Friday, July 12, 2013

As interesting as the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) is, The Porches Inn may be just as fascinating. This area of Massachusetts has long been a mill area with factories lining the rims of canals aiding the shipping of materials in and finished products out. If you read the yellow link embedded above about the history of the building where Mass MoCA is now housed, you will learn about the area, its factories and how so many people depended on them. I have spent many days in the summers since the opening, walking the galleries of Mass MoCA. It has evolved since its days of punching time clocks and hearing machines whirr, to a culture and art center where there are massive galleries filled with international art and music and concerts. The museum has helped the town of North Adams get back on its feet after the machines died. It still has a way to go, but it is on the up, gentrifying, and if you ever dreamed of living in an artist’s loft, now is the time to grab one.

Getting back to The Porches, when people are factory workers they need a place to live. The Inn was renovated from the bones of the old company housing that one sees sprinkled throughout mill areas. Many still stand the way they were a hundred years ago with minimal renovation. They have served the poor and the hard working well. The hotel, despite its workers’ theme of metal lunch pails, muslin curtains and the old wood planks, is comfortable, artsy, and not cheap, but you can luck out with a reduced rate if you are a member of The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Mass MoCA across the canal

You can read about one of my earlier trips here.

Sabine

Sabine

Sabine

 

Porches from the back

Sabine

local color

local color

color

Sabine is The Porches Mascat. She ran over to me when she saw me;
The back view of the hotel across from the pool. The lovely landscaping;
Friday night dinner at Boston Seafood: Fried oysters and the works.

fried oyster platter

fresh salad and corn bread

Saturday, July 13, 2013

I used to enjoy visiting a crafts and art store in Vermont not far from the Massachusetts border and was sad to hear that the store will be closing. They just can’t pull in enough money. There was a great sale.

I caught a great production at the Williamstown Theater of Tom Stoppard’s spy mystery, Hapgood, which left my head spinning in the knotted details. Then on to dinner in town at Spice Root: Samosas, nan, chicken mango wala and lamb saag wala.

 Go on to part 2