The Berkshires

I knew I wanted to go somewhere to celebrate the end of chemo, the trick was figuring out where to go.

My first thought was to go back out to the North Fork of Long Island and back to the Red Barn. The hubby and I stayed there a couple of years ago and had a wonderful time exploring the wineries (yes, there are wineries on Long Island...lots of 'em). Plus, the innkeeper is an "amateur" astronomer with a kick-ass homemade observatory behind the house, complete with a HUGE computer-controlled telescope through which the hubby was able to observe "deep space objects" in the wee hours of the morning. The inn itself is small and charming and the hot breakfasts feature local and organic foodstuffs. Alas, the innkeepers were off to a wedding the weekend in question.

My next thought was Woodstock, NY and the Onteora Mountain House, where the hubby and I also stayed a couple of years ago for the weekend (courtesy of an Xmas gift from my dad and his wife) and had a lovely, relaxing weekend. The rooms are a bit spartan, but the views are spectacular, as are the common areas, and the breakfast is phenomenal. But, they do alot of weddings and so were booked solid.

My NEXT thought was the Mansion at Saratoga Springs, where my mom and I go every summer. This is actually my favorite B&B in the world (at least, so far). The rooms are lovely, as is the house, the breakfasts are unbelievable and they serve wine & cheese each evening--making the whole thing a really good deal for the money--but September is racing season so rooms that are normally $135/night go for twice that. Plus it would be crowded.

Finally, I thought of the Berkshires. We'd never been up there, but Edith Wharton's house, "The Mount," is in Lenox and that seemed like a good enough excuse to make the trip. We stayed at the Hampton Terrace. The room was large and featured a very cool jacuzzi tub and the house itself was very graciously proportioned and appointed. The location was perfect: just around the corner from "downtown" Lenox (which stretches for all of 2 square blocks) and a quick drive to the Mount. But the breakfast was very underwhelming (albeit, this is based on being spoiled by the 3 places mentioned above) and it was a little on the pricey side.

That said, we still had a great weekend. Here are the highlights:
- The Mount (of course) - This was Edith Wharton's summer home for about 10 years. She not only lived there, she designed the house and gardens. In fact, Edith Wharton's first book was not a novel, but was a non-fiction manual on interior design. "The Decoration of Houses" (co-authored with architect Ogden Comden) is still considered one of the seminal works of the interior design field and is still in print. Unfortunately, when she moved out of the house, she took all her belongings with her, but the estate recently (2005) acquired 2,600 of her books from a rare book dealer in England, so the "heart" of the house is in place.

- Dinner by ourselves at Rumpelstiltzkin's - The food was unexceptional, but it's pretty rare to have a restaurant to yourself. Saturday night we decided to stay in town and go to one of the local inns for dinner. As it turned out, pretty much everyone in town was at a wedding and so the hubby and I were literally the only ones in the restaurant for dinner. Afterward, we went down to the inn's bar for a drink, where there were 3 other customers, one of whom was our waitress. And I thought Hoboken was a small town...

- Chocolate Springs Cafe - Oh. My. God. The cafe is not located in downtown Lenox, but in a strip mall north of town. The inauspicious location, however, was more than compensated for by the welcoming decor and, of course, the CHOCOLATE. We went there on our way out of town to get my mom a thank you gift for loaning us her car for the weekend. Our expectation was that we would pop in, buy a box of chocolates, and leave. One look and sniff was enough to convince us otherwise. We grabbed out books and curled up on one of the sofas with some of their "Serious Hot Chocolate." We also decided we needed a "thank you gift" of chocolate too, so left with 2 boxes of hand-picked deliciousness.

- Stagecoach Tavern - This former stagecoach stop has retained the look and feel of an old-time tavern, but serves modern cuisine. The rustic ambiance combined with the excellent wine and food created the perfect "capper" for our weekend.