The Berkshires , Massachusetts
Best known as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and world-class art museums , this quiet corner of New England is a foodie and art-lover ’ s paradise in any season . BY LAUREN CLEM
T wo hours away lies a delightful paradox , a rural retreat where you can enjoy top-notch dining , museums , shopping and performances that best even the big city . Don ’ t believe us ? Just hop on the Mass Pike and experience it for yourself .
SATURDAY AFTERNOON : A midmorning start gets us to the heart of the Berkshires by lunchtime , including a few extra minutes to sleep in that somehow feel like cheating . The cluster of small towns on either side of Interstate 90 offers up endless versions of small-town Americana with an upscale twist , and we start our journey in Lee to take advantage of the weekly Lee Farmers Market ( Saturdays through Oct . 7 , leefarmersmarket . com ). After stocking up on rhubarb cookies and local honey , we wander into the Starving Artist Cafe and Creperie ( starvingartistcreperie . com ), where crepes come loaded with everything from marinated tempeh to salsa and sour cream .
My boyfriend devours the chicken and prosciutto special with goat cheese and arugula , while I opt for a lighter apple beet salad to save room for the well-stuffed peanut butter and banana crepe topped with whipped cream for dessert .
After lunch , we drive through picturesque downtown Stockbridge and arrive at the Norman Rockwell Museum ( nrm . org ). The artist spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Stockbridge , working out of a cottage-like studio that now sits on the museum grounds . The town ’ s charming characters are captured in the Saturday Evening Post covers in the museum ’ s lower level , but it ’ s the more serious works upstairs that leave us reeling with their depiction of a racially divided community in the wake of World War II .
SATURDAY EVENING : We check into our lodging for the evening , the beautifully appointed Cornell Inn ( cornellbb . com ) in Lenox . Kurt
48 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2023