Springfield to North Adams, MA

 May 19 and 20th:  Two short traveling days, with visits to MASS MoCA, Williamstown, and Mt. Greylock  (Massachusetts' State Highpoint).

On Sunday morning, I drove back to South Hadley to rendezvous with Betsy.  I got there a bit early so stopped off at the Holyoke Dam, hoping to see the shad fish passage facilities.  Unfortunately, while the shad were running (there was an annual shad fishing derby underway - the largest fish caught to date was over 4.5 pounds), the fish viewing area was closed.  According to a rep from HGE (the energy company that owns the dam), one of two hydroelectric units was undergoing rehabilitation and access to the fish facility was not safe (to get to there one had to walk across the turbine floor).  It turned out the adult bypass system is an elevator.

Holyoke Dam with a very wide spillway.

Kaplan Turbine Runner.

Note the Great Blue Heron, awaiting dinner opportunity.

I parked at the college, and met Betsy and some of her friends again (Bev, Sarah and Barb) for a final goodbye.  They reported a fun reunion week-end with informal gatherings, a remembrance celebration for class mates who have died since graduation, a traditional Laurel Chain procession  preceded by Betsy's 50-year class and ended by this year's newly minted graduates, and a final banquet and show.  

Betsy and I drove back-country roads northwestward to North Adams, MA, arriving well before check-in time at The Porches at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art).  The Porches is now a very nice hotel but originally intended to be housing for artists.  Mass MOCA was established in 1999 in the Arnold Print Works factory complex and is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the U.S.  The Sprague Electric Company was the second occupant after the Arnolds Print Works closed in 1942.  After a second expansion, there is roughly 130,000 square feet of exhibition space.  

The Porches (across the street from MASS MoCA).

Ditto.

Prior to entering MASS MoCA, we did a quick walk around North Adams, stopping into another mill building turned into artists' spaces.

Street sculpture (I liked the very large "shackle; Betsy thought the sculpture might represent a mammoth).

What to do with old tech cords and ear pod cables - crochet a doily.

For V, here is a book seller for you to spend some time with.....

Plan view model of MASS MoCA.

Bent walking sticks???  Or people....

Wall art - these panels are about 4 feet by 6 feet each,  with 6 more rooms lined with different versions.

Cosmic light.

Description of the following art exhibit.

Rustic musical instruments - one gallery full of pieces that could not be touched & a second, closed room where we could hit, strum, pat them to our heart's content.

One of many courtyards between buildings.

The Oculus - designed for a visual experience and even more fun as an echo chamber.  

View looking out of the Oculus

A canal through the property

Across from the Bright Ideas Brewing, our libation stop after touring the galleries.

We drove west to the neighboring town, Williamstown, home of Williams College, for dinner.  The school year has just ended and the campus was fairly deserted.  We ate at Plates, in the center of about 4 block commercial center of downtown, Mediterranean food and friendly staff.

Today, after breakfasting at The Porches, we departed, first for the Natural Bridge State Park, just east of town, before continuing uphill to Mount Greylock.  

The Natural Bridge State Park is noteworthy for a historic marble quarry, which includes a dam made of white marble.

and several narrow slot chasms,

with a natural bridge,

and scoured-out potholes.

A beautiful White Marble Dam.  The quarrying of marble supplies PCC or pulverized calcium carbonate, used in paints, sealants, caulking, toothpaste and the like.

A distance photo of the Mount Greylock, with its Memorial Tower.

No hiking required to summit this highpoint, it is a "drive-up."

Balsam Fir tree - a great smell.

War Memorial Tower.

View looking down east to Adams, MA.  One of our better days for high-pointing, there were views of more than 70 miles into Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York State.

View looking down just south of the previous photo.

The AT goes over the mountain....

and we had to walk a bit of it.

One last factoid -- the mountain is comprised of marble and schist.  The trail is rocky.

We drove on, heading south through the scenic towns of Pittsfield, Stockbridge and into Great Barrington.  After, checking out downtown Great Barrington, we arrived at Granville House, a nice large, colonnaded farm house, with 4 to 5 rooms.  We are enjoying their great front porch.  The house has  a pool table, vinyl LP record room, and one free sample of 6 to 8 whiskeys (the owners do not have a license so can't sell it, but can offer a tasting).  While we were sitting on the porch, a train went by, possibly on the way to pick up calcium carbonate.  It was 5-closed tanker cars with a single locomotive.

Our room.