Ron and Kathy's Mid Life Adventures: The Beautiful Berkshires

On the way up to Mt. Greylock,, MA

No, we’re not talking pigs here, but rather the beautiful mountain area in NW Massachusetts which is a cultural hub and a summer retreat from the stifling heat of the big East Coast cities. It always was an enclave for the very rich (and there are many amazing mansions in the area) but it became a cultural hub in the Great Depression.

The Shed at Tanglewood

Residents hosted the Tanglewood Music Festival to keep the musicians of the Boston Symphony from literally starving during the summer off season. It worked--the wealthy from New York, Connecticut, and Boston flocked to the area and enjoyed music at Tanglewood and dance at Jacob’s Pillow.

If you listen to Prairie Home Companion on PBS, you’ve probably heard Garrison Keillor broadcast from “The Shed” every summer. It’s basically a huge shed with amazing acoustics, and a massive lawn for those of us without season tickets to hear world-famous performers in a picnic atmosphere. I call it a tailgate party without the generators, RVs, pickup trucks, barbeque grills, and buffalo wings.

Our 'Prefunc' at the Tannglewood Lawn

Spencer, our daughter Skyler’s boyfriend, sings with the Boston Symphony Chorus. Therefore, we got free passes to the picnic area and to the private beach on a delightful lake. We enjoyed an evening concert that featured Rene Fleming and Tchaikovsky’s 6^th Symphony, and a matinee with several pieces including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue which United Airlines ruined by making it its theme song.

We rented a “cottage” with three bedrooms in a forest, just a few miles from all the performances, bakeries, cheese shops, and more.

Our 'Cottage' which seemed like a mansion

After three weeks on the road, it felt good to sleep in a real bed, move about in a real kitchen, flush a real toilet, and above all, to hang with our kids, their boyfriends, and Skyler and Spencer’s dogs. Shanti and Alan flew in from London.

The gang on our last morning together

Both girls and Spencer are real foodies, making us look like meat and potatoes types, which as most of you know, we definitely are not. We ate well—too well! And they are masters at board games.

One of many memorable meals together

All in all, a memorable week in a beautiful apart of our country.

Spencer teaching Alan all about grillingt

We miss them already, but on the other hand, we love being back to just the two of us on the road again and heading in the general direction of home. We’re in Upstate New York now, and the next post will be about bicycling parts of the Erie Canal, visiting my graduate school, Syracuse University.