Abutting our property, the
Bissell Bridge has just been restored to a fully operational covered bridge,
with a viewing platform thrown in for good measure. Closed in 1992, the bridge was built in 1951 to replace an
earlier bridge, which had fallen into disuse (see photo). For the latest on the
restored bridge see: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/12/charlemont_finds_its_bridge_too_good_to_let_go/
Bissell Bridge, before 1919
Bissell Bridge today
Downhill from the bridge is
the village of Charlemont. At the
bottom of the hill you’ll find the Curtis Country Store www.curtiscountrystore.com, with
great sandwiches, muffins, gourmet cheeses, and country-themed gift items. The store is currently up for sale, so
patronize it while you still can!
Its cheeses are made at delightful Goat Rising, a mile up the road from
us in the other direction. In
addition to goat and cow milk products, the farm store sells eggs and raw milk.
Pet me!
Avery’s General Store, which
has been in the same family since 1851, is located in the center of Charlemont.
You can buy just about anything at Avery’s, from fresh meat to pipe fittings,
at very reasonable prices.
(Unfortunately, the Averys have run out of Averys willing to inherit the
store, so it, too, is for sale, though no buyers have appeared for several
years now. Charlemonters are torn
between wishing the current Averys well and not wanting anything about their
retail lifeline to change.)
Avery’s General Store
The Deerfield River runs
through Charlemont, and one rafting/kayaking outfitter, Zoar Outdoor www.zoaroutdoor.com, is near the center
of town, while another, CrabApple Whitewater www.crabapplewhitewater.com,
lies a few miles east on Rt. 2.
The Cold River wraps around the Mohawk Trail State Forest, before it
joins the Deerfield. The Forest,
three miles west on Rt. 2, is amazingly beautiful and has many good hiking
trails.
Mohawk Trail State Forest: find the bear…
Shelburne Falls with its
ever-changing Bridge of Flowers, made from an old trolley bridge over the
Deerfield, lies eight miles east of Charlemont off Rt. 2. The town is also home to the Salmon Falls
with age-old potholes, a fine art glass factory, and many book, art, and antique stores.
Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls, MA
Eighteen miles to the west
of Charlemont, North Adams boasts Mt. Greylock, the tallest mountain in
Massachusetts, and MassMoCA www.massmoca.org, contemporary art museum.
Contiguous to North Adams is Williamstown, with Williams College, its
Museum of Art, and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute www.clarkart.edu.
Greenfield lies 18 miles
east of us on Route 91. Its
discount movie theater Greenfield Garden Cinema www.gardencinemas.net runs cheap
matinees in the summer and anytime school is out. For food, we recommend Hope and Olive at 44 Hope St. and the
China Gourmet, 78 Mohawk Trail (Route 2A), near the traffic circle on Route 91.
Eighteen miles north of
Greenfield on Route 91, Brattleboro sits on the Vermont side of the Connecticut
River, a haven of fun restaurants with delicious food and abundant art and
antique shops. South on 91
Deerfield hosts a collection of colonial houses in Historic Deerfield www.historic-deerfield.org, and
southwest of Deerfield funky Northampton is home to Smith College as well as
many shops and restaurants.
Besides cheese from Goat
Rising, you can buy local and seasonal products at a number of farms, for
example, maple syrup at Gould’s Sugar House, located on Route 2 in
Shelburne. Gould’s serves
breakfast until 2:00 pm throughout the fall and winter, when you can also watch
the maple sap being boiled into syrup. Apex
Orchards www.apexorchards.com on
Route 2, just west of Greenfield, sells apples and peaches, and lets you pick
your own Macs and Cortlands. Apex
sits on a ridge, and the view, all the way to Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire,
is breathtaking. Pine Hill
Orchards www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=1514
in Colrain, accessible from the Colrain-Shelburne Rd. off Route 2 in Shelburne,
has a small store and restaurant, a duck pond, and many kinds of apples for
picking.
These are the
highlights. As we discover more
treasures in our neighborhood, we’ll add them to our blog.
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