Traveling Here and There
October 13, 2009
Richard J. Garfunkel
Well it was a busy last few weeks. We were traveling fools. Our first trip was up to Boston to go to a Charlesbank Capital Partners party for the closing of their most recent fund, number VII, Michael Eisenson the lead partner invited all of the company and their significant others, spouses or guests to his lovely home in the woods of Wayland, Ma. We were able to see our kids, eat lunch in Jamaica Plain, and traipse around Concord, where the American Revolution got started for real at their famous bridge. The weather could have been a lot better, but in New England, any thing can happen. We had a comfortable evening at the Westin Hotel and after brunch with Dana and Jon we headed back to New York for Kol Nidre.
Two weeks ago we again headed north to the Berkshires and Jiminy Peak which is in Hancock, Ma. We stayed in a two-bedroom time-sharing unit called Country Village. We arrived on Friday night, ate dinner in a gin mill known as John Harvard’s Brew House and relaxed by watching a few division series baseball games. Though again it rained on Saturday, we were able to get into Lenox and Pittsfield where stopped at Guido’s a fabulous food emporium on Route 7 in Pittsfield, where we loaded up on provisions. Eventually we made our way to Stockbridge where we met Dana and her pediatrician friend Stacy who arrived from Boston. We had lunch at Once Upon a Table, which is right next to the historic Red Lion Inn, which dates back to the 18th Century. After lunch we headed out to the “new” Norman Rockwell Museum. The last time we were in Stockbridge, the museum was downtown on Main Street. The museum was great and they had a special section devoted to Rockwell’s Four Freedoms, which were inspired by FDR’s January 6, 1941, State of the Union address. After the museum, we went shopping in Lenox. There’s a great leather, jewelry and hat store called Berkshire Classic on Main Street and we got ourselves some great buys. All that shopping and, leaf-peeping and walking around could tire anyone, and we headed back to Hancock for dinner in and a restful evening. The next day, the weather cleared, the sun came out, and we headed north to see Williams College in Williamstown, and after strolling around that beautiful campus we headed north up 7 and 22 to North Adams where we had the luck to run into their annual Fall Foliage Parade and a 5K run. The town and the main street were jumping. It seemed the whole region gathered in North Adams. We also found a great antique store called Hudson’s, and I bought a wonderful collection of early 20th Century postcards (144) that chronicled someone’s long forgotten world tour. Eventually the girls had to get back to Boston and we had to get home. We made our way down Route 7 through great Barrington and on to the Taconic for the trip back to Tarrytown.
So the last week of this odyssey was played out in the Poconos. Linda found this fabulous place in Bushkill, We stayed in a wonderful townhouse with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a fireplace, whirlpool and sauna in our bedrooms and a marvelous deck. It could easily sleep 10-12 people. We drove up the NY State Thruway to Route 287 and then went southwest to Route 80 which leads directly across New Jersey to Pennsylvania. We hait incredible traffic on parts of Route 80 and because of some local detours our trip was extended another 45 minutes, but we located the Fernwood property and the Fairway Villas. The weather was crisp, the trees were nicely turned to their autumnal hews and we headed out to the flea markets, the antique malls and the outlet stores for the perfect buy. I got an FDR plate five books, and some other useless trinkets. We drove through Stroudsberg, East Stroudsberg and Tannersville. There is nor recession in the Poconos, they were all incredibly jammed. We finally ate dinner in a very popular road house called Petrizzo’s on Route 209 and headed tiredly back home to read, and watch baseball and Bond movies. It was quite pleasant and very quiet. The next morning it was off for more adventures and the Bushkill Falls. We decided to head back a bit early, beat the traffic and get home and do some chores. All in all, there is life out of New York.