Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington and Beyond

Sunday, October 21st, 2007

Wow, what a day.

Laura and I had to get new sneakers, so we headed up to the “Prime Outlets at Lee.” I will tell you, I thought the place was much bigger. It was refreshing to visit something so cozy and nice. People were just walking around enjoying the day. There didn’t seem to be any attitude that usually comes alond with these places…well, the ones in anyway. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

We found a good shoe store. Laura bought two pairs of sneakers and I bought one. It has taken such a long time to do this, it feels good to have it done. After that chore was finished, it was time to have some fun. We took Pleasant Street, or Rt. 102 West into Stockbridge. I think everyone else had the same idea for today. After all, the leaves are almost in full effect and the weather was perfect. was a little crowded, but not too bad. We parked our car on the side of the road and headed down towards the Red Lion Inn for some lunch. Right across the street from the car, there was a little park that I never noticed. It’s pretty cool, so I grabbed a photo.

We made it down the road…almost to the Inn, when I remembered that I left the gift certificate Laura got me for my birthday in the car. We had to walk all the way back to get it. Upon our return to the place we were standing ten minutes earlier, I decided to take another photo.

This is the ally that leads to the back of the . I wanted to eat lunch in the courtyard. Well, I guess they aren’t serving lunch there anymore, because there were no tables set up. Instead, we went downstairs to “The Lion’s Den.” It’s more of a tavern type deal.

We had a great lunch. We did get a little tipsy because we decided to have a little drink before we sat down.

That was fun too.

After we finished eating, which seemed like a really long time, we headed upstairs to make our Thanksgiving dinner reservations. We have been trying to get in here for a few years, but they are always booked up. This year, they had one table for two open. Yeah!!! We made it. I made the reservation and we are in. That is so cool. After that, we left.

We have been planning to go for a couple of months now, but have yet to get the chance. Today seemed like a perfect day to head down Rt. 7, a little South of and a little North of , to a place called Windy Hill Farm. We have been here a few times and really love it. They have pumpkins and apples and everything else.

I tell ya, it makes me sooooo happy.

Unfortunately, we showed up at 4:35 and they stop the “you-pick” at 4:30. Good thing our friend Eric let us up to pick a few apples on our own. I climbed a nice sized tree to get two shiny apples way up on top. I handed them off to Laura and we headed back down to the store.

We bought a big bag of mixed apples for $8 and a pumpkin for $8 too. Oh, yeah, we are all set up. Remember last time we got a pumpkin up at this place? Man, I love the Berkshires.

Oh yeah, before I forget, take a look at the picture I took while crossing the Castleton Bridge over the Hudson River.

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Pumpkin Picking in the Berkshires - Stockbridge, MA

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006

Another one of my favorite things (again) is to visit Stockbridge, MA. It’s a small town located in the …in between Lenox to the North and to the South. Here is a great website to learn more about the Southern Berkshires.

There are some really cool attractions in , one being the Norman Rockwell Museum, two being the Red Lion Inn and three being the . We have yet to visit the , but have graced our presence at the other two.

Late September is the best time to go up. The weather is still good and it’s sweater in the morning, t-shirt in the afternoon temperature. Perfect for pumpkin picking. If you are into finding cool places for and pumpkin picking, you surely know of finding the wrong places. You know the ones…little trees in open, field-like settings. When you find the right one, you need to hold on to it, no matter the distance. That’s what we did here.

Windy Hill is a nice, large tree seasonal setting. Inside, they offer hot cider, donuts and all the apples you could imagine. Outside, they offer a nice hillside full of apple trees…about 20 different varieties. You can pick to your heart’s content. Right outside the building, they have a good variety of plants, flowers and plantings. They also have tons of pumpkins.

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We picked up a few nice ones for carving later. You can really hang out here for quite some time, if you have it. We wanted to go north on Rt. 7 a few miles into the town of to eat dinner at the .

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offers a very small main street setting with a few shops to browse through. You can get all that cool stuff you remember from childhood vacations, such as rock candy and taffy. A walk up and down both sidewalks worked up our appetite for some good dining. Before going in, we usually check out the back of the Inn. It shows the enormity of the building. There is a rich history of this structure, which I share below. The first time ever visiting this town, we ate lunch in the back courtyard, so there is sentimental value.

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One thing you have to remember about the …if you want to eat in the main dining room, you must dress appropriately - a suit or comparable for the females. I am stressing this for the guys, because we are usually the ones with the issues. If you don’t have the right clothes, you can eat in the tavern part of the inn, downstairs. We have seen people turned away from the dining room time after time. Dining at this Inn is an experience. It brings you to another place and makes you want to stay for much longer than you can. Wine…candles…food and a good time. After eating, a nice break on the front porch sitting in a rocking chair is sooooo relaxing.

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About Me

This is my blog. Welcome to it. I write a lot of stuff that doesn't pertain to anything in particular, but you may find a common theme in here somewhere. Enjoy. More

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