When our planned trip to the Poconos was called off due to an ice storm, we switched gears and decided to head to MASS MoCA and Lenox for a weekend in the Berkshires.
We headed out Saturday morning, and drove straight west through was ended up being a fairly decent snowstorm, which meant it took a little longer than it should have, with ‘wintry conditions’ prevailing and most people on the road driving (overly) cautiously.
We made it to the museum by about 2pm, and, after happily flashing my museum ID to get us in, we wandered the massive space for a few hours, peering outside every once in awhile as the snow continued to fall.
The spaces were every bit as breathtaking as we’d been told, and the way the size was used to the exhibits’ advantage was pretty amazing to see. Cai Guo-Qiang‘s Inopportune featured nine identical white Ford Tauruses in various stages of an explosive cartwheel along the museum’s (and the nation’s) biggest single exhibition space.
After watching a video of another white Taurus full of fireworks exploding, we walked through his exhibition of nine stuffed tigers, shot ludicrously full of arrows, hanging in contorted positions around a smaller room (he’s fond of hanging objects full of arrows).
I also liked the (unrelated) wall of graffiti and posterage in the “Interventionists” exhibition, especially the Col. Sanders-meets-Nosferatu stencil (reminds me of that JFKFC poster I have at home) and the Jerry Orbach (R.I.P.) face.
After the museum, we headed down Route 8 to Pittsfield (Doofytown, anyone?) and on to Lenox. We had dinner reservations for eight pm, and had a few hours to kill before then. We first stopped off at Bev’s for something warm to drink, and then, once the high school poker game got a little loud, we headed over to the Gateways Inn for a pre-dinner drink. The surroundings called for something a little more than just a beer, so after perusing their seven-page drink list, I chose a Dalmore Single Highland Malt Whisky (“How would you like it, sir?” “Neat?” I said, wondering to myself “Is that a choice?”) and Aimee opted for a Cosmopolitan. It had a nice, quiet atmosphere, and we sat in our stuffed chairs, read our books, and relaxed. We also had a chance to drive around Lenox a little, looking at some of the beautiful private houses, as well as the institutions like The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate, and Shakespeare & Company. Dinner at the Church Street Cafe was amazing, starting with the short stack of corn flapjacks with barbeque chicken appetizer (!). The town was pretty dead, but the restaurants there seemed to do alright as the night went on. We headed back to the Days Inn, past all of the picturesque lodges and inns that will have to wait for another day. The drive back today was much less interesting, and we finished up the weekend by taking down the tree, after a month of good service.
