Susie and I lounged around D & D's until about 9am when we packed the car, said our goodbyes -- briefly, since we'll be seeing them again in Michigan later next month -- and hit the road. We headed back to the Mass Pike (I-90) west and, with the exception of one brief stop at a service plaza, reached our exit about 80 miles later. Traffic was surprisingly light for this part of I-90. We then turned north up Route 20 to the connection with Route 7 that would take us first to Williamstown and then on into Vermont, ending this leg of the trip in Rutland.
Our only stop en route was at The Clark art museum in Williamstown. We had been here twice before and were determined to revisit one of the cultural gems of Massachusetts. Given the pandemic restrictions they are seriously limiting the number of people in the museum at any one time so we purchased our timed tickets a week before leaving Michigan. That said, one consequence of restricting the number of people is one can spend more time and get closer to the artwork. Indeed, they limit the number of people in each gallery (based on the size of the gallery) which allowed a greater sense of freedom to explore and examine, no jockeying around large groups, that sort of thing.
I had been informed before we left on the trip that some of the galleries might well be closed for remodeling but we found all of them open.
As expected we enjoyed ourselves immensely, revisiting Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, James Tissot, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, John Singer Sargent and many others we had forgotten were here. The Clark also has a very large selection of Renoirs as well. On an earlier trip we discovered the incredible work of Giovanni Boldini and this time we were surprised to come across several pieces by the portraitist Raimondo di Madrazo y Garreta.
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| Woman in White, c. 1880 by Raimondo di Madrazo y Garreta |
Leaving Williamstown a little after 1pm we headed north into Vermont and recalled at once the truly spectacular scenery: Vermont is indeed a very green mountain state.
We passed through Manchester with an eye for a stop at Northshire Bookstore, one of our favorite haunts so many years ago. Again, we were not disappointed to find them alive and seemingly thriving.
After browsing we each found something special to take away and returned to the car just as we got hit with our first burst of rain. It wouldn't be the last one of the day either.
Returning to Route 7 we continued our drive north to the land of old but oh so pleasant memories. We found our hotel just south of Rutland and checked in, taking a break before heading off to the home of Jack and Pat Facey, part of the old Rutland Wine Group.
A little before 5pm Susie and I drove into town, past our old home on West Ridge Terrace and then north to Mr. Twitter's to make sure they were still there (they are). We then drove back into town and made our way to the Facey home.
Jack and Pat had arranged a pizza party with a wine tasting (of course). We began by sitting out on their patio around a toasty fire-pit sipping Orvieto white before moving to a warming red and sharing stories, catching up on all the news since we left here so many years ago. The saddest news was to learn that Dan Foley had passed away. A reminder that time was slipping away from us all.
With the faltering light we moved indoors to dinner and tasting three reds: a Barolo, a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and a red from the Maremma area that the Faceys had brought back several years ago. Delicious wines to be sure but for me the Maremma red, a simple IGT produced in the vicinity of Scansano, stole the show.
Good food, lots of banter and stories of times gone by but fondly remembered, all had to come to an end. We said adieu to Jack and Pat and made our way back to our hotel.
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| museum entrance |
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| cafe level |
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| the Reflecting Pool |
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| Susie |
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| Colette and Karen |
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| Jack |
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| Ron and Scott |
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| Jack and Scott |
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| Pat and Karen trying Long Road's Nocino |
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