A recent article from the Boston Globe Travel section highlighting the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, (only minutes away from the 1896 House Inn)

Critic's tour of treasures meanders in the hills

From Williamstown to Stockbridge, museums display art for every taste

all it the Mohawk art trail.

Every two or three months, as part of my job as the Globe’s art critic, I drive out Route 2 headed for North Adams and Williamstown, two towns that, although just five minutes apart, couldn’t be more different in character but share a role as cornerstones in a part of the state rich with cultural treasures.

My destination in the former industrial center of North Adams is the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, which occupies a campus that used to be Sprague Electric Co. headquarters, and before that, the Arnold Print Works factory, one of the world’s leading producers of printed textiles.

When Sprague closed its North Adams operation in 1985, the local economy had the stuffing knocked out of it. Art - and a museum director called Thomas Krens - came to the rescue.

Krens, as many people know, later became an aggressively expansionist director of the Guggenheim Museum, where he was responsible, among other things, for reviving the languishing Spanish industrial town of Bilbao with a spectacular, Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim outpost. Back in the 1980s, he was still director of the Williams College Museum of Art.

Seeing North Adams’s plight, and hunting around for a flexible space suited to the showing of large scale contemporary art, he backed a town proposal to convert the old Sprague campus on Marshall Street into what is now Mass MoCA, which has since become one of the most dynamic contemporary art museums in the country.

Read the rest of the article at  http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2011/09/30/critic-tour-treasures-meanders-hills/y2Q9x7EtWZBe045680Hy5I/story.xml  ( free access with registration)

The Berkshires ~ An Antiquers Paradise

Visiting New England has a great write up on why check out the Berkshires http://www.visitingnewengland.com/antiques-berkshires.html

For those that want to just poke around locally using the 1896 House as a base here are 3 great local antique spots in Williamstown to go check out.

The Library Antiques (5 minutes by car)

http://libraryantiques.com/

The Library Antiques offers a variety of antiques and lifestyle accessories including furniture, lighting, jewelry, art, rare books, and more.

70 Spring Street, Williamstown, MA

413-458-3436  and 800-294-4798

OPEN Daily from 10:00 am - 5:30 pm, Sunday 11am - 5pm

Saddleback Antiques (1.5 minutes by car, about 20 minutes to walk to)

http://www.saddlebackantiques.com/

Offering a large inventory including Civil War; Western; Folk Art; furniture; books; stoneware, farm tools and much more!

1396 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, MA 01267

413-458-5852

OPEN Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sunday noon - 5pm

Collectors Warehouse (1 minute by car, 11 minutes to walk to)

http://collectorswarehouse-williamstown.com/

A shop every kind of collector will enjoy

723 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, MA

413-458-9686 ‎

OPEN Daily from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm  (hours may change please call)

Here are a few sites that list multiple antique shops in the Berkshire area for those that want to get in a full day of antique shopping:

http://bcaada.com/

http://justtheberkshires.com/antiques.htm

http://www.berkshireweb.com/plexus/antiques/antiques.html

Enjoy a Day of Family Fun at Sweet Brook Farm

When: Saturday & Sunday Sept 24-25, 10am-3pm
Where: 580 Oblong Road, Williamstown, MA

• Watch the Green Mountain Spinners and Weavers Guild members demonstrate spinning, weaving, and knitting, and try your hand at these wonderful crafts
• Tour the scenic farm on the horse-drawn wagon, driven by a beautiful team of Belgian horses, Bob and Babe.  They are offering special pricing for this weekend only — $4 for both adults and children! And see beautiful views of Mt. Greylock
• Visit with and learn about the beautiful, elegant alpacas of Sweet Brook Farm
• Shop at the farm store, fully stocked with everything alpaca — from yarns and knitting and crocheting supplies and knitting kits, to high-quality alpaca apparel for men, women, and children such as sweaters, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, socks, and toys
• Check out the maple syrup and maple goodies — maple candy, maple cream, maple-roasted nuts, and cream-covered cider donunts

For more information visit http://www.sweetbrookfarm.mybigcommerce.com/

1896 House Inn has added 2 new packages!

Kayak & Picnic
Glide over picturesque Pontoosuc Lake in your own kayak as you witness the foliage reflections in the water. Scramble over to an island for lunch, or connect your kayaks and dine in the middle of the lake!

Includes kayak rental, life vest, and freshly packed picnic.

Picnic includes a tuna salad, turkey club, or
Roast beef wrap with horseradish.
 Pickles & potato chips
Chocolate Brownie
Granny Smith Apple
Bottle of Spring Water

$39 per person

Bike & Picnic
Bike the beautiful Ashuwillticook Rail Trail along scenic Cheshire Lake.
.
Find a serene spot to enjoy your freshly packed picnic. 

Includes a 3-hour bike rental, helmet, and picnic.

Picnic includes a tuna salad, turkey club, or
Roast beef wrap with horseradish.
Pickles & potato chips
Chocolate Brownie
Granny Smith Apple
Bottle of Spring Water

$39 per person

Mount Greylock

At 3,491 feet, Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts. Rising above the surrounding Berkshire landscape, dramatic views of 60-90 miles distant may be seen. It became Massachusetts' first wilderness state park, acquired by the Commonwealth in 1898, to preserve its natural environment for public enjoyment. Wild and rugged yet intimate and accessible, Mount Greylock rewards the visitor exploring this special place of scenic and natural beauty.

The roads to the summit are open seasonally from late-May through November 1; weather permitting into fall, please call ahead for current road conditions.  Following the two-year Historic Parkway Rehabilitation Project the newly restored road system offers numerous opportunities for scenic viewing along this state-designated Scenic Byway. Bascom Lodge and the Veterans War Memorial Tower are open seasonally. The Mount Greylock Campground (primitive overnight area) is accessible by hiking only.

The Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower (shown at left, in winter) was built in 1932 and crowns the highest point in the state. The memorial was dedicated in June 1933 as a tribute to courage, endurance, loyalty and self-sacrifice, wherever these qualities have been shown, by the state’s men and women in the uniform of the state or nation.

Summer Use Trail Map http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/mgry1.pdf

Winter Use Trail Map http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/mgry2.pdf

For more specific trail maps http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/mtGreylock/brochures.htm

Information courtesy of http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/mtGreylock/

Local Events at Mass Moca, Hopkins Memorial Forest Trail and area points of interest

September Local Events at Mass Moca

• I Love Vinyl Dance Party, Sunday, September 4, 2011
• Bureau for Open Culture: All Hands on Deck!, Friday, September 9, 2011
• Bureau for Open Culture: Bartleby's Pen - Gauthier & Sullivan, Friday, September 9, 2011
• Opening of The Speed Way, Saturday, September 24, 2011
• FreshGrass: A Festival of Art + Bluegrass, Sept 24 - Sept 25

For more information and details visit: http://www.massmoca.org/search_results.php?st=2&search=30

Hopkins Memorial Forest Trail and area points of interest

Only 4 miles from the 1896 House Inn

A quiet, easy hike through an old settlement area now managed as a research forest and a cross-country ski trail. The 2,500-acre Hopkins Memorial Forest lies in the extreme northwest corner of Massachusetts. Essentially a research forest belonging to Williams College’s Center for Environmental Studies (CES), its trails are well marked and open to the public.

On your way to or from Hiking on the Hopkins Forest Trail stop and check out some of the other local spots of interest, the Rosenburg Center, the Moon Barn, Buxton Garden and the Canopy Walkway. For more information about these attractions please visit http://web.williams.edu/ces/hopkins/researchacademics/resourcesfacilities.htm#buxtonpoint

For a trail map visit http://hmf.williams.edu/public/trail-map/

Ashuwillticook Rail Trail

 Ride or walk along this former railroad line now a scenic, paved 11.2 mile-long, passive recreation path with a gentle grade and smooth surface, as it passes along the Hoosic River, between Mount Greylock and the Hoosac Mountain Range. Access oprtins are at the Berkshire Mall entrance, Farnam;s Road or from downtown Adams at the Discover the Berkshires Visitors Center. Walking, biking, roller blading, picnicking, and car-top boating.

The Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is a former railroad corridor converted into a 10-foot (3.0 m) wide paved universally accessible scenic rail trail path. The Ashuwillticook (ash-oo-will-ti-cook) Rail Trail runs parallel to Route 8 through the towns of Cheshire, Lanesborough and Adams, Massachusetts and has become a popular resource for biking, walking, roller-blading, and jogging. The trail is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
The southern end of the trail begins at the entrance to the Berkshire Mall off Route 8 in Lanesborough and travels 11 miles (18 km) north to the center of Adams. Parking lots and restrooms are available along the way.

The Ashuwillticook Rail Trail passes through the Hoosac River Valley, between Mount Greylock and the Hoosac Mountains. Cheshire Reservoir, the Hoosic River, and associated wetland communities flank much of the trail offering outstanding views and abundant wildlife. The word Ashuwillticook (ash-oo-will-ti-cook) is from the American Indian name for the south branch of the Hoosic River and literally means “at the in-between pleasant river,” or in common tongue, “the pleasant river in between the hills.” The name was adopted for the trail as a way to reconnect people to local history and the natural environment.

History of the rail corridor

Built during the industrial boom of the 1800s, the railway proved to be a vital commercial link from the Atlantic Seaboard to communities which would have otherwise been isolated in the Berkshire Hills.

In 1845, the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad developed this corridor with the goal of extending the Housatonic Railroad north to Rutland, Vermont. While the track was under construction, the company was acquired by the Western Railroad, which later became part of the Boston and Albany Railroad (B&A), as their North Adams Branch. Mineral traffic developed on the line and a number of limestone operations went into business. The New York Central Railroad took over the B&A in 1900, and upgraded the line, which was sold to the Boston and Maine Corporation in 1981. As a connection to an existing track in North Adams, Boston and Maine ran the line with declining success until they abandoned rail service in 1990. Seeing the potential for recreational use of the corridor, citizens organized to preserve the right-of-way, eventually gaining the local and political support needed to make this rail trail a reality.

Information courtesy of http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/asrt.htm