Breakfast at the Porches Inn helps you prove to yourself that: 1. You have no willpower at least on the first day you are there,  2. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach and 3. What the hell?

 

 

This area of Massachusetts is full of old mills that have since been abandoned and many have been sold. Artists have moved in and set up galleries. (believe me, I’ve been tempted). New York City is just too expensive for many artists. North Adams, Adams, and other towns like Lowell, are a terrific venue for the art world.

Then on to the Eclipse Mill to visit a great gallery owner who will be doing an exhibit of my son’s photography and documentations of the U.S. Post Offices as well as a book. I was privy to the set-up of the current exhibit of work of new Chinese artists. Incredible pieces. Some painted in various teas, a throwback to Hiroshima: portraits deliberately destroyed by acid creating a whole different feel, beautiful sculptures made with nails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch at Jack’s. This place has been around forever but “New York System Hot Dogs” don’t do it for me. These ain’t New York dogs, these are more Rhode Island. They don’t taste or look the same, but New Englanders seem to adore them. Oh well, takes all kinds: I was raised on the “franks” from the deli on the corner of East 13th and B. Koburn’s. Long since gone.

Here’s a sample: the franks are not beef, they are small and pink-remind me of the old Nedick’s are topped with a spoonful of chili and the bun is unappealing–well, to me.

 

 

 

But the antiquities around fascinated me:

 

 

Dinner at the Public Bar and Grille. The best mussel dish I have ever had: with homemade sausage and kale. Excellent burgers and fries.