Portsmouth, NH and Amesbury, MA
We had stayed in a hotel overnight in Portsmouth, NH (Location) and decided to see a bit of the waterfront before driving into Amesbury, MA. (Location) The weather was beautiful. Nice clear sky, very little wind and a just cold enough to make it tough to hold onto the camera for too long without switching hands. Our plan was to put in a full day of visiting and driving and be back home this evening. Ambitious but doable.
No ice in the harbour and a nice day. A chap out for a bit of early morning exercise was an added bonus as I set up for shots of this beautiful scene in Portsmouth NH.
I watched this Common Loon for quite a while (at least long enough for my fingers to get really cold) but the wait was worth it when it dove underwater and eventually came back up with this shrimp (?). This loon is in its adult non-breeding plumage which I never see. When I normally see them they are always in their darker breeding plumage in the summer months around my part of the world in Canada.
It seemed like this ship would never get to bridge but eventually it did and we stood on the dock watching as it passed. Then we hopped back into the car and headed over to Amesbury, MA to visit with some relatives. With Spring run-off underway, I should have expected a higher volume water flow though this small falls in Amesbury that when I had visited before but it still surprised me.
I’m easily surprised, so it should come as no surprise that I was surprised to learn that there a bank int he USA called the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank. March 2009 was definitely not a high point for the stock market or for banking in general so when I saw this sign, it seemed to have a “back to the basics” sort of feel to it. Haul out those piggy banks again 🙂 and try to remember when five cents really meant something.
In order to get home today, we were on a pretty tight schedule so after a bit of visiting and a nice lunch at the Flatbread Company in Amesbury we were on the road again.
