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Berkshire Property Agents

Porches Inn

New Preston CT

Cupboards and Roses

Turkana Odyssey

Travel Essentials

Amtrak Empire Service between Albany, Hudson or Rhinecliff, NY and Penn Station, NYC

Amtrak 449 Lake Shore Limited between Pittsfield and South Station, Boston

Bonanza Bus Lines between Williamstown, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, MA, or Canaan, CT and Port Authority Bus Terminal, NYC

Mega-bus between Albany and Ridgewood, N.J. and Penn Station, NYC

Metro-North Railroad between Wassaic, Dover Plains, or Poughkeepsie, NY and Harlem (125th Street)  or Grand Central Station, NYC

Peter Pan Bus Lines between *Albany, Great Barrington, *Lee, Lenox, *Pittsfield, Stockbridge, Williamstown and Boston South Station and Boston Logan Airport  (*greater frequency, better fares)

Weather Underground
The radar is especially useful for tracking snow, sleet and thunderstorms.

Gas Prices
The price of gas at many of the stations in your zip code and those immediately surrounding it. 

Historic Homes, Museums & Gardens

Adams, MA
Susan B. Anthony Birthplace & Museum

Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Rural Intelligence Road Trips
Montgomery Place
A 434-acre intact Hudson River Valley estate

Athens, NY

Howard Hall Farm a laboratory for restoration training

Austerlitz, NY

Old Austerlitz

Catskill, NY

Cedar Grove home of Hudson River School founder, painter Thomas Cole

Germantown, NY

Clermont an early Hudson River estate

Rural Intelligence Road Trips
Olana home of Hudson River School painter Frederic Church

Hudson, NY

The American Museum of Firefighting

Hyde Park, NY

Rural Intelligence Road Trips
Home of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Rural Intelligence Road Trips
The Vanderbilt Mansion relic of the Gilded Age

Kent, CT

Sloane Stanley Museum artist’s studio and tool collection

Kinderhook, NY

U. S. President Martin Van Buren house

Lenox, MA

Rural Intelligence Road Trips
The Mount Edith Wharton’s estate and gardens

Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio Cubist paintings in a Modernist house

Ventfort Hall the Gilded Age Museum

Old Chatham, NY

Shaker Museum and Library

Pittsfield, MA

Hancock Shaker Village

Arrowhead home of Herman Melville.

Rhinebeck, NY

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome aircraft and auto museum; air shows

Wilderstein Historic Site elaborate Queen-Anne style house of the Suckleys. 

Poughkeepsie, NY

Locust Grove home of Samuel F.B. Morse

Sheffield, MA

Ashley House c. 1735 house; oldest in Berkshire County

Staatsburgh, NY

Rural Intelligence Road Trips
Mills Mansion house remodeled in Beaux Arts style by McKim, Mead & White

Stockbridge, MA

Chesterwood Estate & Museum home of Lincoln memorial sculptor Daniel Chester French

Mission House 1739 house with Colonial Revival garden

Rural Intelligence Road Trips
Naumkeag McKim, Mead & White summer cottage and gardens

Williamstown, MA

The Folly at Field Farm Modernist house and sculpture garden

[See more Excursion articles]

Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials This Weekend

Rural Intelligence Road TripsNow in its 16th summer, the Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials in Millbrook this weekend, are, in essence, a competition, with each horse performing three disciplines.  Dressage will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, and there will be cross-country jumping and stadium jumping on both days.  Two hundred horse-and-rider combinations will compete for prizes that include Tiffany & Co. silver cups.  Returning to defend her Novice Masters Championship will be Bonnie Stedt from Pine Plains, N.Y. on her horse Clancy.
 
But you don’t have to be a devout equestrian to appreciate this event.  Few sights are more stirring than watching someone who can ride really well do so in a beautiful setting.  And there are other kinds of fun to be had here: Fitch’s Market offers a variety of shops (35 to be exact), whose offerings range from fashionable hats and glamorous jewelry, to antiques, equestrian art and gifts, including custom saddles from Hermes.  The esteemed saddlery is sending Julien, their professional fitter, to show their latest range.  Between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, there will be a wine and cheese tasting.  And for those who need something more substantial, Brennan’s will provide hamburgers and sandwiches, as usual.  New this year: the Coffee Connection will be selling cappuccino and ice cream.
 
Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials
632 N. Mabbettsville Road; Millbrook
Admission: free
Benefit lunch in Spectator Tent, guest chef Bill Peet of Aretskey’s Patroon in NYC, from $150
Cocktails noon; lunch 1 p.m. 
Suggested attire for women: hats, if convenient

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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/21/09 at 03:57 PM • Permalink