I’m not sure I love any place more than New England in the summer. Ok ok, maybe France at any time of year, but I digress. If you follow me on social, you might know that our summer got a jumpstart thanks to a leak in our apartment that required us to vacate for repairs. After getting over the initial shock and frustration, and thanking our lucky stars for having great insurance (shout out to USAA), we decided to make the best of our “vacatetion”. With only a week to make arrangements, I did a deep dive into Airbnb and was thrilled to find a dreamy cottage in the heart of the Berkshires. Stretching along the western border of Massachusetts and bordering the Hudson Valley, Vermont and Connecticut, it’s a perfect setting for adventure. Well worth the drive up from Pennsylvania – we exhaled the moment we arrived.

 

 

Did I mention how amazing our Airbnb was?! To be clear, this is not sponsored – I just feel compelled to share this place with you. It’s cozy and comfortable, and includes a game room and pool! In addition, the hosts are good people and go to great lengths to ensure an enjoyable stay. They happened to be there (in the main house, which you can also book) during our stay and we enjoyed our interactions with them and the family cat, Max. We loved their local recommendations and spent a lot of time in the towns of Stockbridge and Great Barrington. Known as “GB” to locals, it had something for all of us – a craft coffeeshop, farm to table food, awesome toy shops, the best ice cream in MA, and even a French patisserie.

 

 

Be sure to check out Fuel Coffee, and if you have kids…the little play kitchen with coffee accessories is amazing. You might actually be able to enjoy your coffee in a leisurely manner…imagine that! They have a kids menu, and delicious bites for all. We took a bag of beans with us to enjoy during our stay. Next door are a few awesome toy shops, and across the street is SoCo Creamery, which prides itself on being “the best ice cream in Massachusetts”. All four of us agreed with that wholeheartedly! It is all-natural, handcrafted, with ingredients sourced from local farms. Another GB favorite was the Prairie Whale, where we had an awesome dinner while the kids frolicked in their front yard playing corn hole and ping pong with the locals. It also happened to be the perfect backdrop for their Saint James stripes!

 

The Norman Rockwell museum is only one mile from the house and it was a must-see for us. It’s personal for me, as I have a cherished collection of Saturday Evening Posts passed down from my grandfather. Rockwell’s illustrations are iconic and all-American, and more than once during our trip we found ourselves in one of his scenes. The museum isn’t huge, but it is kid-friendly with a scavenger hunt and art room downstairs. We didn’t spend too much time inside the museum – we saw the key pieces and spent some time crafting before heading outside. Our favorite part was wandering the grounds and exploring his studio, which has been perfectly preserved. We had a lovely chat in the studio with a guide named George who has lived in Stockbridge his entire life. After meeting Henry, he fondly recalled that was the name of the police officer who directed traffic when he was a kid (before traffic lights were a thing) and described what the town was like back then. Kids are encouraged to climb the sculptures outside, so Henry + Marie took full advantage of that!

 

 

 

The following day we drove to Hancock Shaker Village for a children’s event. I’d like to preface by saying that we are not religious, and were not drawn there because of the Shaker faith or religious history. However, as an interior designer, I have studied and have a great appreciation for the amazingly simple and beautiful architecture, furniture and crafts that are a specialty of the Shakers. The entry to the community is incredible, and it’s simplicity allows the surrounding nature and architecture to truly shine. If you’re lucky enough to be there on a gorgeous day as we were, it will most certainly take your breath away. I can’t say enough good things about the kids event we attended: story time, baby chicks, milking a (fake) cow, learning to weave, crafts, dress up (how perfectly Shaker does Marie look?!), and a very special baby goat.

 

 

As our trip came to a close, we decided to extend it by a day and make our way to Vermont before heading home. On our way north, we stopped at MASS MoCA in North Adams for a hefty dose of art. It has been a mecca for contemporary art since 1999, and is so much more than a museum. While it was impossible to cover the staggering 16 acre campus in a few hours (not to mention with young children), we saw and absorbed a lot. Every hallway, gallery, and room offered us a new experience – visual, auditory, textural, and emotional. Much of the content I captured there is audio or video, since it was such a sensory-rich experience (perhaps I’ll create a Steller story of it). I’m hoping we can return soon to take in even more – if you go with children, don’t miss the Kidspace. If you’ve made it to the end of this mammoth post (thank you) I hope it has inspired you to explore the Berkshires, and I hope you bring the kids!