Berkshires (Mass) report
 

Hi
Just got back from an annual visit to this lovely area.

Willows Motel, Williamstown. About a 1/2 mile up route 2 (Main St) from town and college center.
2nd stay there, still recommend. Very clean, basic, a few attempts at charm. Great location for Williamstown.
Pool. Rates about $105 per night single or double. Best advantage: no required 2 or 3 night minimum stay as is common at the more charming B&Bs in the area.

Brunch at Yasmine's (in the Orchards Inn)
Williamstown
see my comments under rants and raves restaurants
Very pretty setting, very upscale, overpriced and a little too unnecessarily fancy with the food, considering that the service was laughably inept.

Dinner at Hobson's Choice, W'town.
Salad bar, main courses stressing surf and turf items. About $30 pp in total, with a beverage but not a bottle. Food unremarkable but fine. Service provided mainly by college students. I'd asked that my entree be served without the included rice, as I am dieting. When it came with rice, I mentioned it, politely, to my waiter. He replied, "You don't have to eat it."

Lunch in the Courtyard at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge. Highly recommended.
Lots of choices, including an excellent Caesar salad. Peaceful and pleasant surroundings.

Breakfast or lunch at Bob's Country Kitchen, Lanesboro (route 7, between Williamstown and Pittsfield.)
Excellent breakfast and lunch items, bargain prices, home made desserts. Go early, there's often a wait, especially on weekend mornings.

Thank you elaine!
Did you go to the Clark? What did you see? Any plays? How was Tanglewood?
I am homesick, humor me :)

Scarlett ((F))

Hi
Yes, went to the Clark, I think on all my visits to the area I only missed that once, and it was because I fell ill. I think it a jewel of a museum, America's version of Paris's Marmottan.
The featured exhibit on Courbet was only so-so in my opinion, but the impressionist gallery, with the natural light pouring in (even on a hazy day) just makes me grin as soon as I walk in.

At Tanglewood we went in the morning for an Open Rehearsal. Dawn Upshaw and orchestra before lunch!! We relaxed, really relaxed, and wished only that we'd had more time to work in another concert.

Theatre: Noel Coward's "Design for Living" in W'town, with Campbell Scott, Steven Weber, and Marisa Tomei. A play I've always wanted to see (and now will read, if I can find it in print--amazon doesn't have it). Quite daring for its time, I can see that, and still thought-provoking for now. It started off a little slow imo but by the third act it was in full-blown wit, reason, farce, and chemistry, both intellectual and sexual, among the characters.

Oh, I am so envious!! I am glad you had such a good time. Last time we were at Tanglewood, it was one of those 900 degree days and we sat under the shed, it would have been better out under a tree, but the music is so amazing, you forget how uncomfortable you are after a while.
We saw Klimt at the Clark, I had just read about the Courbet exhibit. I still remember my first sight of that shocking Courbet at the D'Orsay :)
(well, shocking to me - but I got over it )
We are considering taking a trip up that way this fall..thanks Elaine~

I forgot to add, we visited the Edith Wharton house and grounds, "The Mount", in Lenox. Wonderful, especially but not exclusively if you are an EW fan.
The house is large-ish, but still relatively modest, and still needs some restoration. The grounds are gorgeous, as EW was also an avid garden aficionado, and the restoration follows her own designs.