No, I did not enroll in the middling college in Springfield named Western New England over the weekend. Little insider W. Mass joke, what does WNEC stand for? We Never Entered College.
I did drive over quite a bit of the Western portion of New England during the weekend. I have a love/hate relationship with driving. I really hate it but I love going places. Probably at the top of my list of nuisances about moving out of the Boston area is my increased need to drive. Luckily, the weather was perfect all weekend 70-80 degrees with lots of sun. Plenty of opportunities for blaring tunes and getting a sunburn by having the sunroof open.
On Friday after work, I headed north on 91 to Northampton. This was a multi phase trip to one of my favorite spots. The game plan was to get something to eat preshow. I took care of that with a stop at Spoleto Express. I was quite enthused to see a Cubano sandwhich has been added to their menu but I stuck with my standby. Half and half, half a chicken parm sandwhich and half a caesar salad, love that menu option. Their complimentary bread was hot as well, love that stuff! The next step in the mission was anniversary present procurement for the lady. This also went very well thanks to the Artists Collective store on Main St. I had to go over to Faces after that and pick out the right card. After all of that was taken care of, I rewarded myself with a trip to Turn It Up! and got three used cd’s, which came in very handy over the rest of the weekend.
Then the real prize for the trip to Northampton. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Iron Horse. These guys are mainstays of the New Orleans music scene. I have seen them several times. They always deliver a high energy funk explosion. Friday night was no different. Highlights were “We Got Robbed” and a cover of “What’s Going On?”. I also discovered a new local band in the deal. Primate Fiasco opened for the ddb and loved them. They played a kind of speeded up/modernized version of Dixieland Jazz. Alot of fun. They also had one dancer on the dance floor who epitomized the life advice of dance like no one is watching. She was very entertaining.
Saturday was a ride down 91 this time to 84 West to the lady’s house in Farmington, CT. I promised to help her clean up her suv. I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. I figured, pull all the junk and rubbish out, vaccuum, armor all and drive it to a car wash, half hour or 45 minutes tops. Not the way, she does it. Along with the help of her girls, it took about three hours to get both of our cars cleaned. I have to say my car was as clean or better than the day I took it off the lot at the end. It seems that the rims on my car and hubcaps are silver and not black.
We went out to dinner after that for the big anniversary. We tried Simmer in Canton, CT. I liked it. Its a very cool room and they also have outdoor dining on a patio. I don’t think either of us were too jazzed by our salads. I had a caesar and she went with the spinach. The entrees were home runs though. I went with the veal meatloaf off the waitress recommendation and loved it. It also had mushrooms with it and garlic mashed. Donny happy. The lady got a Double Cut Pork Chop with mashed sweet potatoes and spinach. It worked out nicely that I got to polish off the pork chop. Ha, Ha. We went for a blueberry cheese cake for dessert, it was merely ok. I would go back to Simmer, probably just make some different salad and dessert choices.
Sunday was the real driving day of the weekend. I went west on the Mass Turnpike to Lee, north on route 20 into Pittsfield, then north on Route 7 to Williamstown, MA. Williamstown is more or less the very north west corner of Massachusetts. You can spit into Vermont or New York from various points in town. Route 7 is just a gorgeous ride during the right weather and Sunday delivered it. Once you get off the Pike its all slower roads, its probably just shy of a 90 minute ride from West Side homebase.
The destination was the Clark Museum. It is one of my favorite art museums. I try to get to it every year or two. The reason for this year’s trip was a Monet exhibit which was ending on September 15th. Its a small museum but it has a wonderful collection. The focus is on impressionists and then American artists like Homer Winslow and John Singer Sargent. On Sunday, I enjoyed the main collection probably more than the special exhibit. The exhibit focused on the sketches and pastels of Monet. Apparently he supported himself for a while doing carricatures, there was an entire room of those. The highlight for me was a donated sketchbook which was put onto PC’s, so you could scan thru them. It was very cool to see his famous Water Lillies paintings started off in a sketchpad.
After the Clark, I moved east down Route 2 to North Adams, MA. The home of MOCA. It is the Museum of Contemporary Arts. It opened in ‘99 but I hadn’t made it there yet. I loved it. First off, North Adams is a sterotypical New England town that has been left behind by the exit of its industry. The Museum is a center of an entire complex of redevelopment in the city. I was very impressed. Its in a mill/factory complex of rehabbed buildings. The space is fantastic. The collection is very eclectic. Not all of it was for me but it was very interesting and entertaining. The featured exhibit by Spencer Finch was particurlarly challenging. Nice deal, they do a combo ticket with the Clark for $20, so I was able to save some dollars as well.
The final portion of the ride went on for a little ways, I was a little car time’d out by this point. North Adams is one of those can’t get there from here kind of places from West Springfield. Instead of backtracking, I proceeded down route 2 east. This takes you along the Mohawk Trail. It is an amazing ride, even better than the route 7 ride. You get some spectacular views of the valley and mountains. It is also quite windy along parts of it as well, as you follow the Deerfield River, I believe it is. It is one of those rides, you discover towns that you never knew existed. In Greenfield, I met up with Route 91 and it was back on the highway for me. I stopped in Northampton on the way back, completing the loop of the weekend and saw my friends at bueno y sano for a chicken burrito for an early dinner.
Great weekend overall, tunes, celebration with the lady, some time with her girls, great food, art, scenery and on Monday a day of rest with movies and soccer matches on the tv.
Several links of the weekend…
