The City Side
Photo Courtesy of South Hadley & Granby Chamber of Commerce
South Hadley
South Hadley is a Sunday-drive destination, where you’ ll meander past old New England barns and small working farms.
Pull over at a roadside stand to buy some fresh-cut flowers or back-garden cucumbers. Crane your neck as you eye the formidable Mount Holyoke( don’ t worry, you can drive up). Walk back in time with the dinosaur tracks along Bachelor Brook, the site of the first dinosaur fossils discovered in North America.
But like all of Hampshire County, South Hadley mixes its rural life with a touch of the cosmopolitan. Mount Holyoke College is located here— the first of the prestigious all-female Seven Sisters colleges. The Village Commons has restaurants, shops, art galleries, a luxury movie theater, a wine bar, a day spa, a yoga studio, and an independent bookstore.
Enjoy the bustling, tree-lined downtown of a vibrant college town, without the hectic pace( and parking difficulties) of a bigger city. Sip a mug of coffee or a glass of wine while you wait for the local open mic night. Shop for antiques or farmhouse décor, visit the Mt. Holyoke Art Museum, or cruise the Connecticut River on the Lady Bea.
18 the other side of massachusetts