Day trips to The Berkshires and Litchfield Hills

Friday I set out on a solo day trip to the Berkshires – the county in Western Massachusetts that is known for its beautiful mountains. My first stop was Mount Greylock, which is the highest peak in Massachusetts. It was a stunning drive up the mountain, which is 3,498 feet above sea level. At the top I was very surprised by how cold it was. It was a very chilly and windy 46 degrees and I was freezing in my fleece North Face jacket. I had to wear my hood because it was that cold! The top offered a breathtaking view of a town below (I’m not sure which one). At the top there was a lodge with a café and even a few guest rooms. I was very surprised by the amount of people over 50 I saw hiking on the mountain. Good for them!

Next I went to Williamstown, which is up in the Northwest corner and just miles from New York and Vermont. It is home to the liberal arts school Williams College. I stopped for a little at Tunnel City Coffee, which was fairly busy. It had a great selection of sweets and an average sized selection of coffee drinks. The downtown area that the coffee shop is located on is called Spring Street and is about 3 blocks long. It did not have many restaurants and stores, but it did have a North Face store.

I then stopped at Berkshire Outfitters in Adams to rent a bike. The shop is located only 300 yards from the Berkshire Bike Path, which is a beautiful, flat path. I joined the path about 2.5 miles in and biked to the other end, which was roughly 8.5 miles. It took me 45 minutes to reach the end at a somewhat fast speed. At the recommendation of the guy who rented me the bike, I stopped at a place just off the trail called Whitney’s Farm. I got some hot apple cider and a pumpkin doughnut.

On my way back to Westfield I took a road called Mohawk Trail (Rt. 2) that goes east-to-west in a part of Massachusetts called Pioneer Valley. I read somewhere that this is supposed to be the best fall foliage drive in Massachusetts, but I didn’t think it was anything special. Also, part of the trail was closed, which I knew about in advance, due to water damage.

On Sunday I explored Northwestern Connecticut, known as the Litchfield Hills with my roommate Kelly and Brittany. This is the part of Connecticut that inspired the town in the TV series Gilmore Girls, which I am a huge fan.

Our first stop was Litchfield, which had a tiny downtown with upscale stores and just a few restaurants. Next we drove through Washington Depot, the actual town the creator of Gilmore Girls said was the inspiration for Stars Hollow. From my research beforehand I knew there wasn’t anything special about it, so I don’t really know how this town was the inspiration for such a vibrant fictional town!

 

The Elephant’s Trunk Bazaar in New Milford is a huge flea market that takes place every Sunday from April through November. There were rows and rows of random items and antiques. Downtown New Milford consists of a block of shops, a movie theater, and Bank Street Coffee House and a few other streets with restaurants. At the coffee shop I got a pumpkin pie chai and Brittany got chaider (chai and apple cider). We both LOVED our drinks. Something that I had never seen before and seemed really “small town” was the “Buy Your Friend A Drink” board. I didn’t really get the small town feel the short time I was walking around the downtown, except for the restaurants I passed, which did look like places locals eat.

We were all getting hungry, so for lunch we stopped at Villager Restaurant in Kent. I read online that this place is very popular with the locals. When we walked in we were waiting by what looked like a host’s stand, but when one of the waitresses passed us and said “there’s an open table over there,” I realized this is one of those places you seat yourself. The food came fast and was good. We walked down Main St. though the main part of downtown, which was about 2 blocks and had a few restaurants and shops, to Belgique Chocolatier. Here I had the most rich and delicious hot chocolate I have ever had. And the whipped cream on top was the best I’ve ever had. This was our most favorite town because there were several people out and about and it had beautiful views from the downtown.

Next we visited The Sharon Audubon Center Trials. This had a lovely garden, pond, trails, and even an aviary! There were several birds that were rescued because of injuries and wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild. We saw a bald eagle up close, which was incredible.

On our way back we drove through Salisbury and Norfolk, which were supposed to have cute town squares, but there was anything special about them. Close to the Massachusetts-Connecticut boarder there was an amazing scenic stop. I had never read anything about this and it is truly a gem and a must-see for anyone in the area. It is located on Saville Dam Rd. near Barkhamsted.

A Weekend Off From Traveling (but I did go new places!)

After last week’s long post about my eventful trip to Vermont, this post will be much shorter because I decided to take a weekend off from traveling. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t visit new places! The midpoint in the semester is approaching so this weekend I was busy with papers and studying for exams.

On Saturday my friend Brittany, who I met through my roommate Kelley, took me to a small bakery in Russell, one town over from Westfield. The Bread Basket looked like a little log cabin house, where the front half had shelves with jams, canned fruit, and pastries, and the back half was a kitchen. They had homemade clam chowder, which we both got. I also bought a maple twist pastry that was amazing.

That night I went to Britney and Baylea’s apartment and we went to Friendly’s, which was my first time. Friendly’s restaurant is a very popular chain in the area, so it was place I had to eat at. They have good food for great prices and (for a limited time I believe) have $5 menu in addition to their regular menu. Friendly’s is known for their ice cream and I had a pumpkin pie sundae, which had pumpkin ice cream, piecrust chunks, marshmallow crème, and whipped cream – it was delicious!

On Sunday I visited Amherst (the “h” is silent I have learned), which was about a 45-minute drive. It is home to Amherst College and University of Massachusetts. It had a small downtown with a few stores and restaurants. I spent a few hours at Rao’s Coffee, which was very busy and at times had no open seats. I did not think this coffee shop was anything exceptional, but it did have an extensive selection of baked goods and sandwiches.

The leaves are at their peak where I live according to this website http://www.newenglandtimes.com/new-england-fall-foliage/ne-fall-foliage-tracker.shtml that I check almost daily. However, as I write this and look across the quad most of the trees are still green! This coming weekend I have two day trips planned and I am very excited to see more leaves!

I LOVERMONT!

Did you know that the last two letters of “love” and the first two letters of “Vermont” are the same?!? It was one of the cool things I saw this weekend when I was in Vermont. I even bought a t-shirt with “I LOVERMONT” written across the chest. My weekend in Vermont was probably one of the best weekends I have ever had. Britney and Baylea also joined me on this adventure and it was great to share the beauty of the Green Mountain state with them.

Our first stop Friday was an organic apple farm. I thought it was PYO (pick your own), but unfortunately it was not. Nevertheless, I bought some Honeycrisp apples, which were so sweet and delicious. We drove into the Green Mountain National Forest to Manchester, which was a medium-sized town with chain stores, such as The Gap and Ann Taylor. We also stopped at a country store, the first of many we went to throughout the weekend.

That night we stayed with a couple we found on CouchSurfing. Ashley and Justin were new to CouchSurfing, just like us. They have been living in Ashley’s mom’s cottage for the past few months after leaving their jobs in NYC and are embarking on a 12-18 month trip around the world in a few weeks. They were very generous and cooked chili for us, except I didn’t have any since it had meat. The house was very old (the doors had latches instead of door knobs!) and quaint, and since there were extra bedrooms I had my own room and Britney and Baylea stayed in the attic.

Saturday was a big day of driving, starting with a stop in Woodstock. It had a cute downtown including a covered bridge we could walk through, another country store, and a delicious ice cream shop, where we all had homemade pumpkin ice cream.

Next we stopped at a Sugarbush Farm, which was almost identical to one I visited with my mom in northern Vermont two summers ago. We went on a self-guided maple syrup walk, saw where they turn sap into maple syrup, then sampled cheeses and syrup. I ended buying a smoked cheese with onion, a small jug of maple syrup, and maple sugar butter, which when I tried immediately knew I needed to buy it.

Ashley and Justin told us about Quechee Gorge, which gave us an amazing view of the trees and a river. Unfortunately the trees in southern Vermont, where the gorge is located, have not all changed, so most of them were still green. We took a trail to the bottom of the gorge, part of which was destroyed from Hurricane Irene.

The last stop of the day was Middlebury, which was the largest city we had seen since arriving in Vermont. We arrived around 5:30pm, so most of the stores were closed and I was surprised by how the lack of people out and about compared to the places we had been.  After dinner we walked around Middlebury College, which was beautiful. Most of the buildings were made of stone, but one building, which we discovered was a dorm was really cool and stood out from the rest – it even had turrets!

That night, and the following night, we stayed with a family also from CouchSurfing. Jim and Kim, who had two kids, had lots of positive reviews from people who had stayed with them. They lived about 40 minutes north of Waterbury, which is about 35 minutes east of Burlington. We stayed in the furnished loft of their barn, which was really cool since there were horses right below us!

Sunday morning Kim cooked us pancakes, then we made our way to Burlington. During breakfast Jim told us of a really pretty drive that was a little out of our way, but would be worth the detour. I had never heard of the area, which is called Smugglers Notch. This was probably the most beautiful part of the weekend. Unlike southern Vermont, the majority of trees in the north had changed to a golden color. The twisting road offers spectacular views of the foliage and opportunities to get out and walk around.

Burlington was very busy, as Columbus Day weekend brings lots of tourists to this beautiful college town. We rented bikes from Local Motion and biked along the Burlington Bike Path for almost four hours. Parts of the ride offer views of Lake Champlain (the large lake that borders the city) and other parts make you feel like you are going though a tunnel of trees.

Next we visited Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory, less than a 10-minute drive from downtown. Unfortunately we were unable to see any chocolate being made since it was Sunday, but we did buy lots of chocolate!

We went back downtown to Church Street Marketplace, a pedestrian mall with shops, restaurants, street vendors, and street performers. It was very crowded, with most restaurants’ outdoor seating almost full since it was about 75 degrees and sunny. In fact, the entire weekend was beautiful and felt like summer! Luckily we were able to find a place outside to eat and I had delicious Vermont Mac and Cheese.

Monday (no school because of Columbus Day) we had ice cream for breakfast at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury. But first we took the half hour tour, which for $3 includes a short video, view of the factory (they were making Carmel Sutra), and free sample (we had Late Night Snack, which was vanilla bean ice cream, caramel swirl, and chocolate covered potato chips). If you are interested in going, I recommend going in the morning. They open at 9am and we got our tickets at 9:50 and had to wait for the 10:10 tour. By the time we left the wait for the tour was about 40 minutes. If you do have to wait, you can visit the gift shop and flavor graveyard, which has headstones honoring some of the flavors they no longer make.

On our way back to Massachusetts we stopped at a PYO apple farm, where Britney and Baylea picked apples. I however didn’t pick any since I do not like to eat non-organic apples, but I did buy some apple cider.

I am so grateful I was able to go to Vermont because it is one of my favorite states. It is so unbelievably beautiful in every part of the state. We are quite lucky I didn’t drive off the road while looking at the valleys and mountains full of outstanding color!

Boston and Salem

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to go to Boston with 2 other exchange students from Louisiana. Britney and Baylea are also sophomores and came to Massachusetts this semester because they want to get married! They had never been to Boston or seen the ocean before (except the Gulf of Mexico) and I had so much time being there with them while they experienced both!

A few days before we left we used the website airbnb.com to book a room in a house for only $80 each night. The owner of the house was very nice and has several rooms that she rents out. When we arrived we briefly chatted with a couple from Bulgaria that was staying there also. The house was less than a 5-minute walk to the T (Boston’s subway system) and only took about 10 minutes to get to downtown Boston.

Friday afternoon we walked around the Boston Common and Public Garden, which had dozens of people enjoying the beautiful weather. After seeing the Make Way for Ducklings statues and Cheers, we started the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail’s painted red line and sometimes brick took us around to places such as churches, Faneuil Hall, and Paul Revere’s House. For dinner we went to the Union Oyster House, which is one of my two must eat places on someone’s first trip to Boston. For desert we split a piece of the classic Boston Crème Pie.

Saturday morning we took the T to Cambridge and walked around Harvard for a little while. This is one part of the Boston area I am not too familiar with and we didn’t have a map, so we walked around for a bit until we found visitor center and picked up a map. After looking at the map we discovered that we saw most of campus except for the law school and residences. I thought the layout of the campus was very different compared to Yale’s.

We made our way back into the city and went to Collegefest, where several companies set up booths to promote products to college students by giving free samples or coupons. We all got a lot of free stuff and sampled stuff such as black water, which has something in it that turns it black and is supposed to have lots of nutrients. While I was hesitant to taste it, it ended up tasting just like water!

For a late lunch we went to Legal Seafoods, which is my other place Boston first-timers must visit. Their clam chowder is one of the best in the country. We had a few hours before the band We the Kings were to perform at Collegefest, so we walked along Newbury Street, which has restaurants and lots of stores. We saw an a capella group from Northeastern University performing, which we all thought was pretty cool!

Later that night we went to a sports bar and restaurant called, The Blarney Stone, a block from the house, so I could watch the UW Badger game against Nebraska. It had the most incredible pumpkin and mascarpone cheesecake!

Sunday we drove to Salem, about 45 minutes north of where we were staying. I had never been to Salem, but had learned about the witch trials in schools, so I was very excited to go. One of the first things I noticed was that it was much bigger than I was expecting. We stopped at the Visitor Center to pick up a walking tour map and learned that Salem has a painted red line that takes you to the major sites, just like the Freedom Trial in Boston. Once staring the walking tour I quickly realized that almost everyone was a tourist and those who weren’t were there to sell stuff (tours, souvenirs, etc.) to tourists. We didn’t want to spend money to go into the museums along the trail because we weren’t exactly sure what they were and if it would be worth the price of admission. My favorite stop on the tour was the cemetery, which had memorials for some of the people who were hung for being witches. Just days before, I had learned that one of my ancestors, Samuel Wardwell, was hung in Salem. I was very eager to find his memorial, which I luckily did after looking all over the cemetery! The tour also took us to a lighthouse, the smallest one I’ve ever seen, located in Salem Harbor, which was gorgeous.

Salem had the best coffee shop I have been to since being here! It was called Jaho, and what I loved about it was that it had unique seasonal flavors. I had the white pumpkin mocha, which was SO GOOD! There was another drink I wish I could have tried, too (I don’t remember the name of it).

Before driving back to Westfield we stopped at a nearby beach, so Baylea and Britney could go in the ocean. Even though they water was freezing they were so excited and loved it. It was so much fun being a part of their weekend of firsts! Also this weekend, I decided that I think Boston would be a great place to live... if I can live with the snow!