This weekend we wanted to explore a bit in the Portsmouth, NH and the seacoast area. Saturday morning we headed to Plum Island to spent the day at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. We drove through Newburyport, MA which looked like a great little town to explore. We wanted sand, ocean, critters, etc. so we continued on our way. (Will visit Newburyport, MA another time). We arrived at the visitor center to get information and a map of the refuge. We talked to a couple people there that gave us some great ideas for what to do.
It cost $5 per car to get in to the refuge. It is around 7 miles from lot 1 to lot 7. That would be 14 miles of walking on the beach. We decided drive and park at lot 3 then take the boardwalk to the beach and walk back toward lot 2. The boardwalks are several hundred yards long. We had a great time. The tide was out so the beach was very wide. It was windy and cold so it's good Pam brought ear muffs. We returned by beach back to lot 3 and headed for lot 6.
On our way we spotted a Snowy Owl. Several people were watching it feed on a duck it had killed. We continued to lot 6 and thought we would again walk the beach to lot 7. Lots of nice shells. We saw 6 unbroken sand dollars (lots of broken ones also) along the way. One was still alive (maroon in color with little spines). I brought my hunting GPS which said we walked almost 5 miles.
Late afternoon we headed back to Portsmouth to check in to our hotel and make dinner reservations. As we drove out the Snowy Owl was still enjoying the duck.
We checked in to the hotel and headed out for dinner. I wanted seafood so we went to Jumpin Jay's. I had the best scallops I have ever eaten. Portsmouth is very pretty at night so we walked around after dinner.
I was up early on Sunday. In fact, when I went to the hotel dining area the front desk person and the chef were watching television. I startled them by being up so early. I told them I was just there for coffee but they hurried to their stations. I wanted to take pictures of "The North Church of Portsmouth" before the sun came up and people started moving about. One police car passed me and one guy walking. Doesn't anyone get up early when they go away besides me ...
As it started to get light I headed for the water. The center span of this bridge had been removed a few weeks back. I took a picture of this tugboat, Miss Stacy. In the news 2 days later there was a story and a picture about this tugboat that had gotten caught in the current moving the barge and ended up being pushed into the pier, took on water, and almost capsized. 
I continued looking for a fishing pier to take pictures. When I returned we checked out and headed out to explore. We stopped at Fort Stark in New Castle. It was used to protect Portsmouth harbor from the British in the 1700's and again in WW1 & WW2 from enemy subs. There were a couple more fort's in the area we will explore next time.
We thought we would continue South along the ocean. We ate lunch along the rocks. The tide was out so the seals were sunning themselves on the exposed rocks. I looked but no shark fins in the area. We arrived at Hampton beach and headed for home. It was a relaxing and fun quick trip.
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