Nice spot for beginners that want to hike a trail/mountain. It's a very very short journey. Also,…read moreif you want to cool down and take a dip afterwards, there are several points along the falls. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, everyone is looking to go here and it's unusually packed. And to no one's surprise, they will squeeze in and ignore social distancing. Otherwise, it's a nice dip that I'll occasionally come to because of the 2 hr drive.

This is a hike worth driving out to. It's a manicured easy trail to the falls. It's a series of 3…read morewaterfalls found across the street from the small parking area. There is also a summit and rock climbing. Pony mountain. Note: You should stop by the close by Williamsburg General Store for the scratch made fresh baked pastry.

I grew up in CT, but my aunt & uncle had a cabin in Heath, MA. We used to travel right by The Big…read moreIndian every time we went up there! (The first right turn after The Big Indian was the way up to the cabin.) We simply called this place the "Teepee!" We always loved stopping here! Brings back such nice memories of a much nicer time. Everyone who passes this little establishment should stop in and give it a look over! So happy to see it still is in business after all these years!!!!!

AN ABSOLUTELY MUST DO! A FREE EVENT & FREE PARKING! This is one of the Secret Hidden Gems of…read moreAmerica that most people have never heard of or been to before. It's Time to jump into The TimeMobile & scour the Earth & take you to places from a different time that you won't believe still exist. We have set the dial to the year 1974 on The Mohawk Trail in the town of Shelburne Falls MA. Located about 100 miles or so outside of Boston, we've landed upon a GIANT 20 Foot Tall Native American Indian Statue in Costume. This is called The Big Indian on The Mohawk Trail! Wow! Is this an Awesome RoadSide Attraction or What? The Humongous Statue stands next to a Cool Gift Store. He is Colorful & holds an Arrow in one hand & the other friendly hand is outstretched to great you. He has an Indian Headdress on his head & wearing Indian attire. It's Very Very Cool! These are the kinds of Kitschy offbeat places that were a fixture all along the roads of America decades ago. Sadly lots of them have seen the wrecking ball & are now rotting in a landfill. This one luckily has survived & was created by Mr Rodman Shutt who designed many Gigantic Statues. Some of his work includes Amos the Amish Farmer, the Boothbay Harbor Fisherman, the York Barbell Man, the Leather Guy, the Amish Couple, The Farmer with Pigs, Freeze & Frizz. He also built The Freeport Indian as well as figures for Dutch Wonderland. Shutt even produced several Santa Statues. He began crafting these Gargantuan Statues in 1960 in Strasburg, PA. These individualistic pieces were shipped & sold nationwide. Now the Big Indian Statue stands right next to Native Views a Gift Shop which was formerly called The Big Indian Shop. They have a lot of Cool Stuff in here, you've got to check out. There are also Tepees, a Bear, Horse, a Deer & a Smaller Indian Statues on the property as well. Since you are in the area you've got to stop by The Bridge of Flowers, The Glacial Potholes, the Town of Shelburne Falls, The Mohawk Trail & the Waterfalls. You can read my individual reviews of some of these cool spots too. It used to be, you had to have Mega Bucks & be really Rich to have the Good Life, not anymore. The Game has changed. You've been Upgraded. Now You Can Live Like a King on a Limited Budget

Most people were here for apple picking. We only came for the art…read more Suggested donation was $20 a head. It was dog friendly. (But Apple picking is NOT dog friendly). They had a golf cart to bring mobility impaired visitors around to visit the art. It was a nice relaxing afternoon, strolling through the orchard, looking at sculptures.

Gorgeous orchard and awesome art installations!…read more I love that this is here. This area is so beautiful and having more places to explore and enjoy art is really fantastic. I highly recommend checking this orchard and art exhibit out. A great place to bring out-of-towners

I don't want to Hamper your progress in discovering every town named Hampton in the USA, but…read morethere's one you forgot, in Western Mass just north of Springfield. Named after a large town not far from my birthplace, Oxford England. It's weird to me that I've now been to this one much more than the other one, although I've played concerts in the other one and never in this one. It's a lovely town, in the more conservative part of Mass but that's only by Mass standards. Northampton has 30k people including an old college friend and his new wife. They love it there. He teaches at nearby U Mass Amherst. For this reason I'm sure I'll be visiting more regularly.

I am a huge fan of Northampton and have been since my college days. Even though I went to school…read moredown the road, my uncle worked at Smith so we were here quite a bit. I love all the stores and love coming back every few weeks/months to lament or rejoice in the changes that have taken place over the years. When my son had to report to grand jury duty (he goes to school out here now too), he wondered what I would do with my time - what wouldn't I do with my time. This is like my second home and I love driving out here to hang out (not as often anymore since my uncle retired).

"Well, big wheels roll through fields where sunlight streams…read moreMeet me in a land of hope and dreams" (Bruce Springsteen) We were having brunch at an outdoor table at Jake's Restaurant when I spied a tall skinny sculpture across the street on the lawn at the Hampshire County Courthouse. It's a bronze sculpture of a young girl cradling an injured dove in her right hand. The piece is titled "Hope". It was sculpted by local artist Greg Stone and dedicated in 2016. Stone said it "represents all young people in our community whose good work is having an extraordinary impact, and the dove represents our compassion and vision of peace for the future." It's a very cool looking statue and I Iove his message of youth, kindness, and hope for a brighter future.

Nice scenic bridge, had a great time in Charlemont. The bridge is really neat, and the stream under…read moreit is beautiful.

If you ever find yourself driving along Route 8A in Charlemont, you are in for a great surprise…read more You get to drive over a covered bridge. Without a detour. The Bissell Covered Bridge is right on 8A just north of Route 2. It is a 2 lane bridge. But sadly no pedestrian walkway. Heading north on 8A, there is a turnoff to the Charlemont fairgrounds right before the bridge. There is no where to park there, but there is a viewing platform. Just on the other side of the bridge there is room for 3-4 cars to pull over. M There are windows on this bridge, but the walls are so thick there is no way to see anything through the windows on the interior of the bridge.

Hidden little bar below the Arts Block in Greenfield. Go…read moredown the stairs through a few doors and there you go. Since I'm from NY, this place reminded me of The Cooler, (on a much smaller scale) I used to go there a lot to see bands play. The Wheelhouse is a speak easy type bar in the basement with peanuts and small stage. Limited drink selection, good prices and a hip atmosphere this place was pretty cool, once we finally found it!

1st time here. Cool basement music venue under Hawks & Reed. Full bar a big plus. Food pretty…read morebasic, but enough to keep you on your feet. Bathroom (ladies) quite commodious and on this quiet Sunday very clean.

Beautiful side trip to see the Fall Foliage a reasonable drive from Boston. We went in Mid October…read moreand had a tranquil (On a Monday) drive watching the gorgeous colors of the changing landscape. We stopped at Shelburne Falls to see the "famous" Bridge of Flowers..lolol....my wife loved it, and had a terrific lunch at HOT FIRE Bar & Grill. Over all a very nice experience, highly recommend it to get out of the city.

The Mohawk Trail is one of those places where you find yourself and you say "wow I'm someplace…read morespecial." It's so much prettier to drive to the Berkshires on Route 2 as opposed to the Pike. And then you realize you aren't just driving in Rt 2. Your driving the Mohawk Trail. Highlights are many. Views of the Deerfield River, rolling farmland, the paper mills in Irving, trading posts complete with wigwams, the town of Florida and the Shunpike Historic sign. Just to name a few. Driving this road should be on every body's bucket. Just leave the kids at home- you don't want the serenity interrupted by a chorus of AreWeThereYet.

Actual movement for social change, or just the latest in a series of protests for the kids at UMASS…read moreAmherst? My vote is for the latter, as I'm sure none of these kids here at "Occupy UMASS" will even remember what this place looks like in 4 years. I went to school here. I remember when the big thing back then was to re-name the library. That, and LGB rights. Protests, signs, articles, you name it, they protested it. None of the things I remember from back then are even issues now, and it seems the students here are always looking for the "next big thing" when it comes to protesting. It's tiring. Now, they have a tiny encampment between the DuBois library and the South College building. They have no clear list of "demands" - their website claims they have a working list being worked on by the "demands working group" - but I suppose in this regard they are very much like Occupy Wall Street or Occupy Boston protesters. This is just the latest in a long line of student protests which are nothing more than protests. Once they graduate, pay taxes, have the weight of the world crush their dreams, "Occupy UMass" (Or Occupy-anything) will be the furthest thing from their mind...

This is a common enough view and far be it from me to dispute cynicism, even ruthless cynicism. I…read moredo differ slightly in one thing though, which is the idea of reducing economic crisis (and the dramatic debt/unemployment/etc issues you mentioned people our age are facing) to the same level as 'fad activism'. Obviously a lot of the same sort of people will be present but that doesn't preclude the possibility of being part of something more meaningful. As it is Occupy UMass is barely a thing right now, but I think we need to wait til spring to pass judgment...