Both on my way into and out of Williamstown, Massachusetts, I got lost and ended up taking different routes than planned. Thank God I had a GPS on my phone or I might still be lost in the Berkshires! The night I arrived it was raining and I could not find my way to the freeway that I needed to find. Luckily I made a good wrong turn and ended up on Highway 2. Highway 2 was this 2 lane road. It was lined by trees and a river at some points. It was the scenic route and I am thrilled that I found it!
I finally arrived at Williamstown, Massachusetts and found it to be absolutely adorable. It actually reminded me a lot of the area surrounding Chapman, where I did my undergrad and law school – a solid and growing school in a small community. The school itself, Williams College, was pretty spread out, having several buildings and many acres of land. In the middle of the school basically is the “downtown” area; a street which is maybe 2-3 blocks long lined with little shops and restaurants. I spent a couple of hours walking through the shops and checking out the little cafes.
Williams College Building
There was a shop called “Where Did You Find That?” which was full of the most outrageous things. There was an art museum shop, where I bought 2 scarves at 50% off. There was a very overpriced thrift shop where I browsed, but definitely did not purchase. There was the Williams College Store which carried everything branded with Williams College. The colors of the school are purple and yellow, and having lived near LA for so long, the first think I thought when I walked in was “wow it looks like the Lakers threw up in here!” But the store was cute and they had everything from t-shirts to notebooks to mugs and the like.
The places to eat ranged from the exotic to the typical. There was a Sushi place and an Indian Cuisine restaurant. These were surprisingly quite busy at night. There was also a Deli which had exceptional sandwiches for only $5 and there was a subway. There was a new Pizza place called Spring Street Pizza which I did not have the opportunity to try, and there was a Pub called the Purple Pub. Apparently, this was a recreation of the original Purple Pub that burned down a couple of years ago. I went to the Purple Pub for dinner the last night I was in town. I found the food to be good (the fries were great) and the service was adequate. I also had the opportuniry to get strawberry ice cream at teeny tiny ice cream parlor called Lickety Split. I just could not resist … the name was too cute! I also went into a store called “Sweets and Beans.” It was a candy store/coffee shop and was absolutely adorable.
Downtown was fun, and the college was beautiful, but my favorite part of my trip to Williamstown was the amazing fall foliage. I was informed while I was there, that the colors were actually muted this year, but to me, there was nothing muted about them. From my point of view (being a Californian who had never experienced fall foliage) the trees were engulfed by the fiery fall colors.
Fiery Fall Colors!
I stayed at the “hotel” closest to the school. It was called The Williams Inn. It was cute and the staff was pleasant. They even upgraded me free of charge to a much nicer, refurbished room. However, my room was all the way at the back of the inn. I had to walk through the dimly lit hallways. The room was huge and there was not an excessive amount of furniture in it. I am so used to there being tons of furniture crammed into a shoebox sized hotel room. And the one window faced the parking lot to the municipal building next door. I don’t know what it was about the room, maybe the size or the traditional furnishings, or the fact that my window was unlocked when I got there or maybe it was the dimly lit hallways, or that it was raining when I got there, but the place gave me a little bit of the creeps, which I really hate to say because it was nice. I would probably stay there again, but maybe next time I will try to bring someone with me.
Williams Inn
On the way out of town I was trying to take Highway 2 back to Albany Airport, the way I ended up coming into town. Unfortunately, I must have missed some turn off somewhere because I ended up driving through various towns. It was not until I passed a lake that I thought “hmmmm, I don’t remember passing a lake when I drove here.” I decided to check my GPS and sure enough I was on some other route. Luckily I had left with plenty of time to get lost.
Lakeside
I took lots and lots of pictures on this trip and found myself falling in love with New England in the fall. I think I may have to have a “fall house” there when I can afford it as opposed to a summer cottage anywhere else. But, probably the best part of the trip, was both times that I got lost. I was treated to extremely beautiful scenic views of part of the country I had never seen before.
Getting lost takes gumption, but appreciating getting lost takes more!
No comments:
Post a Comment