Weekend in the Berkshires

The down side of traveling north in New England in the winter is the weather. We drove up to the Berkshires in a driving snow storm. The upside is that it discourages some of the nonskiers from coming up so you don't have to compete with so many other people.

The drive was beautiful before it got dark in spite of the snow. By Saturday morning it over and the world was pristine and sunny. We headed from Lee to Stockbridge and after seeing the Red Lion vowed to stay there next time.

We made our first stop at the Jenifer House Commons. It was about 11am. At 4:30 we realized that we had spent most of our time there and we wouldn't be doing half what we expected to. This is a great place full of antique stores that I will describe later and a wonderful brew pub.

We managed to hit the outlets before we collapsed back at our hotel. Our second day of marathon shopping was cut short by one of the biggest storms to hit New England in 50 years.

Quick Tips:

Don't buy the first thing you see in the antique stores. We saw a lot of really ridiculous prices. There are lots of tourist here all the time and you need to know where to find a bargin.

We saw lots of cashmere and leather (on the tourists) and the vendors know that compared to New York even their prices aren't so bad. The outlets had seasonal sales but not much else at more than a reasonable discount.

Best Way To Get Around:

You will need to drive here, there is no public transportation. In Lee there is onstreet parking. We ate late and with the bad weather were able to park quite close to our restaurant. The hotel had its own lot and Jenifer House Commons also has quite a lot of parking.

This is a Best Western that is directly on a lake. We opted to take a room without a lake view since it was winter and we would be arriving after dark, it saved us almost $20.

The lakeside rooms however not only have a view but are larger. This is not a typical hotel, there was a real try at homey touches. There was a small hooked rug in front of our sink and the towels were dark green not the standard hotel white.The sink is in a seperate area from the tub and toilet, which is very handy when you have two women traveling together, this way one of us could be showering while the other one did hair and makeup.

The beds had paisley bedspreads in dark colors.The sheets were a nice quality and cream colored not the usual bleached white. The furniture is maple, no attempt is made at elegance. There are reading lights for both beds, direct dial phone, remote control tv with cable,Coffee maker, ironing board, Norman Rockwell prints on the wall, a basket of toiletries and a blow dryer (but ours didn't work).

We had a few minor housekeeping problems but they were corrected immediately. There isn't an elevator here and we were on the second floor so if you have a problem carrying luggage up stairs this isn't the place for you.

In the off season a continental breakfast is offered free. For breakfast on Saturday they had bagels or bread that you could toast, cereal, juice(apple or orange) and coffee. On Sundays they include eggs. The breakfast room is all glass and looks out to the lake, it was very pretty. We watched the ice fishermen on the lake. It also overlooks the pool.

This was quite a nice place and the staff was very friendly and helpful. An Indian Restaurant has been opened here since I visited, my friends said the quality of the food was very good.

We were tired and hungry when we arrived here and we got the last available booth. The decor is not much to look at, typical nautical theme items on the walls, 9 booths, a dining room and 4 stools at a small counter. It has wood paneling and lace curtains but what they are selling here is not atmosphere its darn good seafood.

One of the specials was a 2 pound lobster and my friend snagged the last one they had for the weekend. They are very popular I gathered from what our waitress Alice told us. They also offer crab legs, calimari fra davilo, prime rib with horseradish sauce and for an appetizer stuffed mushroom caps. I opted to start my meal with a cup of lobster bisque which was divine, creamy with tender chunks of lobster, a little bit of heaven. My salad was a nice mixed green with the most exciting creamy dill dressing I've ever had, it had a slight tang perhaps from yogurt and it was topped with home made croutons. The bread came hot on a cutting board and Alice told us that it is baked here but not made here, either way it was exceptional.

My main course was shrimp and scallop alfredo penne and it came in a huge bowl and the whole top was covered with wonderful shrimp and scallops. The scallops especially were just the right texture and very sweet tasting. I hardly made a dent in the penne but who cared after all the wonderful seafood I had just eaten.

My friend was thrilled with the lobster. She told me that she only eats lobster every few years when she yearns for it and usually it isn't as good as she anticipates, this was the exception. As a matter of fact as we walked out she was planning what we would eat Saturday night.

After 5 hours of shopping, the tantalizing smells eminating from the brew pub finally pulled us in. I love going to brew pubs but my friend was reluctant, she wanted to return to Salmon Run. I won. Thank goodness I did,because we had a great time here and the food is delicious.

We were greeted immediately as we walked in and were offered a seat right by the cast iron stove, we asked for a booth instead but we regreted it later when the resident cat Barley made his home right on the edge of the stove. He is a big black cat who is very independent but loves adult attention. ( he avoids young children probably from some experience in his past). We tried without success to get him over to our booth.

We started our meal with a Shandy Gaff which is a pale ale mixed with ginger ale and lime juice. Very good, I can't wait to make my own at home. We split an order of sweet potato fries as an appetizer and they came hot and crisy without any grease.

I had a Brewhouse combo of chili and a salad, The chili was very good it was not over spiced and it had two types of beans, black and kidney. They offer both beef and vegetarian. My friend had a roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce and fries. She raved about the kick of the horseradish sauce.

But the best was the desserts. I had strawberry shortcake on a bisquit with fresh strawberries and my friend had marble cheesecake that came as a huge slab with a chocolate crust and white and chocolate curls on top.

We ended with hot tea and we were so stuffed we had to shop for 4 more hours at the outlets to wear it off. This was a very popular place and there was a full spectrum of people there from elderly to young families. Our waitress Kim was excellent and full of knowledge both about the food and the brewhouse.

When we asked at our hotel in Lee where we could go for breakfast, they sent us to Lenox, there didn't appear to be anything in Lee at least not that they knew of. We could have stayed and had breakfast at out hotel but on this Sunday there was no eggs ( the cook went home sick).

Anyway after one bite of Carol's homefries we were glad we had come. Don't be put off by the lack of atmosphere. The wall are two tone yellow cinderblocks and the table cloths are plastic with a design in gold, red and blue. As soon as you walk through the door the smell will tell you that this is going to be a wonderful experience.

All the bread is homemade and if Carol has had time there will be extra loaves for sale, we bought the last two, a 7 grain and a sunflower seed. This way we could bring back warm memories for several days after.

I ordered french toast which were cut from thick slices of sourdough bread and for an extra dollar I had real maple syrup. They were delicious. My friend had scrambled eggs and lox which was one of the specials and she was very happy with it.

We got our coffee as soon as we sat down and our waitress was unfailing good natured even though she was very busy and we had to call her several times. The homefries were first rate, cooked crispy with flecks of onion. I would come back for them and the bread alone.

There are 2 Coffman Antique Markets at Jenifer House Commons, one is nearer the front in the red building and the other is called the yellow house. The one in the red barn is about 100 dealers and is more upscale. We saw some magnificent majolica, quimper, pink lusterware, furniture, textiles and much , much ,more all on three floors.

There was the most phenomenal chinese brides bed, the price was also phenomenal $28,000. I have a picture of it that I am including, be sure to look at it. I've never seen anything like it.

On the lower level they had several dealers who dealt exclusively with oriental furniture, mostly lacquer. The bed is on the upper floor. Also on the upper floor was a nice selection of prints both floral and botanical and historical.

The yellow house has more reasonably priced items. I saw a nice Eastlake head and footboard for $300. They had an excellent print dealer there too, this one had many more fashion prints and early advertising and Disney prints. Its fun just looking. The yellow house is a jumble of rooms on three floors and its easy to get lost or confused about exactly where you are. There are about 100 dealers in the yellow house as well.

This is a fun antique store with two floors chock full of beautiful glassware, ceramics, textiles and more. There was plenty of selection in the patterns of depression glass, several interesting Hall Teapots, shelves full of Fiestaware, lots of odds and ends plates and teacups of bone china.

One of the dealers had some very pretty pillows made from old chenille bedspreads. Quite a rainbow of colors. Buyer beware however, they don't mark all their pieces "as is". I came very close to buying a lovely cake plate that as I walked around with it in my hand I noticed had a crack in it. It was a close call.

Prices here are the most resonable of any of the antique stores at Jenifer Commons. Take your time, you just may find the treasure I missed. But don't wait to long because I plan on coming back.