Excursions

Community

Big-Spending Boomers Ogle Vintage Bikes

by Betsy MillerGot an extra $200 thousand?  Then you might want to head to the antique and vintage motorcycle show in Rhinebeck on June 10 - 12.  Once there you’ll be able to plunk down your money and ride home on a beautiful, showroom quality, 1936 Harley Davidson—commonly

By Editor

Community

A Designer Showcase at Ventfort Hall

Vivian Kimmelman of Berkshire Home & Antiques created an Italian loggia, an indoor sitting room with an outdoor feel, from a skylit space mid-way up the grand staircase, that had perhaps been a fernery in the Morgans' day. When times are good, as they were in the late 90&

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Community

The Civil War: Frederic Church Makes a Statement

by Betsy Miller Before cameras were common, the cognoscenti learned about the physical world from paintings.  Salons and art openings weren’t just for creative contemplation, they were opportunities to be educated.  And the paintings of Frederic Edwin Church, among the country’s premier artists, were each received by an

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Community

Naumkeag: Tree Peonies and a Stanford White House

Apologies to Tolstoy, but, happy or not, rich families in any given milieu tend to be a lot alike—similar politics, values, virtues, blindspots.  In contrast, Joseph Hodges Choate (1832 - 1917) and his wife Caroline (nee Sterling) are interesting because they were not quite standard-issue for their day.  A

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Community

Geo-caching, Where's Waldo for Techies

By Betsy Miller Unbeknownst to most of us, thousands of tiny treasures are hidden in the woods, and on the highways and by-ways of this area.  And not just here.  All over the world individuals are hiding containers as large as bread boxes and as small as ink pen casings.

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Community

Staycation: A Better Way to Celebrate Valentine’s Day

Candlelight, wine, a sumptuous dinner a deux topped off with a shared molten chocolate something-or-other.  Finally, she kicks off her stilettos…to pull on her snow boots.   As the couple bundles up in coats, hats, mufflers and gloves, they brace themselves for the ardor-squelching frigid night air and the deer-,

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Community

A Currier & Ives Sunday in Stockbridge

Long before snow tires and four-wheel drive, the residents of our region travelled by horse-drawn sleighs during the winter. The Colonial Carriage & Driving Society will recreate those bygone days on Sunday, January 16, at The Winter Classic Sleigh Rally at Orleton Farms in Stockbridge. (The event was postponed from

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Community

Winter Stroll & Great Shopping in Great Barrington

Chestnuts roasting over an open fire? Crêpes being made by a Frenchman on the sidewalk? The First Selectman grilling sausages? On Railroad Street in Great Barrington on Saturday, December 11? You bet. The town is pulling out all the stops for what is effectively its first Holiday Stroll (last year&

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Community

Hudson's 14th Annual Winter Walk

Just for a moment, let's put aside all legitimate concerns and revel in some positive news.  According to Hudson-watcher Ellen Thurston, thirty-four new businesses have opened on or near Warren Street since last year’s Winter Walk—six antiques stores, a couple of home furnishings emporiums, several art

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Community

A Glee-ful Charity Tour of Connecticut Kitchens

If you're looking for pie-in-the-sky kitchen design ideas, you can read scores of shelter magazines, watch endless HGTV programs, and tour pristine kitchen showrooms. But the best way to accumulate ideas for redoing your own kitchen is snooping around other people's houses to see where they&

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Community

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night....

What do kids, dogs, drag queens, and ghosts have in common?  They're all batty for Halloween. But then, who isn't?  What follows is a (no doubt incomplete) compendium of Halloween revels for adults.  For child-friendly Halloween activities, please see our Kids Calendar. The Mount, the grand,

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Community

Millerton Falls for Art Again: Paintings, Parties & More

You don't have to be an art aficionado to participate in the treasure hunt this weekend in Millerton, which is designed to encourage you to take a serious look at the paintings, photographs and sculpture that more than sixty artists will be exhibiting at nearly three dozen local

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