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Monday, December 13, 2010

OUR FIRST NEW ENGLAND ROAD TRIP....

Hello Friends!

I'm so happy you stopped by.  I hope you are keeping warm and that you have had a wonderful weekend.  It seems that a lot of you are experiencing cold winter weather.  While we got some snow early in the morning, it has actually warmed up here today and is raining instead of snowing.  I might say that it is Global Warming.....but tell that to my friends in Chicago this weekend.  I think it's just some more of that wacky weather that we seem to get these days.

When we were in New Hampshire this summer on vacation, we took a day trip to the Maine seacoast and drove through Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  One look at this lovely city full of so much history and we knew that we simply had to come back for a visit.  Yesterday, we decided that our first adventure would definitely be to Portsmouth.   We were not disappointed....



I was so excited to be there that I could not even wait until we were out of the car before snapping the photos....hence the slight glare on the right side of some of the photos.

David had already scoped out the restaurant scene in Portsmouth ahead of time. According to the Portsmouth, NH website, the city is a leading contender for the title of the U.S. city with the most restaurants per capita.  I believe that.  There are so many restaurants that look so good there.  We definitely will have to go back often to try them all.   We decided  for our first trip to Portsmouth that we wanted to find the PORTSMOUTH GAS LIGHT CO.  


We had been reading about the city for some time online and this place just called our name.  The restaurant is housed in a beautiful historic building that dates back to 1837.  The building housed Portsmouth's first utility - the Portsmouth Gas Light Co. and survived the great fires the city experienced.  

The restaurant has street level seating with a menu that looks wonderful; but it was their Downtown Brick Oven Pizza and Pub that was our destination of choice.


We were a little unsure of parking and how we were going to find this restaurant before we actually got there.  There is 2 hour parking along the street; however, we knew that we would be in the area longer than that and moving our car every couple of hours was just not practical.  When we drove into town, we very easily located a parking garage for 75 cents an hour and proceeded to find our first stop.  We were very happy to walk out of the parking garage and see the above sign. We had parked just steps from the restaurant!

The Downtown Brick Oven Pizza and Pub is located on the lower level of the restaurant.   What a warm and cozy place it is there!



The antique brick, wood beams, stone foundation and a roaring fire in the stone hearth make this the warm and cozy spot to be in the building.


We had a few minutes to wait for our table so we found a nice spot by the fire and watched one of the large screen televisions that they had playing the Army/Navy game.

The menu looks fabulous and we saw many items that we were tempted to order including the special of the day - "Mr. Potato Head" - a white pizza topped with mashed potatoes, bacon and cheddar cheese.  What an interesting concept for a pizza!  We settled on the flagship pizza and what the menu calls by far their most popular specialty pizza - The Gaslight.   Sweet Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Ricotta and Mozzarella.....how could we go wrong?


We didn't go wrong at all! 

 
The food was fabulous, the service was great (Thanks Jordan!) and we loved the atmosphere there.  I don't know how we will ever be able to try the other restaurants in the city when Portsmouth Gas Light Co. will be calling our name.  It will be a hard job...but we are up for the challenge! 



There is no better place to walk off a meal than this wonderful, historic city......





take some photographs while walking...

 



and do some shopping....








We will definitely be returning!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit.  Wherever you are, I hope that you are happy and warm and spending time with those you love.

Have a great week!

12 comments:

  1. Fabulous post! I went to college on the East Coast, so beautiful. I miss it. I also happen to be a huge fan of pizza. Thanks for the pics to enjoy :). Have a great day! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters

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  2. I love history, quaint towns, pizza, and road trips! Sounds like fun : )

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  3. OH my goodness!! What beautiful photos of such a beautiful place! I might have to come visit :-)

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  4. I love the last three pix on your post! The fish, just because! And the last two because I know that was a great store, wasn't it? Your travelogues and descriptions are making me increasingly anticipate a visit : )
    Love you and miss you, g

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  5. I can't believe you're already getting back into a vehicle! LOL But this looks like a fantastic day trip. All your photos are fabulous, but I especially love the glow of the Brick Oven Pizza shots you got. They are beautiful! Thanks for sharing the trip with us. :-)

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  6. You did not just show me a picture of Le Creuset dutch ovens, I want one sooo bad!

    Love the old world feel of towns like that. All that brick, it's so pretty.

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  7. So very lovely a place you have found yourself in my dear friend! That old town reminds me of the simplicity of Germany...

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  8. Thanks for sharing all the fabulous pics of this gorgeous town. Loved all the shops. Have a great week. Blessings, SusanD

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  9. We are getting the cold weather as well and let me tell you I hate it. But I am thankful I don't have to get out in it.
    Thanks for taking us on the road trip, you always capture such great photos. The pizza does look wonderful and the fish sign with the scarf is a scream.
    What a wonderful adventure.

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  10. Once again, a great post. Loving all the pictures and your descriptions almost put me there with you. :o)

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  11. Love your post. I was in Portsmouth many years ago. A wonderful town filled with great people.
    Great photos too!!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Love love love Portsmouth. Will have to take a road trip there soon.

    Lots of yummy love,
    Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner
    www.mawhats4dinner.com

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