Historic Portsmouth!

Thought you might enjoy some of the pictures I took today while exploring Portsmouth. 

Ships at dry dock on Elizabeth River. 

One of the many beautiful historic homes. 

One of the parks, green spaces we came across. 

Residential street in the historic residential area. 

The Catholic Church, one of many churches and denominations we saw today. 

This is the Portsmouth Light Boat, now a museum. We had a very informative tour by Bruce the docent at the museum. These boats were used by the Coast Guard to guide vessels into inlets. They were used instead of lighthouses when it wasn't possible to built a lighthouse. If the ground was too soft to support a light house a light boat was used in its place. The boat would be at anchor in the inlet no matter what the weather would be. I can't fathom what that must have been like. When we travel and anchor I look forward to places where we can go to shore even if it's by dinghy. I have a need to stretch and walk after even a few days of being aboard. The crew aboard these light boats were on board for a month at a time, after which they would get a month leave to go to shore, then it was back aboard for another month. It was a tough duty.