Nobody Likes a Tease

This past week, the city of Portsmouth went absolutely, bat-droppingly, cabin feverishly (these adverbs doing it for you? No? Okay sorry...) stir crazy. Like the seasons in the journey of Monte Python's king of England, winter decided to give spring a miss and went straight on into summer.

It was so nice that I skipped out on my own family members on Easter Sunday to drive back home and head straight to Annabel's Ice Cream, a place that beckons summer travelers like an oasis of creamy homemade goodness. They also have a location in Barrington.

Afterwards I stopped to get a snapshot of the progress made on the new boardwalk; it was eerie with it being so warm and seeing no one in there, so all I could think was "I can't wait till Thursday".

That construction cone apparently didn't have his ID on him

You see, "the decks" are supposedly opening today. "The decks" is a term locals use to refer to the waterfront bar locations including Poco's Bow Street Cantina, The Blue Claw, Old Ferry Landing, The River House, and Harpoon Willy's, all along Ceres and Bow Street. But since this spring/summer (sprummer?) is being the tease that it is, when it was 89 degrees yesterday, Poco's decided to open their decks early, much to my sadness. And I am sad because today is back to normal April weather, and looks like it will be for some time. Will they still open today? I hope so! Will we be there nonetheless, whining like pets left outside in the cold? Yes!

Hopefully summer will hurry up and get here for real.

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Mmmm, Restaurant Week

It's that time of year again, budget-diners: Portsmouth's Restaurant Week kicks off this Friday and lasts until Saturday, April 3rd.

Check out the participating restaurants and their menus here. If you're lucky, you'll choose a place where an adult beverage is also offered. (There I go, sounding like a lush again. . . )

Sadly, I'll be in glamorous Salt Lake City, Utah for the bulk of the festivities, so I'm going to have to count on you to enjoy this for me.

Eat well, loves!

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When it snows...

There's been a lot of snow in the mid-Atlantic lately, and it has made me appreciate winter in New England and in Portsmouth in particular. Why? We deal with it.

Last year, I thought I was getting old (yeah yeah, shut up Heather) when I really started to hate winter for the first time. You know it happens - when snow goes from fun to work. But this year... something is different. Maybe it's that our winter hasn't been so bad, maybe it's because I live on my own and don't have to really shovel living so close to downtown, but something about this winter has been more magical than most. Last night, it reached its pinnacle.

Winter ain't so bad. To plow the streets, Portsmouth issues a "snow emergency" parking ban. To know if one is in effect, just call 603-766-7669 (603-SNO-SNOW hahaha get it? SNO-SNOW?) at any time and they will let you know of an advanced warning or if one is in effect, or if it is over (I've had conflicting reports over whether or not they actually ticket and tow you, but I know at least two people who have, so that's good enough for me). If you don't have off street parking and don't feel like fighting for a municipal lot space, you can go to city hall and enroll in the Snow Ban Parking Program, which lets you park in the Hanover Street Parking Facility for only $3.00 for the duration of the snow ban (plus 2 hours before and 2 hours after). The real benefit from this is that when you get to your car, it is snow free.

Needless to say, I needed to take advantage of this last night, when 2009-2010 winter magic in po-town reached its pinnacle.

Good call, weatherpeople

I parked my car in the garage (I mean... parking facility...) and headed out on the town. Luckily, two bars in Portsmouth have decided to cheer us up when the weather gets frosty. The Portsmouth Gas Light Co. offers Guinness for $1 per draft when it snows 2 inches or more, and $2 when it snows at Ri Ra's. After some much needed venting with a good friend, I ended up at Ri Ra's for said Guinnessessesses.

This guy was standing outside welcoming us in. Punk.

The walk home had that magic silence that snow brings, as well as snowing a WHOLE LOT. The iPhone doesn't take great shots, but it looked something like this:

WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH - Hear the wind?

Awaking bright and shiny in the morning, I had to go back to the garage to get my (clean) car and go to work. The morning walk was no less perfect, and quite a contrast to the night before. While getting a coffee, I saw a woman taking pictures of the beautifulness with much better skill than I and my iPhone. So, I asked her to send me some of the shots. Thanks Jessica!

Anyway, winter in Portsmouth - more reason to be here, not less.

Pictures courtesy Jessica Hulseman

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Changes, and the Rumor Mill

Taking a walk around town makes you realize that Po-town is going through some major changes over the coming year. While I don't have the photos to back up some of these things (like shops mysteriously closing, or Ganesh moving across the street to a new location).

But first we thought we'd foster some unconfirmed, unverified rumors going around that the Brewery Lane Tavern might be changing hands soon.

"BLT" is not a sandwich around here.

Our ninjas in Portsmouth inform us that the hands it may be changing to belong to the fantastically delicious Mojo's BBQ Shack, who may be looking to expand its operations (and is also rumored to not be renewing his lease on its current location on Islington Street). Is it true? Who knows. But I suspect that if it is, then enough relationships will remain intact that the good ol' BLTs will still satisfy.

Meanwhile, construction continues on the "boardwalk" that will grace us next summer along Bow Street. We talked with some of the people at Poco's on a particularly slow Monday evening and the design for their own piece of the boardwalk pie seems to be coming along nicely.

And that's just the bottom floor.

It's going to work out to two separate floors, accessible from the second floor of Poco's itself (how many of you have actually eaten up there, anyway?).

But honestly, take a look around - because things, they are a-changing.

UPDATE: It turns out everything was true. I saw this sign out there today:

It's actually a little sad... goodbye BLT.

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Celebrating 2010 like it's... 2010

What exactly do we call them now? The teens? The tens? Well, anyway...

Hi folks. After a new design and some soul searching, Market Squared is ready to shamelessly indulge your voyeuristic tendencies in the coming year and share our lives in our favorite town while providing you with valuable and useful information on how you too can love po-town like we do.

In any case, this time we decided to do a video blog of our night out on New Years Eve. Portsmouth is one of the cities that holds First Night festivities on NYE, including a lot of family friendly activities, arts promotion, and fireworks. As wonderful as all that is, it certainly doesn't take away from the fact that Portsmouth is a great place to drink and be merry.

Our adventure starts at the home of our dear friends Jess and Joel, Joel being one of the co-owners of Dos Amigos Burritos. Afterwards, we hit downtown, and in the interest of not encountering cover charges, head straight to the Coat of Arms to while the night away.

Anyway, without further ado:



Thank you to special guest stars: Karin, Brad, Jess, Joel, Beeson, Laura, and That Guy Who Laughed At My Joke

Thanks to Bill for being our camera guy all night.

Happy New Year everyone, and we'll make a deal - if you break YOUR resolutions, we will too.

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