Vacation in the Berkshires - Part 1

After our long drive across Massachusetts on the Mohawk Trail on Tuesday, we finally landed at our home-base for the week in the Berkshires!  We really wanted to bring Toby (our mini dachshund) with us, so instead of looking for a hotel room, I decided to check out houses in the area, and I'm SO glad I did!  I found a great deal on a beautiful house that's on a lake - perfect for our stay.  Check out our digs for the week:

This place is out in the middle of nowhere.  While finding our way to the house from the Mohawk Trail, we realized there are a LOT of roads/bridges out in western Mass.  We'd start on a 2 lane road that would turn into a 1 lane road...that would turn into a dirt road...that would start to look like a large hiking path covered in leaves.  Once I slowly went up over a hill on the "large hiking path" to realize it immediately turned into rocks.  We quickly turned around.  Thanks for the notice guys.  :)

The next morning we decided to start the day in Lenox, MA.  It's a really cute town!

We had lunch at a cute bakery and cafe, called The Haven.  Everything was organic and homemade.  Travis' meal was the winner of the afternoon - Baked Polenta with marinara, caramelized onions, mushrooms and blue cheese.  So good.

After lunch, we decided to tour Edith Wharton's home, The Mount.  The grounds were beautiful, from the walk up to her home to the private gardens in the back.

One of the things we quickly realized on the tour was that Edith loved animals.  She had 5 dogs that went with her everywhere.  They even sat under the dining room table while she entertained guests.  I guess it was appropriate she'd have a pet cemetery on the grounds...

While designing her home, she focused on symmetry and simple elegance (very different from other gilded age homes of the day).

We made it back to our house just in time for the sunset.  The lake was so still that even without color, it was beautiful.