Heading West

One of the most exciting aspects of moving to a new area has been all of the exploring that we have been able to do. And what better place to explore than the Northeast? I never know when life will change, from a relocation to a teenager who refuses to race from one outing to another, so I always feel like we must run while we can! Last April the kids had a week off of school for Spring Break. For us, life seems to run smoother when we have a plan. So I looked at a map of the area and choose a trip to the Berkshires. (I figured that I could handle a week alone with the kids, as long as we were close enough from home that we could abandon our plan at any moment and drive home, or, in dire circumstances, Steve could come rescue us! We ended up enjoying every moment of the week and stayed the whole time.) The Berkshires, which is two hours from our house, is the western most strip of Massachusetts, along the New York border. In the twenties, the Berkshires was similar to Newport, Rhode Island, with summer "cottages" built by millionaires springing up from one hill top to the next. Now, little highways string quaint towns together and picturesque farms, chapels and country stores can be found around each bend. In addition, with a swimming pool, a game room, a trip to the baseball hall of fame and plenty of stops at the ice cream shop thrown in for good measure, the kids had a great time. 

Day One

           

On our way west, we drove along the Mohawk Trail, one of America's scenic highways. Our first stop was at Historic Deerfield, a restored colonial town. We learned how to bake cookies in an open hearth, dressed up in colonial attire, painted tea cups and filled tea bags.

Our next stop was the Yankee Candle Factory, where we watched old fashion beeswax candles being dipped and then chose our own molds and dipped candles for ourselves. I let each child pick out three scented votives from a selection of hundreds, to bring home. We left with fruit smoothie, clean cotton, root beer and fresh grass scents, to name a few.  

Our last stop for the day was Shelburne Falls. 

Day Two

Each morning we swam at the condo. Annelise swam the entire length of the pool and Sophia learned to swim all around the swimming pool with a life jacket on by herself -- a prerequisite for joining us at Northcrest this summer. After swimming, the condo offered a hot dog BBQ. 

We brought our bikes, strapped on the back of the car. We rode along one of Massachusetts many rail trails.

Ezra devoured his first ice cream cone at our new find, Crispy Cones. (99 flavors of soft serve!)

Day Three

We drove two hours west to Cooperstown, the birthplace of baseball! Cooperstown gives a new meaning to "in the middle of nowhere!" Isn't there a classic baseball phrase in the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come?" It definitely applies to the Baseball Hall of Fame!

Jonathan loved the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jonathan broke the daily record at the batting cages in pitching averages . . he couldn't have been more excited!

Day Four

Our first adventure of the day was Hancock Shaker Village.

 

The round stone barn had just been filled with baby spring animals for the children to pet and pansies in the window boxes.

We stopped in Stockbridge, a quintessential New England town and the home of Norman Rockwell. We visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, marveled at the entire collection of the Saturday Evening Posts that his paintings graced the cover of, and even met a docent that happened to be the model for some of his paintings. We visited his studio but, unfortunately we couldn't go inside because it was off season.

Day Five

We created musical instruments and preformed them at the MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Arts) in North Adams.

We then created art project after art project. (I think Sophia has had enough fun for one week!)

We stopped at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst on the way home.

After this year's successful trial run, next spring break, we just may venture down to Williamsburg or the Outer Banks. Hopefully Steve will be able to join us next time. We missed him!