Excursions

Community

Stealing Beauty: the Olana Viewshed Tour

It's like having a license to trespass on some of the most felicitously sited private properties on earth.  On Saturday, November 1, friends and supporters of Olana, the Frederic Church historic site in Greenport, NY, will be permitted, thanks to the generous owners of twelve Olana-adjacent properties, onto

By Editor

Community

Old Houses, New Life: The Ancram Historic House Tour

Ancram is one of those off-the-beaten track towns that feels more remote than it actually is. For the most part, the residents like it that way, but they are also fiercely proud of their community's history which dates back to pre-Revolutionary days when it was home to the

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Community

Historic Hudson Offers a Tour of. . .Claverack?

Before the town we now know as Hudson, New York was formed, the area by the river was called Claverack Landing, and it was a whaling port teeming with sailors and sin.  Fortunately, all this lurid conduct took place at a seemly remove from the respectable town of Claverack proper,

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Community

Cornwall House Tour Spans Four Centuries

There's a difference between impressive houses and important ones, and the 9th annual Cornwall House Tour has both,  None of the five residences on this year's tour are ordinary: They include a 1950s Fieldstone cottage connected to a corn crib and barn, which the owners describe

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Community

The Granddaddy of All Harvest Festivals

Breathes there a man, woman, or child with soul so dead that he/she hasn’t always secretly wanted to take a ride in a cherry picker?  Now’s your chance. Ever since 1935, mid-Great Depression, the Berkshire Botanical Garden has rallied its neighbors and supporters each October to celebrate

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Community

Authentic Americana: A Shaker Style Country Fair

You wont find fried dough or a ferris wheel at the 11th Annual Hancock Shaker Village Country Fair.  You will find a pie-baking contest and wagon rides. There will be a juried show of new and antique quilts in the Round Stone Barn (as well as a hands-on opportunity to

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Community

Third Thursday: An Extravagant Street Fair in Pittsfield

Every third Thursday from May through October, the city of Pittsfield gives itself the equivalent of an over-the-top Bar Mitzvah. Director of Cultural Development Megan Whilden manages to outdo herself each month,  coordinating the creative community to turn the downtown into what was known in the go-go sixties as a

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Community

"Good Morning America" Wakes Up Stockbridge

Has anyone noticed how James Taylor more and more resembles one of the characters you see in Norman Rockwell's paintings? Certainly, this morning's scene on Main Street in Stockbridge was small-town Americana at its star-struck best when Good Morning America arrived via train and visited the

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Community

Lenox Celebrates Its Gilded Age

When Edith Wharton lived in Lenox in the early 20th century, the town was known as the "inland Newport."   Unlike the famous Rhode Island resort with its Cliff Walk that allows visitors to oogle a 3.5 mile long strip of mansions, Lenox's  connection to the

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Community

The Preppiest Racetrack in America: Lime Rock Park

Lime Rock Park in northwestern Connecticut is to car racing what Tanglewood is to classical music and Jacob's Pillow is to modern dance--a well-bred, well-manicured rusticated setting where aficionados gather together every summer to indulge their passion and picnic on the lawns.  There are no grandstands at Lime

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Community

Sidewalk Sale (And a History Lesson) in Kent, CT

Kent is one of the great strolling towns in our region. It has art galleries with integrity, bookstores for real readers, cafes, a few well-curated antiques shop, several housewares and clothing boutiques—and not a chain store in sight. Shopping in Kent is never better than during the annual Sidewalk

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Community

Pittsfield's 3rd Thursday Lives Up to the Hype

Sometimes you wonder if the civic boosters in Pittsfield are delusional with their manic enthusiasm for everything that is happening in their town on the rebound. Could the heavily hyped 3rd Thursdays really be as lively, entertaining, and exhilarating as advertisd?  We're happy to report that on July

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