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Family Outing: How to Rescue a Rainy Saturday
There’s a virulent strain of shack wackiness that befalls families on rainy Saturdays—no golf, no gardening, no outdoor play; just a lot of under-employed, highly-combustible togetherness. Before things get out of hand, consider this:
Pittsfield.
You heard me.
Pittsfield, as it happens, is at an idyllic mid-point in its acclaimed renaissance. It has a good, kid-friendly museum, greatly enhanced through a recent infusion of cash. It also has sophisticated art galleries, restaurants and boutiques. But it still has its innocence and enough traces of its past to feel authentic. And it has not yet turned that fateful corner where upscale blandness bumps headlong into inconvenience—rents so high there’s no one left to mend your shoes.
There are two kinds of family outings: entirely kid-centric, which, in the long run, benefit no one, or the sort where everyone gets some time to do what they want. For the latter, we offer a range of options—several cultural/educational activities, a bit of sport, some interesting shopping, and a reasonably civilized-but-not-too-expensive or patience-taxing lunch. Since everything we recommend is on the main thoroughfare of Pittsfield (conveniently called South Street south of the town green; North Street to the north), there’s no need for a fixed itinerary. Let the mood of the group tell you when to tarry and when to move on.
The Berkshire Museum
39 South Street; 413.443.7171 ext. 10
Monday - Saturday, 10 – 5, Sundays noon to 5
This museum works hard to keep kids stimulated and engaged. There’s plenty to interest grown-ups here, too, but this Saturday, April 19, the focus will be on Earth Day. Visitors may explore green technology, learn about local environmental groups, make paper, and create inventions out of recycled materials. A variety of family activities, as well as lectures and a film for adults, will be offered. Puppeteer Meredyth Babcock of Marmalade Productions will perform in the galleries from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 11:30 a.m., Ross Robertson, associate Editor of What Is Enlightenment? Magazine, will give the talk A Brighter Shade of Green: Rebooting Environmentalism for the 21st Century. At 2 p.m., Maria Sangiolo will perform songs from her latest CD, Under the Mystic Sea, in a program that teaches children to respect the planet and the creatures of the sea. At 4:30 p.m., the Berkshire Museum’s Little Cinema will screen the documentary, Manufactured Landscapes (2006, 80 minutes). Tickets to the Maria Sangiolo performance are $10 adults, $7 children 3-18 ($5/$3 members). All other Earth Day activities are free with Berkshire Museum admission.
usbluesware
141 North Street; 413 442-5533
A perfect Armani pantsuit ($200), a new Ralph Lauren alligator belt with a sterling silver buckle ($25), Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Farragamo—usbluesware specializes in “pre-owned” but virtually new designer clothes plus a few cannily selected lines of new, inexpensive women’s wear. At any given moment, a certain percentage of their stock is out of sight, as it’s being auctioned to an international audience of fashion fans via E-Bay. What doesn’t sell rotates back to a space the owners Linda Mitchell and Giora Witkowski call “the warehouse”—actually a spacious and attractive retail store (shown above). What we get that E-Bay customers don’t: Linda, a fashion expert who seems to know just how every customer ought to dress.
The Garden
148 North Street; 413.442.9088
Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 6; Sunday noon - 5
Their website is hosted by MySpace, okay? So, if you want your son to think you’re, like, really, really cool, take him here. In addition to the latest in hip-hop footwear, The Garden carries state-of-the-art skate- and ski-boards. While your little man is lost in dreams of coolness and derring do, you can take a quick refresher course in what’s happening on that front these days.
Candle Lanes
255 North Street (2nd floor; above the Indian restaurant); 413.447.9640
Monday – Saturday 10 – 10; Sunday noon - 10
This isn’t bowling; it’s candlepin, an old-fashioned game played with a 4-inch-diameter ball that weighs less than three pounds, just one of several things that make this sport ideal for little ones. Another: there is no such thing as a perfect game—the world record is 245 out of a possible 300. Judging from this photograph, which appeared in the Berkshire Eagle in 1973, the atmosphere at Candle Lanes hasn’t changed much since George Aslan and his father Anton bought the place from the original owner, universally remembered as Mr. Daury. Prices, too, seem to be caught in a time warp: A family of four can play one string (game) for $12, (shoe rental, $1.50), and indulge in steamed hotdogs that cost just a buck apiece.
Little House
East side of North Street for the moment; open 24/7
At the entrance to a parking lot a couple of doors south of Dottie’s restaurant stands a curious structure with walls of plank and twig. It appears to be a booth or a kiosk but, in fact, it is a sculpture, Little House to Honor a Request for Poems, by Gene and Susan Flores. Up close, you notice how well made it is, but when you open the door puzzlement turns to awe. Inside (top photograph), the light forms horizontal stripes—like in a corn crib or a tobacco barn—that play against the horizontal siding. It is a poetic space, designed to inspire poetic thoughts. In the middle is a small metal desk and chair, plus paper and pens. You are invited to write a poem and clip it to one of the strings that hang, clothesline-like, along the walls. Soon, the poems will be in an exhibition at the Ferrin Gallery, and assembled into a book. Then Little House will move to another town.
Museum Facsimiles
429 North Street; 413 499 1818
Monday - Friday 12 - 5; Saturday 10 - 5
You don’t know how much you miss the look of letterpress printing until you see it again, and then you’ll want it back in your life. From the outside Museum Facsimiles looks like an attractive gift shop with a lot of greeting cards. In fact, it is the wholesale outlet for an extraordinary printing and custom-framing concern owned by photographer Ken Green and his wife Laurie, a graphic designer. Be sure to bring all your stuff that needs to be framed; they do custom-work for wholesale prices. And there’s a spectacular line of organic cotton baby clothes—think Bonpoint, at a fraction—and a little 8’ x 14’ art gallery that features the work of local artists.
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Ferrin Gallery
437 North Street; 413.442.1622
Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 5
Not all art galleries are alike, any more than all children are. You know your own—they can either handle being in a gallery, or they can’t. But if they can, Ferrin Gallery, one of the country’s top ceramic art and sculpture galleries, is an interesting choice. Like everywhere else, the work shown here varies from show to show, but there’s a consistent thread of humor (for a child, the most inviting portal into any art form) and several recent exhibitions have featured exquisitely crafted ceramics that were subversively hilarious. Any kid who gets The Simpsons would respond to this work.
Burger
297 North Street; 413.997.9797
Monday - Thursday 11:30 - 8; Friday & Saturday 11:30 - 9
Closed Sunday
There are dozens of places to eat in Pittsfield, lots of them kid friendly—Dotties for coffee and sandwiches, Panchos for burritos, The Lantern for diner food—but Burger stands out as a something-for-everyone destination. The burgers here run the gambit from a modest ¼ pound classic ($3.99) to an extravagant ½ pounder made of ground wagyu beef ($14.99). Fries ($2.99 - $3.99), are available in every know permutation—Idaho, cheese or chili-cheese-topped, sweet potato, eggplant; dirty or clean. Milkshakes may be virginal ($4.99-$5.99) or spiked—the Spotted Cow ($8.99) combines vanilla vodka with Oreos and vanilla ice cream. (?!) The space is large and clean, and on a rainy Saturday, it’s unlikely your offspring will be any worse behaved than anyone else’s. Always a comfort.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 04/17/08 at 02:04 PM • Permalink
