Trip to Stockbridge

What a great trip! I always say that, because all our trips are great! I worked on Friday morning. When I got home Hubby was all packed and had lunch all ready for me. Such a great Hubby! We were on the road at 1:30 (after returning for my forgotten cell phone and stopping at the bank for a bit of cash for tolls). It was an easy drive west on the MA turnpike. We got to Stockbridge around 4. Our first little mishap was "my bad". I went on the website of the B and B to get directions to the site, and .....uhm....I guess I went on the wrong website because we ended out at the wrong inn! Ours was called "The Inn at Stockbridge" and the one I got directions for was the "The Stockbridge Country Inn". Oops! I was too embarrassed so I made Hubby go into the Country Inn and ask for directions to OUR inn! He said they were very nice about it.

We got to our inn at apparently the same time as everyone else did. We checked in and were shown our room. Very pretty - king size bed (which we decided was too big.....I had to go find Hubby to get a little cuddle!) and loveseat, nice bathroom with lots of amenities including bathrobes.

After getting situated we decided to go "downtown" and look around. Unbelievably everything was closed! You'd think on the Friday night of a big tourist weekend the little shops would be open. We weren't the only ones there either, so the places probably would have had some business.

We went over to Lee, MA to get some dinner. When I'd researched on the internet I found that the restaurants in Stockbridge were very high-priced and the ones in Lee were a bit better. We parked at the end of Lee's Main Street and decided to walk to the restaurant. After being unable to find it, we went back to the car, checked the map and drove there. The place was called Sullivan Station and was an old train station. The atmosphere was very cozy. It was all decorated for Christmas and looked lovely. The food was great and so was the service. After eating we walked a little bit but it was getting cold, so we went back to the B and B and sat in the living room and played Trivial Pursuit in front of the fire.

Saturday morning we had a great breakfast. All the guests sat around one big table. That's the thing we love about a B and B. We talked with people from all over...PA, NY, ME and NH. It's fun to hear stories of where they've been and places they've enjoyed visiting. After breakfast we got all dressed up warmly to go hiking.

I'd found a place online called Ice Glen that sounded interesting. It was very nice. We had to cross a rickety bridge and railroad track to get to the trail.

Halfway up the hill you could opt to go to the Glen or to Laura's Tower. We really wanted to see the Glen so we went that way. The descriptions said there would be a gorge, which I thought we'd be able to see from the trail. Instead, you got to hike THROUGH the gorge! It was very cool with tons of rocks to climb over and up and around.

A man in 1881 had gone in and made it passable with some stone steps here and there and a little wooden bridge. It was arduous but fun.

On the way back we decided we weren't up for Laura's Tower, since we'd read it was a very difficult and vertical climb, so we decided to go back down to the bottom where we'd seen another trail that ran for about a mile and a half along the river.

After all that exercise we were cold and tired, so we went back downtown and found The Main Street Cafe. This little place is on the site of the original "Alice's Restaurant" made famous in the song by Arlo Guthrie. I was surprised there was no memorabilia relating to Arlo or the song in the restaurant. We had some hot clam chowder and some cocoa. mmmmm...that warmed us up!

We walked around the downtown a bit and went into the places that were open. Hubby loved the "junk shop".....now THERE was some memorabilia!!

From there we decided to go straight to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

The paintings inside were absolutely unbelievable. Pictures weren't allowed (Hubby was reprimanded by the security guard!!) so I don't have any to show. But they were huge....I'm not good at judging sizes but I'd say the regular ones were 2 feet by 3 feet. Then he had his "Freedoms" collection of four famous paintings and they were probably 4 feet by 6 feet. And his very famous "Main Street" painting of Stockbridge was ..... 4 feet by 12 feet maybe? And they were gorgeous! Some of them were so fine they looked like photographs. I can't believe he painted so beautifully and so quickly! Downstairs were every single one of his Saturday Evening Post covers. 344 of them. And each of those covers were painted as a regular painting in two weeks!!

After viewing all the artwork, we had about 45 minutes before there was going to be a Holiday sing-along. So Hubby and I went downstairs to the little room set aside for the children to do artwork, where they'd set up so the kids could make card. Hubby and I got out some materials and made some cards for each other. Then we went up and joined the sing-along which was a lot of fun.

After returning to the B and B to clean up, we went back to Lee to another restaurant...the Salmon Run. This place was not nearly as enjoyable as the place the night before. The seafood was just "okay" ( this coming from someone who lives on the coast and knows good seafood!) and the ambiance and service left a lot to be desired. We returned for another game of Trivial Pursuit and then bed.

Sunday morning we awoke to an inch of snow on the ground! It was beautiful! We had another great breakfast, checked out of the B and B and made our way down to Main St. We had intended to go to the "Norman Rockwell Main Street Re-creation" but it didn't start until 12 and we didn't really want to wait around. We did take pictures of the beautiful Main Street in the snow and got pictures of some of the antique cars that are brought in to re-create Rockwell's famous painting.

Then we drove to Housatonic to see the Arlo Guthrie Center, which is the church where Arlo lives when the song "Alice's Restaurant" was written. It's only open in the summer so I guess we'll have to go back!

And finally, on the way home, we stopped at Stepdaughter Wendy's house to visit her and our grandson Noah. We got home right at four o'clock in time to see the Patriots.....who won at the last minute! A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Weekend

Hubby and I will be leaving tomorrow for our weekend away. Usually we go away twice a year.....once in June for my birthday and once in October for Hubby's. This year we saw what we hope will be a fun weekend in Stockbridge, MA, so we postponed our October trip to now. So far we haven't ventured too far out of New England on our weekends. We've been to: The White Mountains, NH Waterbury, VT Harrison, ME The Quabbin Resevoir, MA Nantucket, MA Mt. Monadnock, MA Mystic, CT Moosehead Lake, ME Newport, RI Sturbridge, MA and our one venture out of New England: Essex, NY GEEZ - I forgot about Montreal! That wasn't really one of our "birthday" weekends.....we went for Jamie's football game.....but it was still a get-away weekend so I think it should count. We usually look for a place with interesting things to see and do......museums, art galleries, hiking, canoeing, etc. We chose Stockbridge for this trip because this weekend is their famous "Norman Rockwell" weekend. We've never been to the Berkshires and never been to the Norman Rockwell Museum. They are having a special day there and a Christmas concert at the museum Saturday night. On Sunday they decorate their downtown to look like Norman Rockwell's Christmas scene and have all kinds of special events. I've also found a place to hike that sounds pretty nice. We like to stay in a Bed and Breakfast - we like the coziness and personal attention it brings. We chose the Inn at Stockbridge this year. http://www.stockbridgeinn.com/ Kind of pricey but we deserve it!! So no new posts over the weekend. I'll be back on Monday to tell you all about it!

The Case of the Mysterious Package

When I went to get my mail yesterday there was a package. Not unusual at this time of year since I do all my shopping online. But it was obvious this package was not from a company. It was from an individual person because it was wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag. The return address was the same as my home address. That didn't make me suspicious, because I know some people do that so that if the package is returned to sender, it still goes to the person they want it to go to.

I brought it inside and opened it. On top was a little poem about how "there is no name, I'll have to guess". Now I was a tiny bit afraid! But when I got the whole thing open, it was a set of penguin Christmas lights!

Now everyone knows how much I love penguins. I've loved them since before they were fashionable - before Happy Feet. In fact, people often pick up little penguin things for me when they see them. They're all over the house.....little knickknacks, stuffed ones, blanket throws for my couch....even the decor in my bathroom is penguins. (all right - I might be a little over the top with that one...but they're SO CUTE!)

So I wasn't surprised to get them. I just wasn't sure who sent them. At first I figured it was my sister, but then when I started figuring out the list of people.....there were many more choices. I finally checked the postmark on the package and it's from Salem. So......if it's someone in-town, it was probably one of my Girl Scout friends. I'm pointing the finger at my friend Gail, who has picked up little penguin trinkets for me before. She probably won't admit to it......and I'll never know for sure.

Old Friends

Last night I went to a Holiday gathering of old friends. You know I don't mean "old" friends....because certainly no one that I hang around with can be considered old. What I mean of course is old friends.....friends from long ago. This group was all the women I did PTA with when my kids were in elementary school. I was on the PTA board for a lot of years and these women were all either on the board with me or members of PTA. We all bonded, as moms tend to do when involved with their kids. It was amazing to see some of these women. Mostly we talked about our kids, what they're doing and where they're living and what kinds of jobs they have. I loved hearing about what all the kids are doing. Some of them turned out how we would have expected, but many didn't. The most amazing was Eileen's daugther Elizabeth, who was a very frou-frou little girl. She is now in Army Intelligence and is jumping out of planes! Besides myself, there were a couple of others who had grandchildren pictures. We all agreed that there's nothing like being a grandparent. It's MUCH more fun than being a parent. We ate, we drank, we had a gift exchange. We didn't stay late - we all have to get up and work in the morning! But we exchanged email addresses and left amid promises of doing it again next year.

Holiday Parade

What a busy weekend! The Holiday Stroll Saturday night was fun, and yesterday we went to see the Holiday Parade in our town of Salem. One of the few things that Salem does. For such a big town, we have little in the way of things to do or events that involve the town. But the parade is a tradition. For the past few years, we've taken my niece Laura along with us. It's always more fun to go to something like that with a kid. We got there 1/2 hour early to get a good spot, but also because the place we stand to watch is on a hill and Laura loves running...and rolling...up and down the hill. In fact, when I asked her if she remembered the parade from last year...that's what she remembered! That and the candy. The place we stand is also at the very beginning of the parade route and everyone who gives out candy has plenty. And she gets a lot. This year she was smart enough to bring a plastic bag. In the past she's had to take off her hat and use it to hold all the candy. It was the same parade we've been to every year. Marching bands, school floats, scout groups and ...because Salem is a commercial town.....floats and marchers from different commercial establishments in town. It was pretty cold and it started snowing/raining about half-way through. We took Laura home afterwards and gave her some hot cocoa and let her rifle through Hubby's coin collection and shell collection. When we took Laura home we stayed at brother John's house to watch the Patriot's game. Those lousy bums!! But my brother made a delicious dinner and we had a nice visit....despite the score of the game! This week is crazy-busy. But this weekend Hubby and I will be going away together .....just the two of us. Just what we need to relax before it gets even more crazy during this holiday season.

Holiday Stroll

Hubby and I went to Nashua last night for their annual Holiday Stroll. We'd never been before so it was all new for us. I couldn't believe how many people were there! It was a gorgeous night and there must have been thousands of people. Daughter Jamie lives in Nashua so we parked in front of her house and walked the couple of blocks to where the stroll began. They had blocked off Main St. and people were all over the place. It was a very festive atmosphere. They had a wagon with the Clydesdale horses that led everyone down the street to light the Christmas tree in the square. That was the kick-off. All the merchants were open with special sales, etc. There were food wagons (the fried dough was delicious!) and some street entertainers. Then there were venues open for all kinds of entertainment. We visited the library where they had three different children's entertainers performing. We stopped in a couple of churches to hear singing. We stopped at the community center to hear Amy Petty, who turned out to be a phenomenal folk singer. And we listened at the Main Stage out on the street to a Progressive Bluegrass band named "Hot Day at the Zoo" who I thought were the best entertainers of the night. I would have stayed there all day and listened to them, but it was getting late and we were getting cold. We called Jamie and ended out bringing her over to Friendly's and finishing off the night with some ice cream. A good night!

Day After Thanksgiving

Hubby kind of laughed at me this week - that I had posted all about Thanksgiving BEFORE Thanksgiving happened! I told him to watch....everything would be exactly the same as I'd said it would be. Sure enough. Dad cooked a 28 pounder PLUS the extra turkey breast on the rotisserie, we had the banana fritters...and my personal apple fritters....Mom used the paper plates....everything! Grand-daughter Emily was in a wonderful mood and enjoyed all the people. I was so glad she wasn't afraid at all! In fact, her new words are "hi" (with the little wave) and "bye". So she went around saying hi and bye to everyone! Today is "Black Friday" which in Salem, NH is "Traffic nightmare day". It wasn't bad when I came out to work at 8:30 this morning...probably the lull between the 5am shoppers and the normal idiots that came out at 10am. Right now as I'm leaving I can see the traffic backed up all the way up the road. My 3 minute drive home will probably take me a 1/2 hour. Hubby and I thought we'd go to the beach this afternoon and find a nice seafood place to eat. But it's pouring down rain right now (which will make the traffic even more pleasant) so I guess the beach is out. Not sure what we'll do. Maybe the movies? I did want to go see that movie "The Changeling". I'm not sure if it's still in the theaters. I'll have to check it out.