Kwaree Blog

Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Lenox and Lee

On Thursday of last week, we decided to head up to the Berkshires for some apple picking. Every year, we end up going too late and are rushed by the end of the season. Of course there are still apples to pick, but many of the varieties are already gone. This year, we thought it would be a good idea to go apple picking not too early, but not too late.

I think we’ll stick with going at the end of the season. There is one reason for this…the Honeycrisps are ripe. I guess the Honeycrisp is a late season apple, because there were “Not Ripe” signs all over the place where these particular trees were. It’s funny because I tasted a few and they seemed fine to me. I grabbed about 15 of them. I have a feeling they will ripen up just fine. Just so you know, the Honeycrisp is the biggest and best apple there is. They are huge.

We go apple picking at a place called “Windy Hill Farm Nursery Orchards & Garden Center.” I think that’s the official name. We just call it Windy Hill. It’s located on 686 Stockbridge Rd in Great Barrington, MA and really is a great orchard. They have hot cider inside and plenty of apples and pumpkins to choose from. I’m guessing when I say there are about 15 different types of apples to pick. We have been visiting this orchard during Autumn for about five years now.

The only problem is…it’s a little far away. I was thinking out loud on the way back from our exciting day when I said, “I think this is the last year for Windy Hill.” I got a funny look. I continued, “It’s just too far away. I can’t see driving for almost two hours to head up to the Berkshires when there has to be plenty of good orchards around where we live.” It’s true, there are tons of orchards around here, but we really like to make a day out of it. We don’t want to just run over to Glastonbury real quick, grab some apples and leave. That seems more like a chore. 45 minutes away is a good distance for an apple orchard. That way, we get to visit some town that we hardly ever go to and it makes the whole thing more fun. I like that. So, next year, I think we’ll head up to the “Quiet Corner” somewhere. I am sure Pomfret has an apple orchard. After all, Pomfret is an area full of beautiful rolling hills, a perfect place for apples to grow.

Thursday was fun. Not only did we visit Windy Hill, we also visited Yankee Candle in Stockbridge to gather a nice assortment of Autumn smelling candles and tarts. It wasn’t my idea to go there, but being the accommodating companion that I am, I agreed that it was a good idea. Now, every time I go downstairs, I think there is an apple pie or pumpkin bread in the oven. It’s really not fair.

Besides apple picking, another goal that I had for Thursday’s trip was to head up to Lenox to check out a really nice country house/hotel called Blantyre. I have heard great things about this place and wanted to see it first hand. I am always on the hunt for the next marvelous Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. The visit was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to drive to Lenox in stealth mode and quickly turn into the Blantyre driveway. My plan was foiled when I got lost…again. For some reason, Lenox is in something like a spiderweb vortex. It seems like every road going into the town is identical and has the same left turn. Each time I go there, I find myself making the same mistakes, over and over and over. This time, it took a confession and use of the GPS to find our destination. It really wasn’t any big deal because I am used to my surprises being ruined due to lack of preparation.

When we finally made it to Blantyre, we were very pleased by what we found. There is a really long driveway that leads to a large English house type structure. It is secluded and absolutely feels like another land. I can’t compare it to Europe because I have never been there, but if I had been there I am sure the Blantyre would feel just like it. It was kind of like Robin Hood was going to walk out of the woods.

We walked through the front door and found a really upscale and formal cluster of rooms. We visited the main room, the music room and the dining room. I also peeked out to the terrace and the front lawn and gardens. It was better than I had imagined. (Don’t worry, I have pictures)

A woman came out to greet us and answered all the questions about holiday dining that we threw at here. We gave the desk gentleman my name for a return call after they had the menu and arrangements set up. We walked out and strolled around for a while and took some photos.

After we left Blantyre, we decided to head down to the Prime Outlets in Lee, MA. I had this strange desire to get slippers. I know, I know…I am a big burly man. What in the world do I need slippers for? Well, this Winter, I am not fighting cold feet. I do it every year and it’s just not going to happen this time.

We arrived at Prime Outlets and were disappointed by the lack of selection of slippers. The slippers that were there were all made from leather and cost close to $50. They also had no thick hoodies or sweatpants to be found. This isn’t the first time we have walked away empty handed from this joint. I guess it was a good idea while it lasted. By the way, I picked up a nice pair of slippers in Walmart yesterday for $11. I also got a pair of sweatpants for $10. That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout. This is simple house gear, mind you.

Lastly, we headed back to the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge for some lunch. This is quite the tradition each year to settle us down after some good apple picking. We even got the clover leaf on top of our Guinness.

Here are some pictures of our exciting day up in the Berkshires. The weather was good when we arrived, sprinkled a little bit while we were picking apples and then cleared up again. All in all, it was a good day – minus the slipper thing.

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Red Lion Inn Review – Thanksgiving 2008

I made a very important self discovery today. It took all of my life, but I finally discovered that I am a critic.

It feels really great to at last figure out what my problem has been for all these years. At times, I have thought deeply about why things are, how things are, where things are, etc…It truly has been exhausting.

Now, as a newly discovered critic, I don’t feel nearly as terrible as I used to for being so critical about people, places and things. It’s the way I am wired…it’s uncontrollable. Come to find out, it’s in my DNA. I am sure there is someone in my family I get this from. Hmmm, anyone?

This afternoon, we drove to the Berkshires for another exciting Thanksgiving dinner at the Red Lion Inn. If you have been reading this blog since its inception, you’ll know that this has become a tradition for us, one that we really look forward to.

The Red Lion Inn offers some of the best charm in the Berkshires. It is centrally located in Stockbridge, MA and is probably the most popular inn the entire Berkshire region offers. Unfortunately, all its popularity may be its undoing, with us anyway.

We have always liked traveling up to the Berkshires for a variety of events…concerts at Tanglewood, shopping in Lee, strolling in Lenox, lunch in Stockbridge, well, you get the picture. We generally have a very good time. Although, there have been times that I have come back with a bit of cognitive dissonance. Rob knows what that is. We learned it way back in marketing class at WCC. It’s when someone feels uneasy about something, like there is a mild conflict in their mind. You can look up its definition here. For business majors, it applies to marketing, but it is generally applied to social psychology.

I’ll give you a short, but true, example of a time I experienced cognitive dissonance and then I will get into my story about tonight.

When Laura and I stayed over at the Red Lion Inn last Christmas, we enjoyed ourselves very much. We had fun doing so many things, but when it came time to eat dinner in the main dining room, there was something that bothered us. About half way through dinner, we heard a stampede of kids running up and down the main hallway above us for about 15 minutes. I will tell you that the Red Lion Inn is not a “solid” building, so we heard this commotion loud and clear. I thought the plaster on the ceiling was going to start crumbling.

Since we pay a good price for our time at the Inn, I decided to walk up to the front desk and inform the girl working it that there were some rowdy children upstairs ruining my night. She replied, “Um, yeah, I know. We have already had a few complaints about that. My manager is going to be in tomorrow morning and I am going to leave a note for her.” I was stunned and almost offered to take my shoe off and chase these kids out of the building, but I remained civil. My even temperament took over and I grudgingly went back to the table.

When I sat back down, I told Laura that I was a little fed up and that we should reconsider future visits to the Red Lion Inn.

Fast forward a few months.

In September, we went apple picking up at Windy Hill Farm in Great Barrington and ate lunch at the Red Lion Inn. We had a wonderful meal and decided to make reservations for Thanksgiving dinner. When we have a good time, we get a little caught up in the moment.

Fast forward to tonight.

We had a 4PM reservation for dinner. What always struck me as odd was, while making our reservations, this inn has insisted on telling me that men must wear coats to dinner. I never knew why they were telling me this, because I dress nicely each time I visit. I didn’t like the fact that someone was telling me how to dress, but I chalked it up to “informing the tourists.” There are people who would try to eat dinner in Bermuda shorts if you let them. As I mentioned earlier, this inn is situated in one of the Berkshire’s most popular areas, there are bound to be tons of hungry looky-lous, and there are.

We arrived today at 3:30PM. While waiting, we strolled around and kept ourselves busy. Laura went into the gift shop and I sat at a chess table. Here are some photos of that:

Red Lion Inn gift shop

Red Lion Inn chess table

As I was sitting at the chess table, I snapped a photo of a painting on the wall. I had no idea what it was of and I wasn’t even going to use it for this post. Upon later examination, I realized it may be the side lawn at Tanglewood. Here, check it out:

Side lawn at Tanglewood

We usually sit where the flowers are in the painting.

After Laura was finished in the gift shop and I was done taking my photos, we walked in the main lobby of the inn. This is where I noticed something strange. I saw a guy walking into the main dining room wearing a cheesy, wrinkled sweater and sneakers. Now, trust me, I am not being judgemental, I am using this as ammo to make a point later on.

A few more minutes of waiting and we heard the golden word, “G.” Ok, now we were in business. The hostess walked us over to a table for two towards the front of the dining room. I would have preferred the rear because it is quieter back there, but the front was ok, I suppose.

We sat down next to a few larger tables to the side of us and another table for two directly behind me. This is where it gets interesting…

At the moment of my butt hitting the chair, I heard this loud, female, raspy, drunken voice scolding her (soon I would find out) boyfriend for being so lousy over the 20 year span of their relationship. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I could feel my face getting red, like it did when the kids were running around upstairs.

I took a breath and figured that I should keep my mouth shut because they would be done in a few minutes and they would leave. After they left, we could enjoy the rest of the night with the rest of the well behaved guests.

Apparently not.

For the entire duration of our meal, we were forced to listen to this woman, very loudly scold her boyfriend that he was no good to her and no good to his mother. She claimed that he was going to leave her and that he wanted to kill his mother. I am not joking. This woman was plastered. She was slurring her words, but not drunk enough to keep ordering more drinks. She also found her way outside for a smoke every 10 minutes fairly easily.

Each time she went outside to smoke, she would come back into the dining room. She would smile at everyone and make small talk with people here and there. The minute she sat down, “You rotten, good for nothing, bast….”

Remember when I mentioned that we would wait until these people left to enjoy our dinner? Nope, apparently, these were the type of folks who sit and eat all night. If at a bar, these are the type of folks that you have to physically ask to leave when the bar is closing…then only to find out they are hiding in the bathroom. They were there before us and they remained after we left.

I know all this because we grew to know them intimately. All the folks at the surrounding tables knew them as well because they were very close too. I had such temptation to get up and grab the drunk lady by the throat, but I kept coming to the same conclusion that if I approached this woman, I would only get excited and mad and have my night ruined, I was confident that she would just enjoy it too much and she would make a very loud scene. In addition, in no way was this supposed to be my problem. Which brings me to the point of this post…

Where in the world was the uptight, rule enforcing waitstaff and hostess? I paid for this evening and nothing was done, in the least, about this Jerry Springer trailer park scene. It lasted an hour and all we got were a few uncomfortable smiles from the employees of the Red Lion Inn. In my opinion, this was unacceptable garbage. Everyone heard it and everyone knew what was going on. The problem was that we were too deep into our meals to change tables. Even as we were eating, a guy wearing a button down, lumberjack shirt walked by. You know the type of shirt…big red and black squares. So much for this “dress code.” I guess I should have dressed more comfortably.

I did a little search for upscale inns in the area after we got back to the house and found that our dinner at the Red Lion Inn was actually more expensive than comparable dinners at these other inns. I don’t want to sound like I am whining here, but I just figured that maybe, just perhaps I could have a nice classy night out with my lady without my blood pressure raising through the roof. It is, after all, the service and “experience” we are paying for.

I get excited about these nights out and I hate being let down.

After reading some reviews on Zagat, I have come to the conclusion that the Red Lion Inn is simply too popular with the tourists. It appears that this is an “anything goes” restaurant, as was evidenced by the gentleman walking in wearing sneakers and the scene that went on behind us. Oh yeah, the kids running up and down the hall way during our previous visit was a sure treat as well. Each time, nothing was done to even look like an attempt was being made to stop what was going on or to comfort the people who were trying to enjoy their holiday at the Red Lion Inn. I know this because, believe me, I watched and waited.

Unfortunately, I think we have been burnt by the Red Lion Inn for the last time. We can’t do it anymore. There are far too many restaurants and inns in the Northeast to have to put up with this kind of place. We decided that if we were in the area and wanted to stop for lunch, maybe we would give it a shot, but certainly not for dinner.

On a lighter note, hats off to the chef tonight. The food was excellent. As a matter of fact, if the staff of this place would get some guts and start throwing some of these people out on their ears, we wouldn’t have a problem at all. The waitstaff and other employees are always very nice and easy to get along with. It’s the other guests that are the problem. Problems are bound to arise, it’s what is done about them that matters.

Finally, here are a few shots of some tables and, of course, my Guinness.

Dining tables at Red Lion Inn

Pint of Guinness

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Windy Hill Farm & The Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA

Well, well, well, where have we all been? I guess it’s that time of year again for our annual visit to Stockbridge, MA. This is the time I usually get a gift certificate to the Red Lion Inn for my birthday. It’s a great excuse to drive up to the Berkshires to go apple picking at Windy Hill Farm and eat a nice lunch at Red Lion.

The thing is…you have to be really careful about the weather when it comes time to go apple picking. There is a tendency for rain in September and October, prime apple picking months. If you plan too far in advance, there is a chance you will be rained out. Actually, the best way to go apple picking is just by driving around on a nice day and unexpectedly drop in on a local orchard. I have done that many times. Or, it can be something that you wake up and decide to do, if you are close enough to an orchard.

We got semi-lucky and went on a day that was cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon. It was breezy and cool, perfect for what we were doing. Amazingly enough, Stockbridge was full of people on a Thursday. I thought it would be nice and empty. I guess leaf peeping is more popular than I thought.

Here are some photos of our time at Windy Hill Farm.

Windy Hill Farm from behind

Windy Hill Farm from behind - further up the hill

Windy Hill Farm - up and over the orchard

Windy Hill Farm - walking up the orchard

Windy Hill Farm - apple tree

Windy Hill Farm - apple tree

Windy Hill Farm - apple

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Bag of apples

Jay G

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Windy Hill Farm - pumpkins

Me holding a pumpkin

Some kind of Holly bush, I think

Trees changing colors in Autumn

We had a really good time picking apples. Since it was Thursday, we got the Wednesday, Thursday special of only $16 to fill up two big bags. I thought that was pretty good. We also got a big pumpkin, some hot cider and a donut.

After that was all finished, we drove about a mile up Rt.7 to the Red Lion Inn for some lunch. This was a pretty funny meal. I ordered five plates of food. I though the salads were…well, just salads. I didn’t know they were an entire lunch for one person. After I got done ordering, the waitress just looked at me. I was like, “What, is that too much?” She said that it was fine. I just told her that we would wrap anything we had left over, which we did. It was fun.

After we were done eating, we walked upstairs to visit the room we stayed in over Christmas and to see the library we spent some time in. That was fun too. We then rode the elevator downstairs to leave out the back door.

I really like that place and I have to say that Autumn is probably the best time to go.

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