My first clue that the back way we were taking to the top of Mount Greylock might be a problem was llamas blocking the road. They did in fact move and we headed on, but this was only the start of our problems on this particular route. This was of course after long day driving out to the Berkshires from suburban Boston, so this was not a good complication to have at this time.
The day began cold with clear skies in Wellesley, Mass., where my husband has family. I had us head out through the country, driving by large suburban mansions and small New England towns as we found our way out of the Boston area on Highway 28 then Highway 27 through Sudbury, Mass., and then 117 through rolling country of hills and more small towns. We finally connected to Interstate 190 and headed to Highway 2, called the Mohawk trail, the road that would lead to our destination, North Adams, Mass., our Berkshire vacation.
Highway 2 before interstate 91 is more like a freeway and traffic moves pretty fast through here. We stayed on this road until Highway 63. My husband’s sister suggested that on the way out we should check out Northampton, Mass. She said it had quirky shops, a variety of restaurants and a few bookstores in a bohemian downtown. These are qualities we look for in a weekend ramble.
We took Highway 2 then turned off onto Highway 63 down Swamp Road to Turner Falls Road, which led to The Montague Bookmill. It is a multi-level bookstore in an 1842 gristmill with a stony waterfall. The mill also includes a café, restaurant and an art gallery.
Parking was a little tricky, there were some spaces on the hillside above it and around the mill, and we luckily found a spot close to the building, even with this it well worth the stop.
Our son enjoyed exploring the mill while we checked the used books scattered throughout the hallways of the rambling mill.
I grabbed a cup of coffee then wandered out to the deck checking out the water splashing down the rocky escarpment among the rainbow of color tress.
After picking up a few books we headed to Northampton, Mass., choosing to drive along the Connecticut River on Highway 47 enjoying pick-a-boo views of the mountains in the distance and the flowing river.
We came into Northampton on Highway 9 then found street parking near Local Burger. The restaurant had fresh locally sourced burgers, crispy fries and huge
onion rings. The counter service helped with quick service for a sometimes-impatient kid. We sat next to the window and watched the students at the town’s Smith College, teachers and weekend shoppers go about their day.
Next we checked out some stores. The Thornes Marketplace had unique gift ideas and a plastic blue wind up scuba diver that both my son and me found to be a cool addition to his bath time. We checked out a few bookstores and my husband read a book to the kid at Raven Used Books. Some woman came in and raved about how well he read to our son giving inflections for each character.
After checking out a few more places we headed down Highway 9 to the outskirts of Pittsfield, Mass., where we go north to Mount Greylock. On the way we would stop at the 40-ft Wahconah Falls State Park. Look sharply for the sign after crossing Weston Brook. The road will be on your left coming from Northampton. The road narrows as it passes through some homes, it doesn’t seem like you are going towards anything until you spy the small parking lot.
The original path down is rough I almost twisted an ankle heading down it. Walk towards the left back to the main
road and you’ll see what is probably a service road that becomes the path and go down that to the falls. The rocks, overhanging trees and the white foamy flow, made for refreshing stop. The park offers a short hike and worth the stop if your heading down this road to Pittsfield, Mass., to check out Herman Mellville sites and onward to Mount Greylock.
Next, we headed towards Mount Greylock on Highway 8 towards Cheshire, Mass.; we were suppose to turn onto the Mall Road or US 7 Route 8 Connector Road and missed our turn-off. I noticed on the map that we could go the back way on W. Mountain Road. This is where the trouble started and we ran into the llamas. After them the road became narrower going from black top to gravel. The trees came over us and we went into higher elevation going around narrow curves. Then as we were heading back down my husband had to pull over quickly since three ATVs powered past us at high speed. I thought for a moment that was odd to see on a road. We went a little further and came into mud, deep, dark brown, wet sludge.
“We need to turn around!” my husband warned. I fussed and got out and checked the road further, around the bend was a long stretch of a deep gully of mud, the ATVs must have been mudding and had destroyed the “road” forward. We were also in a car and not an SUV; we could become stuck out here not good with a small child. I helped my husband turn around signaling to back up carefully not to go into the rocky hillside or get stuck in a rut. He finally was able to turn around. We would have to checkout Mount Greylock tomorrow since the sun was going down and it would be too dark to do today.
We headed back to Cheshire. I found out later that the “road” is closed December through May, so unless you have 4 X 4 capability I would not suggest using this particular road!
We continued up Highway 8 to Adams and stopped to check out Susan B. Anthony’s Birthplace Museum. It was not open, but it was worth a stop since we were going through the town.
The highway took us into North Adams. We decided to checkout the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), which is a campus of red brick factory buildings not used for contemporary visual arts. We checked out a few of the exhibits, but did not have a lot of time since we were late in the day. We did have time to let our son explore the Kidspace. The current exhibit involved video and sound along with wall displays. It was an immersive experience for him. Since the warehouse allowed for open spaces, it allowed him to move around and see the artwork that was not confined.
After the museum closed we headed to our inn, The Porches, which are 19th Century Victorian row houses connected together by porches. Mill worker families used to call these their homes. We checked into our two-queen bedroom that included a claw-foot bathtub and subway tile shower with glass doors. The room was nice with a big bathroom. We let our son watch some cartoons and then decided to checkout the outdoor heated pool. This was our first time doing the pool outdoors on a cool fall day. This was a unique experience. The pool
house also included a sauna to warm up before heading back to the room. We had a fun time splashing about before the sun headed down
We decided to head back to the MASS MoCA complex and checkout Bright Ideas Brewing Co. for dinner. I had a Rothko Red, a mild and malty beer. I enjoy checking out local brews when we are on vacation. Our appetizer included pretzels and beer cheese and then we had the pig and pepps, a sausage and peppers pizza, for our meal. This made for nice easy- going meal.
The night ended with a crackling fire complete with inn provided s’mores. This was probably one of my favorite experiences that night!
Our son woke up early and luckily the inn had breakfast ready early. It was continental but included many choices, ranging from croissants to pastries to hardboiled eggs; it was not a breakfast buffet, but more choices than many hotel continental breakfasts.
My husband and I discussed what to do in the morning as we made our trek back to Boston. We decided to drive north to the Natural Bridge State Park, which has the only natural white marble arch in North America that spans the Hudson Brook tumbling through a 60-foot gorge. Heading north on Highway 8, we found the gate closed for the season. The front desk person told me later that you can park at the gate and walk in, which was good to know, but still more than what we would have wanted to do with a young child. Deciding that since we were already heading north and the Vermont border was only minutes away we decided to give our son another state that he had been to. We didn’t do much, not finding any stores open in the nearby Stamford, Vt.; we headed back taking Middle Road winding back through the town.
Since we missed Mount Greylock yesterday we decided to take the drive up the mountain and take in the view. The drive was well paved and windy with only occasion lookouts on the way up. Usually you would have to pay the park, but we were there early before anyone was around to take payment. The view was cloudy with the sun breaking through at intermittent points shedding the valleys with light and dark. The trees were different colors and added to the view.
The stone tower with the large glass top, sort of reminded me of something that would fit in a fantasy novel, was interesting in itself. You can go up in the tower, but we were there to early for that. Also the grounds include a small wooden lodge that you can also go into, but again it was closed while we were there. What we could do is take in the view alone, which was nice and solitary. Our son kept running around and looking out until he got cold and we left shortly afterword. If your in North Adams, I would recommend checking it out it was only about a 30-minute drive there and back, but well worth it if you don’t mind heights.
We decided to checkout Williamstown, Mass., which were only minutes away from North Adams. The Clark Institute is a well known are museum with some fantastic art, yet we did not have time this trip to check it out. The town had a lot of construction going on, so we did not stay long there, so I can’t make recommendations on what to see or do here,
Luckily checkout was not until 12 noon so we were able to head back to the hotel. I grabbed a few yummy pastries and some fruit for our son as we headed out for the drive down the Mohawk Trail.
Heading out on Highway 2 our first stop was by the Golden Eagle Restaurant. I took a few photos of the town below before we drove on.
The drive towards Charlemont, Mass., was spectacular and filled with colorful trees among the hills and parts reminded me of a canyon I used to drive through in Estes Park, Colo., as I looked at the rock walls above us and the fast flowing river besides us. We stopped briefly at Mohawk Park to view the Hail to the Sunrise Native American statue. Then shortly after that we drove up 8A to see the petite wooden Bissell Covered Bridge. We couldn’t find easy access to parking so my husband stopped only briefly to let me take a photo of it.
We drove into Shelburne Falls, which was probably the prettiest village I’ve seen in Massachusetts. It is home to the Bridge of Flowers, an old railroad bridge
converted to a botanical garden over the river. The town had colorful homes and buildings accentuated by the color changing trees in the distance. Our first stop was the glacial potholes. We turned down a street in the downtown and found street side parking. I took our son to the lookout and saw the fast flowing water the shaped the rounded rocky stream that did look like huge potholes. We checked out two bookstores and a gift shop before having lunch at Baked. I had a melted sliced turkey sandwich on homemade bread, which was yummy. The baked goods, including cookies were also tasty. If the weather was warmer you could sit outside on the back deck and see the stream.
After lunch we headed off. My husband suggested that since we had visited Vermont briefly we should make the short trip to New Hampshire. I checked out the map and saw that up by Winchester, New Hampshire, there was the Ashuelot Covered Bridge. It is 178 feet long and can be walked across on each side. We decided to take the scenic route home and check it out. The bridge was a beauty, with curved walkways on each side; the wooded latticework was also amazing the stream was rocky and clear below.
We decided to drive further in rural New Hampshire on Highway 119. Fitzwilliam was a neat little village that was decorated for Halloween. White ghosts circled around a town fountain, this was fun decoration to see off the beaten path. The tall steeple of an old New England church was also worth taking a photo of.
We drove back towards Highway 2 and decided that our son might need some time to run around. So we decided that our last stop would be Walden Pond,
where Henry David Thoreau communed with nature and wrote “Walden.” We checked out the visitor’s center and then the pond. It was cool, but sunny out and a decent day to explore the woods along the pond. It was interesting to see people in wet suits swimming. I had never seen this before. I guess this was there way of communing with nature, although someone said the water was warmer at 59 degrees, it would still not be something I would do. After letting the kid run around we drove back through the country to suburban Boston having had a wonderful time in Western Mass!
