Exploring the Berkshires

For the Memorial Day weekend, Inna made a Bed & Breakfast reservation at the Stockbridge Country Inn in Stockbridge, MA. We planned to explore the museums and hiking trails in this area.

We expected to pick up our Turo Honda Civic at 7:00pm and start our long, 2-hour drive to Stockbridge, where we would stay for 3 nights.

However, Mounisha encountered traffic on the way to drop off the car, arriving at about 7:20pm. After photographing the car for Turo, I loaded the trunk with our backpacks and plugged in Inna's iPhone. We decided to use Apple Play, which worked with the Google Maps app) for Navigation. Inna also used Spotify for music, initially playing relaxing Spa favorites and switching to more lively road trip songs. Luckily, the promised rain did not materialize, and our drive was easier than expected.

The Honda Civic was quite lovely, with an excellent dashboard. I liked the Apple Play integration.

The drive to the Berkshires was surprisingly easy, as the toll road we followed (U.S. 90-W) was relatively smooth. It took us about two hours to drive 120+ miles to the Stockbridge County Inn.

We arrived at about 9:40 pm and had difficulty driving up the steep road to the Inn. When we entered, no one was there to greet us, so we waited a bit, calling the Inn's phone number in the hope of getting a response. Eventually, we knocked on a door where we heard television, and our hostess answered and took us to our room upstairs.

Our room had a beautiful 4-poster bed surrounded by colorful, flowery wallpaper. Breakfast would be served at 9:00am, and I was looking forward to a new day exploring the Berkshires.

We unpacked our backpacks, and I connected my phone charger. Once connected to WiFi, I also checked my work email and responded to a few queries. Inna spent the time playing with her phone.

Saturday, May 28, 2022

In the morning, I woke around 7:30am and decided to listen to some online Hillsdale College lectures with my eyes closed. I finally woke at 8:15am, showered, shaved, and dressed.

Inna woke and showered, too, and we walked down to breakfast in our Stockbridge Bed & Breakfast. We sat at our table for breakfast and ordered coffee, eggs, and toast.

• Boris: Coffee, Poached Egg on Sourdough, Apple Cider
• Inna: Coffee, Scrambled Eggs, Sourdough, Apple Cider

We overheard our neighbors talk. One couple was from France (but lived in Boston) and was visiting the Berkshires.

After breakfast, we focused on museums since the weather forecast called for showers. We drove one hour to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown.

 

The Clark Art Institute has an excellent collection of Renoir paintings, and we ended up following a tour guide explaining some of the museum's highlights. We spent three hours in the museum, taking multiple photographs and enjoying the fine impressionist collection and many sculptures.

 

After the museum, we decided to eat lunch nearby in Williamstown. Inna selected Pera Bistro on Spring Street, and we found parking nearby. Williamstown looks like the quintessential New England small town (like out of Gilmore Girls). 

We sat down outside at Pera Bistro, looked at the menu, and ordered the following items:

• Boris: Chicken Flatbread, Lemonade
• Inna: Traditional Gyro (with lamb and salad), Lemonade

The Chicken Flatbread was delicious, and the Gyro was not bad either. Inna and I split both dishes. 

 

After lunch, we walked around the Williams College campus (the top-rated liberal arts college in the U.S.). The campus reminded us of Harvard, just on a smaller scale.

As it started to get windy (as if about to rain), we decided to warm up in the nearby coffee shop. We stopped by Tunnel City Coffee and ordered a mocha and a latte. 

 

Since it started to rain, we decided to try to drive to the MASS MoCA Museum (which closes at 6:00pm). However, when we arrived there 15 minutes later, we could not find parking anywhere. Eventually, we gave up and decided to return to our Stockbridge County Inn to rest.

For dinner, Inna made reservations for 7:45pm at Once Upon a Table in Stockbridge. We drove to the restaurant but initially had trouble finding it, as it was hidden behind others. After sitting down and looking at the short menu, we ordered the following dinner items:

• Boris: Hard Apple Cider (New York), Roasted Chicken Breast with Asparagus, Bread Rolls
• Inna: German Riesling, Beets & Strawberry Salad with whipped Goat Cheese, Dayboat Cod with curried lentil + yogurt ragout
• Dessert: Chocolate, Hot Tea

I liked the Roasted Chicken Breast, and Inna really liked her Cod. The freshly baked Bread Rolls were delicious, and the Chocolate dessert was outstanding.

 

Sunday, May 20, 2022

I woke at 8:00am, took a shower, and dressed in the morning. Inna woke up and showered, too, and we walked downstairs for breakfast at about 9:00am.

For breakfast, we requested coffee and scrambled eggs with sourdough toast. We enjoyed talking to our neighbors, who planned to attend an afternoon wedding.

Our Sunday activities program was quite extensive. We planned to do the following activities:

1. Explore Chesterwood and the sculpture of Mr. Daniel Chester French
2. Visit the Norman Rockwell Museum and explore his studio and nearby trails
3. Visit the Berkshire Botanical Garden
4. Taste freshly made ice cream at the High Lawn Farm
5. Riverwalk in Great Barrington

Our first stop was the studio and exhibit of Daniel Chester French in Chesterwood. Although he created over 100 sculptures, he is best known for his design of the monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln (1920) in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

When we arrived at 10:15am, we purchased tickets to see the collection and listened to the guided tour at 11:00am. Since we had some time, we decided to stroll the estate's grounds. After a short walk (I thought I spotted a large animal - perhaps a deer ), we returned to his studio, and I took photos of his statues of Abraham Lincoln and Andromeda.

French first earned acclaim for The Minute Man, commissioned by Concord, Massachusetts, unveiled on April 19, 1875, on the centenary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Daniel French was studying sculpture in Florence then and worried his sculpture would be received in the United States. Due to favorable reviews, he returned to the U.S. shortly.

In 1914, Daniel Chester French was selected by the Lincoln Memorial Committee to create a Lincoln statue as part of the memorial to be designed by architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924).

The 170-ton statue comprises 28 blocks of white Georgia marble and rises 30 feet from the floor, including the 19-foot seated figure upon an 11-foot high pedestal. The final 19-foot statue was carved by the Piccirilli Brothers (who should have received more credit due to their exemplary work of cutting marble).

The figure of Lincoln gazes directly ahead and slightly down with an expression of gravity and solemnity. His frock coat is unbuttoned, and a large United States flag is draped over the chair's back and sides. French paid particular attention to Lincoln's expressive hands, which rested on the enormous arms of a semi-circular ceremonial chair, whose fronts bear fasces, emblems of authority from Roman antiquity. French used casts of his own fingers to achieve the correct placement.

 

After visiting Chesterwood, we drove 5 minutes to the nearby Norman Rockwell Museum. According to Wikipedia:

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his 64-year relationship with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), during which he produced covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations. These works include popular images that reflect the Scout Oath and Scout Law such as The Scoutmaster, A Scout Is Reverent[2] and A Guiding Hand,[3] among many others..

We visited the museum for about 30 minutes before returning to Normal Rockwell's studio (in a nearby building) for the guided tour. Our tour guide entertained us with bits of trivia about Normal Rockwell. He worked 7 days a week and was extremely tidy. He cleaned his oil brushes daily, sometimes up until 2:00am.

 

 

His routine was waking up and looking at his existing paintings in the early morning. After 9:00am, he started painting until noon, when he ate lunch.

After the gallery, we decided to stop by the Lost Lamb Patisserie for lunch in Stockbridge. After looking at the menu, we ordered the following items:

• Boris: Mocha, Pepper + Mozzarella Sandwich
• Inna: Earl Grey Tea with Milk, Egg-salad Sandwich, croissant

I liked my Pepper and mozzarella Sandwich on a French baguette. Inna's sandwich was delicious, too.

Now that we had more energy, we decided to visit the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. After a short drive, we parked our Honda Civic and purchased tickets. 

We walked across the street to the Botanical Gardens, enjoying the beautiful views and taking many photos. I noticed more bugs & mosquitos out, which annoyed me at times.

Feeling a bit hot (due to the warm weather), Inna had an idea to visit the nearby High Lawn Farm to try freshly made ice cream. We drove 10 minutes and waited in a very long and slow ordering line for about 20 minutes.

It was finally our turn to order, and we selected one cup with chocolate ice cream and the other with Purple Cow. I was disappointed as my chocolate ice cream tasted no better than store-bought ice cream. Inna's Purple Cow was better, but not to the fine gelato we enjoyed in San Francisco, Vancouver, or even Boston (in Eataly).

Now that we were rested, we decided to stroll the riverfront in Great Barrington. After parking our car, we walked downstream for about a mile (before turning around). The walk along the riverfront was pleasant and mostly flat, with occasional views of the shallow, meandering Housatonic River.

After the 2-mile walk, we were tired and returned to our Stockbridge County Inn at around 6:00pm.

We decided to eat dinner at Michael's of Stockbridge in the evening. We were seated outdoors and ordered the following from our menu:

• Boris: Angry Orchard Apple Cider, Thai Salmon
• Inna: Angry Orchard Apple Cider, French Onion Soup, Cajun Shrimp & Scallops

My Thai Salmon was not bad, but the dishes were average at best. However, I enjoyed sitting outside on this glorious spring day, soaking up the last remnants of sunshine.

After we returned to our Inn, we talked briefly to the Inn's owner about her enterprise. She and her 99-year-old husband (a World War 2 Veteran paratrooper) have been running the Inn for many years. Her kids are grown up and live in Florida, and she saw them recently, in March (during a family get-together).

She mentioned that winters in the Berkshires get cold but not as cold and windy as in Chicago. She also said that the fall foliage is beautiful and worth seeing.

Monday, May 29, 2022

I woke at 8:00am, took a shower, and shaved in the morning. I started to pack my backpack to prepare to return to Boston. Inna also showered and packed her backpack.

At around 9:10, we descended downstairs for our last breakfast at the Stockbridge County Inn. We sat at the large table and ordered coffee, scrambled eggs, and apple cider.

After breakfast, we said goodbye to the excellent staff and to the Inn's owner and loaded our Turo Honda Civic with our backpacks.

Our first stop was the TurnPark ArtSpace in West Stockbridge. As we walked around the extensive grounds, we encountered many intriguing statues. Unfortunately, mosquitos were out in droves, and I tried hard to swat them away.

After spending an hour taking photos, we decided to continue the drive to the Mass MoCA Museum in North Adams. When we arrived at noon, the parking lot was mostly empty, and we parked immediately.

Before entering the museum, we stopped by at a nearby coffee shop. We went into the museum and put on our masks (which are required). We walked around until 1:00pm, when we joined a guided tour focused on a few prominent exhibits.

After the tour, we explored the museum, which is pretty significant. We enjoyed playing music in one of the instrument rooms. In one of the rooms, the alone upright piano was sitting idle, and Inna tried playing "Fur Elise."

At around 3:00pm, we ate lunch and ordered a few items from the Lickety Split eatery inside the museum.

• Boris: Greek Salad, Matcha Latte
• Inna: Chicken Brioche, Potato Chips, London Fog (hot)

The Greek Salad was fine, and I liked my Matcha Latte. 

We returned to our Honda Civic and drove back to Boston for about 3 hours. As we went back, we crossed dozens of rivers and lakes. I never realized that Massachusetts had so many waterways.

We returned to Cambridge at about 6:30pm. I parked the car on Harvard Street, and we unloaded our backpacks. I started to sneeze, as Boston had a very high pollen count.

At 7:10pm, Mounisha arrived to pick up her Honda Civic. I handed off the keys, and Inna and I walked to the nearby Tatte Bakery for our small dinner. The bakery closed at 8:00pm, so we hurried to place our order. I ordered a Chicken Salad sandwich, while Inna selected a Lamb entree with a few small tea cakes for dessert.

The Honda Civic was a very nice car, and I really liked the integrated Apple Play, so Google Maps and Spotify music worked seamlessly.

When Tatte Bakery was closing, we returned to our apartment, and each took a shower. We were a bit tired and drank some hot tea. The allergies were really bothering me a lot.

Berkshires Trip Report

Highlights

• Viewing one of the largest collections of impressionist Renoir paintings at Clark Institute
• Seeing the many beautiful sculptures in Chesterwood
• Seeing some of the wonderful works of Norman Rockwell in the Norman Rockwell Museum
• Savoring the country-style comforts of the Stockbridge County Inn.
• Seeing the weird contemporary art exhibits at the Mass MoCA Museum

Lowlights

• Ice cream at High Lawn Farm tasted no better than supermarket ice cream

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Boston Workation Week 4

Sunday, May 22, 2022

We returned to Boston from Newport, Rhode Island, at around 8:40pm, after a 90-minute drive. After refilling Robert's Audi Q5 that I rented on Turo, I found a parking spot on Harvard Street (with Inna's help).

We returned all our items to our 334 Harvard Street apartment and rested for a bit. I decided to do laundry and used the CSCPay Mobile App to load $10 into my account, which I used to activate the washer and dryer. 

We changed our bad sheets, and the new ones were much better. We went to bed at a relatively late 12:15 am!

Monday, May 23, 2022

In the morning, I woke at 7:30am, but being rather tired, I returned to bed for another 30 minutes. Eventually, I dressed and made a cup of coffee. I started to check all of my personal and work emails.

Inna was still sleeping, waking up at 10:00am, as she was pretty tired from our trip to Newport, Rhode Island. After waking up, we ate a late breakfast/early lunch at our Harvard Square Tatte Bakery. 

When we arrived, there was a long line inside, but we waited patiently and ordered the following items:

• Boris: Lemonade, Lamb Hash
• Inna: London Fog, Croque Madame, Roasted Strawberry Teacake

I really liked my Lamb Hash (it was so delicious!) Inna also liked her Croque Madame. After breakfast, we decided to walk around the Charles River for morning exercise. We saw a few geese, ducks, and college graduates trying to take graduation photos on the John W Weeks Footbridge across the Charles River.

Inna talked to Alex by text, and he was feeling better, though he did complain about an issue with his tongue. Hopefully, he will quickly recover from his flu.

I worked the rest of the day, as did Inna. She took a short trip to the local Russian grocery store to purchase a few delicacies for dinner.

Inna was considering purchasing tickets to the premiere of Boston Ballet's Swan Lake, but she had a standing work meeting that conflicted with the performance.

In the evening, we took another stroll to the Charles Bridge and back, enjoying the last remnants of a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

I woke at around 8:40am in the morning, dressed, showered, shaved, and started answering emails. When Inna woke up a bit later, she dressed, and we decided to go on a morning walk around the Charles River.

After the walk, we stopped by the Tatte Bakery, ordering the following breakfast items:

• Boris: Mocha (12oz), Spinach & Goat Cheese Scrambled Egg Plate
• Inna: Latte (12oz), Prosciutto & Parmesan Scrambled Egg Plate, Strawberry Tea Cake

Both Inna and I worked most of the day. I stopped by briefly at Whole Foods to purchase a few fresh organic Granny Smith apples, swiss cheese, and sparkling water.

For lunch, I made a sandwich of bread, cream cheese, swiss cheese, and doctor's kielbasa.

In the evening, we decided to walk around Harvard's campus. We strolled around and ran into the Glee Club, singing Harvard songs. There were many chairs arranged for multiple graduation festivities going on.

For dinner, Inna reheated Russian blintze. The 'Olivyea' salad was turning a bit stale. Inna also shared some Russian pastries with hot tea.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

In the morning, Inna and I woke around 8:00am and decided to walk around the Harvard University campus. We noticed that many recent graduates were donning their traditional graduation attire - black robes with square, mortarboard hats. Many graduates were posing for photos, and a few were taking selfies, probably to capture the final happy moments of their recent graduation. 

Harvard appears to have separate graduation ceremonies, as we noticed a separate ceremony for Harvard Law School.

After touring the Harvard campus, we stopped by Tatte Bakery for breakfast. It was busy, and we stood in line for a while, looking at the menu. We finally decided on the following items:

• Boris: Mocha, Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Egg Sandwich
• Inna: Latte, Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Egg Sandwich, Lemon Mint Tart

Inna and I loved the Smoked Salmon, Avocado, and egg sandwiches. My mocha was also quite delicious! The Lemon Mint Tart was sweet and light.

In the evening, Alex stopped by at around 8:00pm, and we decided to eat dinner somewhere in Cambridge. Alex took the Harvard #1 bus, which took him some time to arrive. He still had a bit of a cold but was feeling much better.

At first, we stopped by Pammy's at 928 Massachusetts Ave. Unfortunately, Pammy's was fully booked, and no tables were available. We decided to try Grafton Pub & Grill on Massachusetts Ave, but this location was closed. The new location was at 59 John F. Kennedy Street nearby, and we started walking toward it (as dinner was served until 11:00pm). 

On the way there, we ran into The Hourly Oyster House on Dunster Street. We liked the outdoor seating, and the Google ratings were favorable (4.5 stars), so we decided to eat dinner there.

After being seated outdoors, we ordered the following dinner items:

• Alex: Clam Chowder, Fish & Chips, Hot Tea
• Boris: Fish & Chips, Hot Tea
• Inna: Seared Scallops, Hot Tea

I liked my Fish & Chips, but the ones in Jo's in Newport were far superior. Inna also enjoyed her Scallops, but her portion was small (3 small scallops).

After dinner, Alex took an Uber back to his college dorm while Inna and I walked to our 334 Harvard Street apartment.

At home, we made hot black tea with a few snacks.

Thursday, May 26, 2022

In the morning, Inna woke up early and had to get ready for a massage appointment. I woke up after her, showered, shaved, and started work.

At about 10:00am, I met her at Tatte Bakery in Harvard Square, where she was already standing in line. It was graduation day at Harvard, and there were a lot of students in graduation gowns, and police were present on campus.

At the Tatte Bakery, we ordered the following breakfast items:

• Boris: Croissant Breakfast Sandwich, Mocha
• Inna: Egg in a Hole, Strawberry Mini cake, Latte

Inna found a lovely table on the first floor, and after clearing the previous person's debris, we sat down, waiting for our breakfast items to be delivered. I really enjoyed my Breakfast Croissant with my mocha.

Since I finished early, I decided to go for a short stroll around Charles River before heading back home to continue working.

Inna returned a bit later.

Inna and I had long workdays where we did a lot of work.

We went for another stroll around Charles River at 7:00pm in the evening. 

In the evening, Inna boiled some pelmeni for dinner.

I also continued listening to Hillsdale College's Aristotle Ethics Class lectures. I especially enjoyed the lecture on Friendship.

Friday, May 27, 2022

I woke at 7:30am and decided to stroll around Charles River. Since my weather application was forecasting rain in Boston and the Berkshires (where we would drive later in the day), I decided to stop by the Harvard Square CVS to purchase an umbrella.

I continued my walk around the Charles River. On the John W. Weeks Bridge, I noticed a lot of trash, probably from the Harvard Graduation the day before. There were bottles, half-eaten plates of food, and broken glass all over the bridge. I was disappointed that Harvard graduates could not clean up after themselves.

Later in the morning, Inna and I met with Alex at the Harvard Square Tatte Bakery for our breakfast. Alex has no classes on Fridays (during his Summer I session at Northeaster) and took the Harvard Bus #1 from his dorm.

At 10:30am, I stood in a long line at the Tatte Bakery while Inna hunted for (and then found) an outdoor table. I ordered the following breakfast items:

• Alex: Croque Madame, Chocolate Mousse, Mocha
• Boris: Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Egg Sandwich, Mocha
• Inna: Smoked Salmon and avocado Tartine, Strawberry Toasted Tea Cake, Latte

I really enjoyed my Smoked Salmon, Avocado, and egg Sandwich. The Strawberry Toasted Tea Cake was also delicious!

Inna and I spent the rest of the day working. 

For lunch, I boiled some mushroom tortelloni that I purchased from Whole Foods a few weeks ago. I hoped it was still edible, and Inna thought it was safe to digest. Since we would be leaving for the Berkshires soon (and returning to San Jose mid-next week), we decided to avoid purchasing more groceries. Thus, we ran out of cold cuts and many other snacks. 

We prepared for our drive to the Berkshires in the evening by packing our clothes, chargers, and laptops. Our Turo Honda Civic was 15 minutes late due to traffic, but we finally arrived and rushed to the car.

After photographing the white Honda Civic, we connected Inna's iPhone and drove to The Berkshires.

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