplash, bumps bruises and strained muscles will haunt our bodies for weeks to come. I'm still on the boat, by the time this entry will have been posted I should be on my way back home again by car. But ... read more

Its been an interesting past few nights, sailing out still seems like a distant and unreal event. The weathers been perfect here, sunny days, cool crisp nights but apparently its all going to change quickly. We're still waiting for banks and lawyers to settle things out so we'll be leaving at the latest wednesday. In the mean time our collection of local friends is growing. I'm going to miss this place. We've recently adopted a few young fishermen from the pier, which has been more than entertaining. And trust me, in a situation such as this, entertainment is the key. We've watched crew come and go as they have to go back to their normal everyday lives and its odd. The tension finally broke yesterday with the first official meeting and beginning ceremonies. champagne enjoyed after ... read more

Holey %$#@! We're sailing out today and its scary business. The weather is bad and the mood on the boat seems to me to be sheer terror. I'm listening to the new nofx album wrapping up loose ends in Portsmouth then we're off to New York. We're going to do a quick run through in the rain when I get back. It feels a little like everyones always waiting on me but I may be mildly neurotic, maybe. Not much else to say. We're off we're out and i can feel the waves rolling in the pit of my stomach already. We'll be sailing through the night until we get to the Hudson. I really did expect to be here until Wednesday by the way conversations were going yesterday. Deep breath and its time to learn ... read more