Ooma treated me to three nights at The Hotel Portsmouth – a “boutique” hotel in Portsmouth NH. It is a lovely old building with updated rooms and all the amenities that one would expect from a superior hotel – tile shower, newer fixtures, a large flat-screen TV and a very comfortable king-size bed. Our room also had something I wouldn’t expect – two very comfortable chairs (perfect for reading). The common area fixtures – most notably the smoky glass chandaliers, the ornate oak staircase and the very nice back patio – were also features that you won’t find in most fine hotels.

The accomodations came with daily breakfast featuring hardboiled eggs, English muffins and breads for toasting, fruit cups and other fruits, parfait, overnight oats and a variety of cereals including a very tasty granola. And, of course, coffee and tea.

The other benefit… location. We could walk to most anyplace in Portsmouth. And we did, going to Prescott Park, lunch at Moe’s, River House and 5 Thai Bistro and dinners at Cafe Mediteraneo and Cure. We also dined at Robert’s Maine Grill, but that was in Kittery ME and we drove to that one. It was three days of very fine dining, They were all excellent. It is hard to find a bad meal in Portsmouth.

Most of this dining was done in the congenial company of some of Ooma’s oldest and dearest friends – Sharon, Nancy, Stella, Merrill and Russell. Meeting Ooma’s dearest friends for the first time could have been stressful, but it wasn’t. They were all charming and very accepting of me. I can see why Ooma values them so highly.

Ooma and I, while traveling, usually share an entree as we often have no way to store leftovers. And we dine so well that we have no appetite for them. For the meal at Cafe Mediterraneo we shared a terrific osso bucco dish, with mashed potatos and summer vegetables, and at Cure shared some lamb. But for our final dinner, at Robert’s Maine Grill, we each had our own lobster entree – steamed lobster for me and Lobster Thermidore for Ooma. They were terrific. Expensive, but worth it. A fine and fitting end to our Portsmouth vacation-within-a-vacation.

I have to gush a bit about Prescott Park. We went there right after arriving, to eat our Moe’s Italian sandwiches (which were also delicious). I had been to that park before, years ago, to attend an outdoor play. I remembered it as being a very nice urban park. But Ooma showed me the gardens which were, in a word, spectacular. Portmouth has much more to offer than just this one park, but it justifies a visit all on its own.

On our way home we took a small detour to visit York ME. We stopped by the Cape Neddick Light (aka Nubble Light), one of the most popular tourist attractions on the coast of Maine. Then we had a good, old-fashioned ice cream soda at The Goldenrod, a long-time fixture in York. I don’t think I have had an ice cream soda in over 40 years and this was a good one.