MA-NY Happy Returns

One of the big post-retirement challenges for Bob and I has been trying to be more spontaneous.  A couple weeks ago we learned through Facebook that Bob’s Aunt in Massachusetts was turning 90 and there was going to be an open house in her honor.  We decided to go, and immediately booked some tickets.  We were able to use airline miles so the trip would be inexpensive and we were glad we could put it together.   It was a spontaneous decision and a wonderful celebration!

Bob’s Aunt lives in Western MA; we flew to Albany NY from our local airport to Minneapolis, then to Detroit, and finally to ALB.  One of the drawbacks of living on the West Coast is losing three hours when you travel to the Eastern US.  It took us the entire day with layovers and travel time, leaving at 7:00am PST and arriving in ALB at 10:30pm EST.  The joys of traveling on free tickets.  I don’t normally comment on where we stay but let’s just say that we hadn’t seen this plaster before; it was very strange!

Unusual plaster on all the walls

The next day we drove into MA from NY and had fun visiting the small towns Bob remembered from childhood.  His Grandmother lived in Great Barrington and Housatonic.  Both are charming towns, dotted with art galleries and prominent churches. We particularly enjoyed lunch at the Pleasant and Main cafe in Housatonic, a former textile and paper mill town.

Housatonic River

Stockbridge is known as “home to Norman Rockwell” and is a picturesque little village popular with plenty of tourists (not bad this time of year).  The Red Lion Inn and the General Store are featured prominently in Rockwell’s paintings. 

Stockbridge General Store

Red Lion Inn

Yep, it's real!

Stockbridge Church

Stockbridge Church

Great Barrington is the final resting place of many of Bob’s relatives.  We found the Mahawei cemetery and paid our respects at the family plot.  I found it interesting that many families have large plots, with a central towering monument and all the other graves around it.  A bit of family history . . . William Stanley, Jr., inventor of the first alternating current device, which was the precursor to the electric transformer, was a relative of the Taylor family (Bob’s mother’s ancestry.)  William Stanley, Jr. founded the Stanley Manufacturing Company in Great Barrington. Stanley’s company was later acquired by General Electric. 

Taylor Family Memorial

Bob's Grandmother's Family

Bob's Grandmother, ETT

Our primary destination was the town of Pittsfield.  Once home to General Electric it has suffered a dramatic downturn in the economy and population since GE pulled out in the late 1980’s.  Bob’s Mother grew up in Pittsfield, which is also home to his Aunt whose birthday we were celebrating.   Pittsfield is in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains.  It’s a beautiful part of the country, especially in autumn.  We were too late for the peak of the fall colors but still very scenic.  One of our favorite sights was the town square, decorated with 500 US flags in honor of forthcoming Veteran’s Day.

Honoring Our Vets

Pittsfield Church

Pittsfield Church

Pittsfield City Hall

 We really surprised Bob’s Aunt.  Her family opened her home to all of her friends and neighbors; it was a busy afternoon and I’m sure she was pretty tuckered out at the end of the day.  She repeatedly told us she “couldn’t believe we would come all that way” just for her.  It was our distinct pleasure to visit and we are honored to have been able to be part of her 90^th birthday.  She’s a sweetheart of a lady, and a blessing.

Bob and his lovely Aunt

Happy 90th!

Bob's Aunt and four of her children

Over the weekend Bob was able to re-connect with his Taylor cousins.  He has seven cousins “on his Mother’s side” and six of them were present.  We hadn’t seen them in several years but are hoping to close that gap.  In a nod to social media, Facebook has helped them reconnect with one another.

Our hotel's coffee  was terrible so off we went both mornings in search of some (seriously, we needed it!).  When in the Eastern US you have to go to Dunkin Donuts, because you just have to!  So we hit that one morning but the next day we spotted a local shop.  We figured it would be good . . . let the photos say it all. 

We only had one!

If the Police like the donuts . . .

The Berkshires are Shaker country!  Just outside of Pittsfield is the Hancock Shaker Village, worthy of a visit . . . however, it was closed for the season.  We did get a couple photos; note the round barn which allows the farmer to stand in the middle on the upper level and feed up to 52 cattle at once by throwing the hay.  We'll hope to catch a visit on another trip earlier in the year.

Shaker Barn

Shaker Village

On Sunday we left Pittsfield and drove north toward Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts.  The road to the 3491’ summit winds through hardwood forests laced with hiking trails, including the Appalachian Trail.  The views from the summit are stunning and encompass five states, MA, NY, CT, NH, and VT.  At the summit is a Veterans War Memorial in the form of a 93’ high tower with a lighted beacon at the top.  After visiting the summit we took an alternate route, Notch Road, down the mountain into the town of North Adams.  Approaching the town reminded us of driving off Whinlatter Pass in the Lake District of England; a winding narrow road with blind curves into the village.  We continued west to Williamstown, the crossroads of the Taconic and Mohican Trails.

Mt. Greylock War Memorial

Views from Mt. Greylock

Williamstown is home to Williams College, a top-ranked small private liberal arts college.  The campus is beautiful and the town is full of beautiful old buildings.  The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute of Art, simply known as “The Clark” is an outstanding art museum and art history research institution in the community. www.clarkart.edu/
We were astounded to see the large number of Renoir, Gaugin, and Monet pieces along with an impressive collection of other American and European artists’ works.

The Clark

Leaving the beautiful northern Berkshires of MA we crossed the Taconic range back into NY.  Albany is the capital city of NY, and part of the greater metropolitan area including Schenectady and Troy.  It lies along the Hudson River and is one of the oldest surviving European settlements from the original thirteen colonies.  The State Capitol building is impressive, and combines different styles of architecture as the building was expanded over many years; it is designated as a US National Historic Landmark.

NY State Capitol Building

When we arrived in Albany we saw highway marker signs for the suburb of Loudonville and remembered we had friends living there.  We took a chance (again, practicing our spontaneity!) and called them, and luckily they were in town.  Bob and Stan were good friends in college, but had not seen each other except at a reunion last year.  It was great fun to get together with them for an afternoon visit and early dinner. 

With this trip to MA and NY, Bob and I have visited 25 states since mid-May (WA, OR, CA, NV, ID, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, KY, TN, OH, IN, MI, WI, MN, IA, NE, WY, SD, MT, AK, MA & NY).  It’s been a fun year and we are grateful.  Our insight into retirement this week is we hope we can be as blessed and delightful at 90 as Bob’s Aunt, and MA-NY Happy Returns to her!