Welcome to Portsmouth, NH

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Portsmouth, NH.  You may know that I have been doing some work for my mom who is an independent sales rep for Heinemann publications -- a resource company for K-12 teachers.  Heinemann is based in Portsmouth and they flew all the reps and sub-reps (me) up to their home office for a national sales meeting. 

The original schedule allowed for very little sightseeing.  We flew in Thursday afternoon, had meetings all day Friday and Saturday, and would depart Sunday afternoon after a debriefing meeting in the morning.  More on that schedule later. So one morning Mom and I woke up way too early and took a walk around town looking at the sights.  Let me say for the first of many times, I am now in love with New England!  Oh, wow, it was gorgeous!

*all of the following pictures were taken on my iPhone 3, so forgive the unreliable quality

Look at those brick facades in the background! I swoon...Mom and I could both stand to have some extra geography lessons.  We were strolling across the Piscataqua River when we saw this sign below:

Maine?  Really?  We had no idea!  We were just in Boston, MA when we flew in!  Someone get me an atlas, stat!  The image below is a view of the town as we walked back to the hotel...be still, my heart!

Okay, like I said, we were there to work.  We sat in the ballroom of the Sheraton Harborside Hotel all day listening to presentations on the latest upcoming products, the greatest selling tips, etc.  However, on Friday night, we were treated to a company lobster bake in Rye, NH (a neighboring town).  Here was the view as soon as we got off the bus:

PS: for those of you who know me -- there were also land-meat and vegetarian options!

Back to meetings, but not before we had some serious discussions about the weather.  You see, there was this little problem brewing fast:

I don't know if that's exactly where we were (remember my geography struggles).  But it's close and you should get the point.  Airports were closing, cancelling everyone's return iteneraries.  We learned that we would not fly home until at least Monday night...um, I packed light.  I don't have enough underwear.  Kidding! Kind of...

Side note; I know Hurricane Irene did serious damage in some places and is the cause for several deaths.  A hurricane is never a laughing matter, and my prayers are with everyone affected.  However, since we ended up unscathed, I am able to be a little more lighthearted.  As it would turn out, we did get a day of sightseeing, after all!

So tune in tomorrow and I will show you why I really, really love New England now!