New England Outings

New England Outing

May 2016

          We’re finally getting around to visiting Alice & Rick (friends from my undergrad days at the U of Rochester) in their new digs in Pelham NH. Tho a mainly social visit, can’t help but do some trip planning. Pelham itself doesn’t seem too promising; TripAdvisor list only 2 “Things to Do”: Pinball Wizard Arcade, Chunky’s Cinema. But I did find a few interesting spots for our drive to & fro thru Vermont and New Hampshire.

          Up early on Wed. 5/25. We’ve been busy around the yard trimming shrubs and Marjorie has the garden already in good shape. Lots of yard bags and bundles to the street for pickup. A sunny AM, headed to the 80s today, appropriate for the Memorial Day weekend unofficial start of summer. A pretty drive to Bennington VT, past our 1^st Moose Crossing sign. 

Unable to find breakfast until almost Brattleboro: Dot’s Restaurant in Wilmington. A lovely spot by a stream in a pretty town. Turns out Dot’s long gone, but I should give this a top review on TripAdvisor (where they say my reviews have had more than 1000 readers!): good food, friendly people, bright & airy, even a moose head on the wall. A brief photo stop at Hogback Mtn overlook. 

I had found a Tasha Tudor Museum in Brattleboro thru TripAdvisor (TT is one of Marjorie’s favorite artists). A bit of trouble finding it, a small collection in an old house surrounded by nice grounds w/ lilacs and flowering trees; M enjoys watching part of a video. 

Continuing into NH, through Chesterfield and a walk-around stop in Keene with nice shops, a pretty square, church steeple  ̶  very New Englandy.

          Alice warned us that GPS systems have trouble finding their new neighborhood, and sent us directions. Nonetheless we get confused, wandering about for a while until Penelope (our GPS) connects us back to Alice’s directions. Up the hill we go and we made it! Kudos to Penelope, with whom I have a sometimes strained relationship. We’re greeted enthusiastically by Alice, Rick, and Scooter, their adorable Morkie (Yorkie mom, Maltese dad). We relax and chat. Rick the popcorn impresario provides a snack before a tasty dinner of hake (fish) prepared by Alice. 

          Next AM I’m up early, out for a stroll. Their beautiful new house (they moved in Feb. last year to be closer to children & grandchildren) is sited high with a few other neighbors surrounded by ongoing construction (and piles of NH granite rocks!). Lots of trees around, blocking their view until the leaves fall, but a bit down the road there’s a nice panorama across the valley below. There are deer (to Alice’s gardening consternation) and foxes around. It’ll be plenty warm today, high-80s by the PM. At breakfast we’re amused (or frightened?) by a Boston Globe spoof about Donald Trump’s 1^st days as President: widespread deportations, stock market plunging, soldiers refusing to shoot ISIS family members, and the like. 

         After breakfast we all (Scooter too!  ̶  panting excitedly as she’s wont to do in a car) head off to hike around Andres Institute of Art sculpture park in Brookline NH. Quite a place: 70+ sculptures spread along forest trails on 140 acres on Big Bear Mtn. Sculptors from many countries: US, Kenya, Ukraine, Vietnam, Egypt, etc. Started in the mid-1990s by a rich guy who lives at the top. 

 

 Then a stop at one of the state liquor stores to pick up some wine and a yummy looking Irish Cream w/ caramel for later. After dropping off Scooter back home, off to a Vietnamese lunch at Phở 88 just across the border in Lowell MA. 

  On to Nashua and the NH Holocaust Memorial (another TripAdvisor tip) on a quite hot PM (high 80s). A small but affecting sculpture park: a section of rail tracks to represent cattle trains used to transport victims, granite walls w/ the names of death camps surrounding a black cube representing the gas chambers, path pavers donated by families remembering loved ones. Another sculpture park nearby  ̶  sculptors seem to do a good business around here.

          Back home again, Marjorie & Alice go shopping, Rick & I relax. Touching base with my social gerontology roots, I enjoy looking thru an illustrated book, I’m New at Being Old, a lovely and thoughtful female perspective on aging by Lucy Rose Fischer (like me, she’s a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America). All together again, more relaxation w/ popcorn and wine, another tasty dinner followed by the aforementioned Irish Cream over ice cream. We settle in to watch Matt Damon’s “The Martian.” It’s cooled off quite a bit in the evening, making for plenty good sleeping! 

  

         A relaxing Friday AM to start Memorial Day weekend. Seems cooler to start, but close to 90 in the PM. Alice & Marjorie talk about the beautiful hard-wood floors in the house, with tips for M’s plans for our house. M is also jealous of A’s colorful art room, and she has me load up some NH granite for her garden. Then we head for home (without Wednesday’s confusion). 

 

We swing into Petersborough, following another TripAdvisor tip to Joseph’s Coat: a fair-trade shop (“Shop Responsibly the World Locally”) full of colorful items. And a way-too-helpful woman working there who points out to Marjorie lots of interesting shops in town! This really is quite a lovely New Englandy town: a commons w/ tulips overlooking Nubanusit Brook and a small waterfall and nearby Cantoocook River, a pretty church steeple above the main street. We should come back here in the fall with Alice & Rick. For now Marjorie makes do with a little browsing and buying, plus we share a drink and snack. FYI: I learn NH has 9% tax on “prepared food” and lodging, there appears to be no tax on most other items. 

Back on the road thru VT, a rest stop w/ some fudge (and a couple more photos) at Hogback Mtn. Back to our home about 3:30. Our weigela has exploded in blossoms and grass is turning brown from the hot weather!

          What a nice relaxing few days! Good friends, picturesque towns, interesting art, tasty food. And a cute dog, too!

          Considering our location in the Northeast, it's not surprising that we've had a variety of other outings in New England, many described in other posts. Some others are briefly noted here.    

  Vermont outings have included: Bennington

    Stowe, which offers beautiful Fall panoramas, 

and Shelburne Museum and nearby Morgan Horse Farm

One especially memorable Vermont excursion was in October 1987. It began as a lovely leaf-peeping drive up to Manchester

. 

Overnight in Manchester, snow the next AM so we left for home earlier than planned . . . but not early enough! We drove into the so-called "snow crippler." Heavy wet snow brought traffic on the road to Bennington to a standstill.Eventually able to follow a plow to Bennington. 

But the road to Albany closed by downed trees, branches, and power lines. So we settled in in a shelter with other refugees set up in a local school. Roads finally opened early the next AM, with pretty views as we set out for home (where we were without power and the yard full of downed branches).

Other New England outings have taken us to Portsmouth NH and nearby coast

Tanglewood and nearby Lenox just over the border in MA, where our son Matt was "in residence" for some summers

Bridge of Flowers in nearby Shelburne Falls

 

In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were looking for local outings, we spent a day in Western Massachusetts. Thru lovely rural countryside to Campo de’ Fiori (“Field of Flowers”) in Sheffield, a beautiful garden shop with Italianate plantings and accessories outside

and pretty displays inside. 

To nearby Great Barrington and Ward’s (no relation) Nursery, Garden Center, and Wild Bird Shop. A big place, more beautiful flowers & garden doodads.

Into town, Patisserie Lenox for relaxing lunch & French ambience fitting our European theme. Strolling after lunch: pretty store windows, art & farmers markets, bright rainbow crosswalks symbolize diversity & hope. SoCo Creamery for excellent ice cream.

 Another pandemic outing took us into Connecticut and Edward Tufte’s intriguing Hogpen Hill Farms, a 234-acre tree farm & sculpture park in Woodbury. Misty & low clouds give a mysterious look. Large constructions, including elevated RV “Airstream Interplanetary Explorer” & giant black swan, smaller more delicate stick figures & geometric designs.