Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Laura and I decided to get in the car and visit Washington, CT yesterday. What was the destination? Well, no less than the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, CT.
As I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, my mother purchased a gift certificate for us a few years ago for the Mayflower Inn. If memory serves me correctly, we used it for a Valentine’s Day dinner, but I may be wrong. It was either that or New Year’s Eve. Anyway, we drove there at night and (even at night) really liked the area. We decided that it needed to be visited during the day.
Now, please let me explain…I am sure we have all heard of New England. Sure, we have heard of it, but have we ever really seen it? What we learned yesterday was that be merely driving through Connecticut and Massachusetts really doesn’t count for visiting New England. There is a little corner of Connecticut that, if visited, you can easily imagine some English dude sitting on a log with one of those white wigs on. That is what Washington, CT is like. You can also throw in Bridgewater too. They are both like that. There are more white houses that are over 100 years old than you know what to do with. Needless to say, they are really cool towns. Pricey towns, I’m sure. What really struck us both yesterday, was the fact that we weren’t able to locate one messy property or piece of junk. The whole entire area was extremely clean, which made us feel very nice inside.
One of the things that really aggravates me is the lack of pictures and videos on the internet. Even on Google Earth, people would rather post videos of their kid’s first birthday party, instead of videos of main st. in the town the video is attached to. When I visit town websites, I expect to see some sort of photo gallery or even a walking tour. You would be amazed at how few websites actually offer these features.
Since we visited the Inn yesterday and I happen to own a regular digital camera and a video camera, we decided to use them. I took all the photos and Laura took half the video. These are all just of the Inn and not the town. We’ll get to that. Enjoy!!!
It may look cold, but it was actually the first time this year that I actually felt a warm breeze. It was about 50 degrees outside. This is a photo of the path up to the bush maze, going towards the spa.
These are both of one of the places you can stay if you decide to check in.
This is a photo of the main building that we ate lunch in.
Here is a photo of the outdoor pool and the pool house. We decided against going for a dip.
These are all photos of the spa building.
This is my favorite part of the whole place. I just love the Rhododendrons and huge trees.
Ok, time for some video…
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Monday, December 10th, 2007
I got my Berkshires Official Visitor’s Guide today. Do you know what that means? I didn’t think so. It means that I went on the Berkshires website and requested one. That wasn’t too hard, now was it?
I requested the guide, because we are planning to spend Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas in the Berkshires. I think it will be very nice. We really like the Berkshires and are actually planning on moving there in two years. It’s where we keep going back to every time we want to get away. Each time we go there, we don’t want to leave.
There are so many nice towns in Western Massachusetts, but this visit is going to be limited to Stockbridge, Pittsfield, North Adams and Williamstown.
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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 New York 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. Stockbridge 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 Red Lion Inn. 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 apple picking 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 Stockbridge and a little North of Great Barrington, 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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Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
Laura and I had a tough weekend. A lot happened that called for a kind of peaceful getaway. We were in the Copake, NY area, so we decided to visit one of our favorite places, Bash Bish Falls in the Berkshires. I think the Berkshires are just great.
We didn’t actually see the falls…all we did was drive up to the top parking lot and turn around. Laura was wearing heels, so it would’ve been a tough hike for her up the rocky cliff. I wouldn’t have minded helping, but she was pretty straightforward with her resistance. Instead, we decided to stop off at the Depot Deli at the bottom of the mountain.
There was something about this place that I haven’t felt in a long time. It was so peaceful and restful. We pulled into the parking lot and just sat for a few seconds. It felt good to stop. We got lunch in the deli and ate outside at the picnic table. We had a visitor…
This cat was very friendly. I had to shush him/her away a few times because he/she kept jumping up and trying to eat my food.
We discovered something really neat in this area. The Harlem Valley Rail Trail.
This rail trail goes all the way from Wassaic to Chatham (in the future).
In the area is the Taconic State Park.
Maybe the whole area is the Taconic State Park…who knows. I think it is.
After we finished eating, I asked Laura if she wanted to talk a walk down the rail trail. At this point, the whole heel thing was history. The trail is paved. She agreed and we walked down a few hundred feet.
What a beautiful trail. It’s the kind of place you want to sit and enjoy for hours, if not a lifetime…and believe me, we have had that conversation. I couldn’t get over the quiet.
We walked to the bridge and started talking to a woman who lived across the street. She was telling us about the area and the Berkshires. She was retired and was enjoying the weather. What a great place to live near.
I took a few pictures of the river under the bridge, but this one was the best.
I am not sure of the name of this river, but it’s the same water that comes from Bash Bish Falls.
We are going to try to go back soon with our mountain bikes to ride the trail for a few miles. It’s nice because it’s all flat and level and with tons of trees.
Till then…
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Thursday, September 13th, 2007
It’s getting a little chilly in the mornings these days.
I remember last year, all summer I was putting straight water in my windshield washer fluid tank. It started getting cold and the water in the hoses froze and I couldn’t clean my windshield. That was very annoying. I had to park in the sunlight so it would thaw out.
The weather is really good for going outside. This Sunday, we are planning on going up to Windy Hill Orchard in Stockbridge, MA to pick some apples. It is only supposed to be a high of 65 degrees and sunny. That should be perfect apple picking weather. Also, I am planning on getting another ten yards of mulch to spread out over various places on the property. I hope to work with the mulch this time without sweating so much.
Here is a photo I took this morning. It really isn’t of anything particular, but a man with a camera is dangerous.
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Sunday, July 22nd, 2007
I think I wrote a while ago that Laura and I like to go to Tanglewood, up in Lenox, MA. It’s a pretty sweet thing to do. This weekend was the “All-Beethoven Weekend.”
Now, I am not saying that I am a big Beethoven fan or anything, but the show was pretty good. The whole thing is that you get to lie out under the stars, while listening to the music. It’s pretty neat. Last summer, when we went up for the first time, all we brought was a blanket. We were eaten alive by the bugs and I had to buy two plastic cups of red wine and some cookies for about $20. This time was different. We made a list and everything…here is what we brought…
- Blanket
- “Off” candles
- Bug spray
- Sweater/Fleece
- Sushi
- Knife
- Wine
- Glasses
- Wine bottle opener
- Matches
- Cheese and crackers
- Red grapes
- Hummus
- Pita chips
…all in a big cloth bag. The only thing we were missing was our sleeping bag to throw over us when it got a little chilly later on. To improvise, I just moved everything off the blanket we had and rolled ourselves up in it. I started to doze off towards the end of the show, but I was quite comfortable, so you can’t really blame me.
Here are some photos that I tried to grab…
This is right after we parked the car. We were walking up towards the gate and I realized that I forgot my camera. I had to run back and grab it…alond with this photo of the parking lot.
I took this photo of the Koussevitzky Music Shed on our way in. People are getting set up on the lawn.
Here is a great view of the lake and the Berkshires in the background.
This is the house right behind where we set up our blanket.
Laura had to run to the little girl’s room, so I decided to get fancy and set up shop.
Ahh, the music is on…
I took this photo of the gift shop on our way out.
I think the show ended around 11PM. We drove all the way down past Stockbridge and through Great Barrington. Then, we followed Rt.23 to Rt.9H down into Red Hook, NY and then crossed the Mid-Hudson Bridge past Kingston. It was a good drive, but we were getting way tired. We stumbled in a fell right asleep. We woke up this morning at about 11:15AM. I haven’t done that since I was a teenager. I felt pretty guilty about that type of laziness. Man…
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Saturday, May 26th, 2007
This is another oldie but a goodie.
A few years back, Laura and I visited Salem, MA on Halloween. Back when I was going to Binghamton University for college, a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go up there to hang out. I declined because I needed to study. Not really, but I still said no. I thought I had passed up on a good opportunity, so I decided to accompany Laura on this trip.
I think the most vivid memory I have of the trip is the leaves in Salem Common. They were all yellow. I stood there looking at them and told myself to remember the moment…and to also remember that Sugar Maples still hold their leaves past the end of October.
It was a good trip. Halloween in Salem can really be a blast if you plan it out correctly. We just went up to see what the scene was like, but one day I am going to bring Laura back for the Halloween Ball at the Hawthorne Hotel. She has always wanted to do that, but somehow I usually fail at doing these things. One day I will get it right, I promise.
I thought I would share a few photos from the trip. It was a nice clear weekend, so they came out pretty well…
This is a photo of the Friendship, a reconstruction of a 171-foot three-masted Salem East Indiaman.
The photo above is a photo of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Birthplace. This is located near the House of the Seven Gables, which is a real tourist attraction in town. The houses hold a lot of history.
There sure is a large crowd that visits Salem, MA on Halloween. Many people are dressed in costume.
Heading out on the Derby Wharf towards the Derby Wharf Lighthouse, looking back at Salem. If we kept on walking…or swimming, we would end up in Marblehead, MA.
So, here is the Derby Wharf Lighthouse.
These are some pretty classic shots of things you will see on the Salem, MA walking tour. There is a red line painted on the ground, so you won’t get lost.
Ahh, one of the most famous places you can visit in Salem…the Salem Witch Museum. This is a must see if you are in town.
And last but not least, the Bunghole. This is just a small liquor store in town. There is an interesting history that can be read on their webiste.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my own little tour of Salem, MA!!!
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Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
Another one of my favorite things (again) is to visit Stockbridge, MA. It’s a small town located in the Berkshires…in between Lenox to the North and Great Barrington to the South. Here is a great website to learn more about the Southern Berkshires.
There are some really cool attractions in Stockbridge, one being the Norman Rockwell Museum, two being the Red Lion Inn and three being the Windy Hill Nursery. We have yet to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum, 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 apple picking 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.
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 Stockbridge to eat dinner at the Red Lion Inn.
Stockbridge 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.
One thing you have to remember about the Red Lion Inn…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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Wednesday, September 13th, 2006
Usually, I try to finish up what I am doing at about 10:30PM and hop in bed to read for about a half hour. There have been times when I intended to do that, say to myself, “Oh yeah, one more thing” to then look up at the computer to see the clock read 2AM. Whoops.
Lately, I have been very good. Partly due to my new book, “Wobegon Boy” by Garrison Keillor. Let me tell you why.
A few years ago, Saturday nights were a much more popular “going out” night for me than they are now. Every so often, while driving in my car, I would be flipping through the channels on the radio to hear this very odd radio show. I never quite knew what it was…a guy talking, people singing…kind of like a variety show. I found it very interesting, but never listened long enough to quite get the name of it. I used to refer to the show as the one with the “Story Teller Guy.” I told everyone I knew about it.
After moving to the new house a little more than a year ago, I began listening to NPR (National Public Radio) a lot more. The station I listened to comes in much clearer here. Well, just as luck would have it, at about at 8:30AM, just as I begin driving across the the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, I began to hear the same voice as the Story Teller Guy give a short narration of the day’s importance on poetry, called the Writer’s Almanac. It took a few times listening to be sure it was him, and then I got curious and did some research.
Well, apparently, this man’s name is Garrison Keillor and he hosts “A Prairie Home Companion,” usually on Saturday nights. I began to listen more and more and when 7PM hit on the right night, I made it a point to get in my car for a drive. This past summer was a great one for cruising around with the radio on listening to the program. There was lots of haze and humidity…perfect for a drive at dusk with all the windows open. I tried to keep my hair a little longer than usual just for the sake of it blowing in the wind. Who knows how much longer I will have it.
Listening to this show had become one of my favorite things to do. If I missed it, I would stream it on my computer through their website. Give it a try, you might like it.
The season closer this year was held up the Berkshires at Tanglewood, one of my favorite places under the sun. Laura and I made plans to go to the show. It would be like a dream for me to see it live.
Saturday night came and went, and for some reason, we didn’t go. We didn’t talk about it…we just didn’t go. I don’t know why. Sometimes, things like this just happen. We did talk about it a few days later and decided to go up the next weekend to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform. We did and it was like magic. I really enjoyed laying on the blanket on the lawn listening to the music and looking at the stars. Everything was perfect…the food, the wine, the candles and the music. It couldn’t have been a better night. If I could, I would go to every show Tanglewood offers every night. Next summer, I am sure that Tanglewood will see a lot more of us.
I told my mother how much I enjoyed listening to Garrison Keillor, going to the Berkshires and…well…drinking wine. To my surprise, a few days later, I found a small package in my mailbox. It was the book, Wobegon Boy by Garrison Keillor. Thanks mom.
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