"Cumbahlind Fahms"

Guest Post by Stephen, aka The Blog Pirate (formerly known as The Letter Pirate). Excerpted from communication to the Howe Family (yes, a "pre-emptive" family letter).

This weekend we made a quick escape to the Berkshires! We got up at a regular work time on Saturday morning, got dressed and hopped into the car. The weather was perfect for driving--in the 40s mid-day and a bright, clear blue winter sky. We took the New York Thruway up to Albany, exited onto 787 towards Troy (when RPI was a fire hydrant, Union was a pup . . .ed. note: this is a song that Stephen's dad sings whenever we mention Albany or Troy, NY because of its proximity to Union College), and headed east towards Massachusetts on 7. We found our way to Route 2 which carries us over the Berkshires into North Adams. Route 2 is one of those wind-y, mountain roads with lots of curves going up and down hills with steep ravines dropping off to one side. It is the type of road with lots of signs screaming brake warnings to truckers and where choruses of "DON'T HEEL, DON'T HEEL" would echo out if we happened to be on a boat. (ed. note: growing up, Stephen's mom would shout "don't heel!" whenever their boat would tip on the ever-placid Lake Minetonka...much to the chagrin of the rest of the family, who made sure to tease her about this behavior mercilessly. Families...gotta love 'em).

North Adams is your typical worn-out, seen better days, Western Mass (or even Upstate New York) type of town, with one exception: they have a burgeoning arts scene and a very modern art museum (Mass MoCA) built into the sight of a former printing factory on the Hoosac river (repeat to yourself many many times for fun: HOOSAC HOOSAC HOOSAC HOOSAC HOOSAC). We stopped here first had lunch in their little cafe and went off to see some art. The exhibits were good (and different from the last time we were here) but not spectacular. Although there was one structure composed of a Ford Taurus in various states of being rolled over and flung through the air (each car was like a freeze-frame of a car rolling over--no connection to Route 2, mind you). Shooting from the cars were strings of light to look like either explosions or fireworks. We also saw an exhibit on alternative housing called the Interventionists (and despite beingcalled the Interventionists, one could not intervene with the art at all,always blocked by do not touch and do not step signs), and a piece on race called The Black Factory (by a Bates Professor, William Pope.L). Somehow at the end of all this we got snookered into going into the museum bookstore and bought books. Shocking, I know.

After the museum we drove arond the corner to the Porches, our hotel (www.porches.com). Similiar to the museum, the porches is constructed from a set of Victorian row of houses that formerly housed the mill workers. The houses have been thoroughly rennovated and now resembles a set of Adorondack cabins, although much nicer. All of them are painted in burnt wooden colors: gray, wash-out reds, ochres, mustards, and pale greens. There is a heated outdoor pool, sauna, etc. The hotel was rather full, surprising to us for the dead of winter in Massachusetts. That afternoon we walked into town to see the highlights (not much) and found ourselves at one of the few open stores, a cafe called Brew-Ha-Ha. In the evening we walked back to Mass MoCA where we ate at their restaurant, "11".

This morning, we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel (continental breakfast comes with the room and they have a little eating area or you can sit in the lounge--they TV trays that you can set up next to your chair and a fire in the fireplace). There was organic yogurt, chocolate croissants, cereal, fresh grapefruit, fresh bed, hard-boiled eggs, juice and of course coffee. After breakfast we loaded up the car and headed back to Jersey. We stopped to fill the tank at a Cumberland Farms and Michaela had me practice my Boston accent over and over by saying Cumbah-lin Fahms (ed. note: I think we know who instigated repeating the phrase over and over...). This time time we took 7 South until we reached the Mass Pike, took the Mass Pike into New York and picked up the Taconic Parkway right over the border. The Taconic parkway is a nice alternative to the Thruway and cuts through the mountains heading south. From there we picked up 84, back to the Thruway and on into Jersey on the GSP.