Things to Do in Portsmouth in January

Guided treks that start at the tugboats in Ceres Street and circle the ice-rimmed channel to the old naval prison on Seavey Island. January's frozen mudflats expose shipwreck ribs you can't see any other month, and the wind off the Atlantic keeps the snow powdery enough to track harbor seals.

Smell the malt roasting in 200-year-old brick warehouses while the snow piles outside Earth Eagle Brewings and Loaded Question. Winter batches lean dark, porters and smoked stouts, so the tasting rooms feel like wood-paneled pubs in Newfoundland, minus the crowds.

Follow the brick sidewalks from Ceres Street to Market Square, ducking into seven spots for chowder flights, lobster-corn fritters, and warm cider doughnuts. January oyster bars source daily from N.H. farms, so the brine pops like ocean spray.

The USS Albacore sits in a dry dock that steams from frost in January, and the museum stays open limited hours. Combined with the tug Piscataqua across the river, you get a self-guided loop through 19th-century shipbuilding and Cold-War sonar experiments, all without the school-bus lines of summer.

Once a month the 1878 theater opens its lobby to local potters, knitters, and maple-syrup brewers. You'll smell beeswax candles and hear acoustic sets echoing off the Victorian balconies. January's edition leans heavy on wool mittens and hot cider, perfect souvenirs that weigh nothing.