Friday, May 21, 2010

Bygone Portsmouth Tour


Led my first walking tour of "Oggy's Bygone Portsmouth" tonight. The big hit was the Laverdier's Drugs store story where myself and Bradley got caught shoplifting gum. It is now Jumping Jay's fish restaurant. And the Alf figurine encased in epoxy at the old mystery spot location brought gasps of amazement.
The fact my brother's first job was at Strawberry Court, a restaurant that no longer exists, did not excite anyone even when I said we were all proud of him and came down to see him in his apron. More interesting was my job at Richardson's Market where I smuggled beer out the cellar door to pay my debt to the paving company for dumping two wheel barrows full of hot tar on a customer's lawn.
I improvised a little when it came to the Richardson's house which was moved after purchased for $1. Anyone know more about that story? Where did the house come from?
The Alf story got me remembering that my own mother was responsible for having flag holes put in the sidewalk for colorful flags on Market Square Day back in 1976. And those holes are still around town and I believe Alf now resides in the hole that was originally for a flag. I could be wrong but that's what bygone history implies; it's the story you would never read in books.

My dogs are barking after a brutal day at the hockey distributor. Fortunately, I daydream 90% of the time which means a company in Michigan that ordered several dozen ice skates will receive a box of old taco bell receipts.
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Man in the Van by Oggy Bleacher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.