Honestly? I didn’t expect to like Portsmouth, NH quite as much as I did. I entered from Kittery, ME, and as soon as I crossed the Memorial Bridge I saw brick sidewalks and a small parking lot from which to enjoy the harbor. So of course I stopped for pictures. And while it seemed at first to be more of a working harbor than something meant photo ops for people like me, there was more than one vantage point and I thought the views were lovely.
I had yet to find the Portsmouth Harbor Light however, and as I drove into New Castle to see it I was awed by the New England charm of the town. The narrow streets along the water, lined with clapboard houses sitting close to the road, and painted in soft, pretty colors. The access to the lighthouse was closed, and I knew that, but I thought I’d find another vantage point to see it, and I did. And, of course, yet another lighthouse, Whaleback, off in the distance eough to make me struggle for a picture. On such a lovely day it was frustrating to find that I had to turn the picture of that one into a black and white image, but it pretty much was black and white already.
I googled the significance of the locks on this chain link fence at the Portsmouth harbor and got an unexpected answer. It’s been deemed the Portsmouth Love Wall, and it’s in Prescott Park. I missed the initials written on the locks, initials of lovers who place the locks on the wall and then they may choose to throw the keys into the water. Or they may place a lock on the wall to represent a lost loved one. I see that this is a world wide trend, possibly beginning in Paris. I wish I believed that placing a lock on the wall would keep a loved one with you, it would be nice. And it just so happens that I have a padlock in the camper, just in case…
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 