This past weekend my mom and I took a delightful drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont — one last road trip squeezed in before baby arrives! It was also a celebration of Mom’s upcoming 60th, which I have a feeling is going to be a great year. We fully planned to de-plan every aspect of this trip - except for lodging and one or two must sees, we completely swept through the trip spontaneously with one rule: stops whenever we want! It turned out better than I ever dreamed, especially because New England was ripe with the most beautiful tableau of fall foliage. Vibrant hues of autumn were on display all around us, adding charm to each small town and country road.

Massachusetts - Stockbridge, Mount Greylock and Barrington

The Berkshires region of Massachusetts was somehow even more delightful and ambient with the grey fog and rain that hung around our entire visit. The chill in the air, the dampness under our feet, and the mist wetting our faces created a cozy atmosphere hard to replicate. Stockbridge was a place that Mom made sure to show me. We walked along Main Street, the very one immortalized in Norman Rockwell’s Home for Christmas. It was so quintessential New England, quintessential fall, quintessential America! There were few people around, except other folks of kindred spirit out to enjoy the chilly morning walking their dogs, or searching for a coffee.

We walked through the town’s alleys and gardens before stumbling upon a cafe that turned out to be a true treasure. Combined used bookstore and coffee shop, Stockbridge Coffee & Tea beckoned to us to come in and sit for a while. And that we did! Mom perused the bookshelves for Oliver Sacks books, while I sipped my golden milk latte reading an Edith Wharton travel book called Italian Backgrounds. Mom ordered a London fog, which was hot milk with earl grey tea and lavender - a perfectly fitting drink for such a moody morning!

We meandered more through town and found ourselves in a nursery just outside Stockbridge where we bought some Christmas decorations. I was so tempted to buy a bunch of winterberries but they were steep at $19/each. So I got a picture instead!

Following Stockbridge, we were aiming to make our way up to Vermont for the second leg of the trip, but took a detour up to the summit of Mount Greylock, which was shrouded in a haze of grey fog all the way at the top. Adding to the gloomy ambience in all of the best ways, our incline up the mountain was slow and intentional. Bursts of orange foliage contrasted the grey, and small waterfalls erupted out of crevices along the roadside to remind us that the mountain was the opposite of dormant, but very much alive and teeming with the season. Perhaps the coolest and most transcendental part of this little visit to the mountain was the fact that 31 years ago, Mom made the very same trip while she was pregnant with me. I had been there with her, and now I was back with her, and with my own little one in tow. Having never really thought about this mountain before, it’s become quite a special place to me in the last twenty four hours.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures in Vermont, partially because it was late getting there, but I think on some level Massachusetts stole my heart a little! It was such a magical trip, nourishing and renewing and much needed. I feel connected to Mom - one of the best effects of any trip with her! - and I feel a bit richer having seen a new part of the world. What a special memory this will always be!

ciao, xo

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Road Trip: Autumn Hues in New England

Massachusetts - Stockbridge, Mount Greylock and Barrington

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