From June 12-17, I traveled to North Adams, Massachusetts, primarily for the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society meeting on "Hawthorne in the Berkshires." I'd never been to this part of Massachusetts and enjoyed the distinct beauty of the place (felt a lot to me more like we were in upstate New York, its abutting state). The NHS is a great and welcoming group and I've always enjoyed all their conferences I've attended. They tend to be the best professional conferences I get to attend, especially because I always get good comments and questions about my work on Hawthorne.
My husband was able to join me (he did a marathon trip from Ohio to Maine [to visit his sister] to Massachusetts to Pennsylvania and then back to Ohio) so we got a chance to sample the local restaurants and to take a field trip to the Natural Bridge and Mount Graylock, the highest peak in this region.
The Natural Bridge was impressive, a formation of rock that creates a bridge between two natural formations at this state park. The place was used to provide water for a mill but they discovered the natural formation was in danger of being destroyed so they stopped using it for commercial purposes and it's been a state park for a while. There are carvings on the rocks everywhere, some dating to the nineteenth century, although my husband was skeptical that they were that old.
Mount Graylock was also impressive, and the field trip was a good way to end two solid days of conferencing. Before returning home, I drove in my rental car to Cambridge where we stayed for two nights so I could do some work at the Radcliffe Schlesinger Library. The photo below shows not only the beauty of the roads I drove back on (stopping on the way to meet our lovely college daughter who now teaches in Massachusetts) but it also meant to show, as a dot way in front of me (leaving me in the dust, so to speak) my husband on his motorcycle. We drove through three state parks and there were no only "Moose Crossing" signs but also at least one "Black Bear Crossing" sign, which I couldn't get a photo of.
Once in Cambridge, we stayed at Prospect Place, a few blocks from the hub of Central Square, and not far from one of the apartments that I used to live in on the other side of the square while I was in college. This B&B worked out very well for us. It's about a mile and a half from Harvard Square so we were able to take long walks, which were great exercise (and there was a Starbucks about a couple of blocks away, which is always a plus for me).
At Harvard, I took a minute to visit my old first-year dorm (oh, how I disliked it then!) and to walk around the city to my former haunts, including the revolutionary cemetery, which I've always loved. Finally, I made it to the Schlesinger where I spent a solid work day, looking up records and examining manuscripts with a view of applying to its prestigious fellowship for my sabbatical leave year. Though the chances are minimal that I will be accepted, one should never say "no" for others so I'm going to give it the old college try.
Despite an initially stressful screw up on my part at Logan Airport that Thursday when I first arrived, when I left behind the EZPass I had paid dearly for so I had to turn around to get back to the rental building not really knowing my way around, the trip was really productive. It also was a lovely way to spend some summer time in my beloved erstwhile second-home of Massachusetts.
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