the rest of the weekend

We continued on to Stockbridge and got checked into our room at The Red Lion Inn. The inn is a big rambling place on the main street and has been in operation since 1733. There’s a great porch along the front and you can sit here in the morning with the newspaper and coffee or have drinks and coffee after dinner. The rooms are furnished with antiques and it feels very comfortable and homey.

Our first night we ate here in the main dining room and also ate our breakfasts here each morning. I highly recommend the blueberry pancakes!



All those teapots up there are part of a previous owners collection and they’re scattered all through the inn.



On Monday we drove up Route 7 to Williamstown, which is almost to the border with Vermont. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute had a special exhibit called The Unknown Monet and it included mostly sketches and pastel drawings, including caricatures he did as a teenager (who knew he was so funny?) and studies for the waterlily paintings. You can browse the sketchbooks online if you like—just follow the link. The main collection was great, too, and I saw some of the paintings I remember from those fat (and heavy) art history books I used to cart around in college. Love those Renoirs!

On the way back we stopped for a late lunch at Bistro Zinc in Lenox. To-die-for mac and cheese and tuna salad nicoise. After that we just hung out, had a late snack and dessert in the hotel bar and drinks on the porch. After breakfast the next morning we headed for home.

I'll definitely be back to this area again, especially since it's only 3 hours away! Unfortunately the restful vacation afterglow only lasted a few days, so maybe next time I'll go for a longer stay :)

The Red Lion Inn, 30 Main Street, Stockbridge, MA 01262, 413.298.5545
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 225 South Street, Williamstown. MA 01267, 413.458.2303
Bistro Zinc, 56 Church Street, Lenox. MA 01240, 413.637.8800