I Walk In This World

Hi bloggies,

We are checking in to the blogosphere from our B&B here in north central MA.  We are located up in the the Quabbin Reservation, a giant swatch of forested lands protecting the Quabbin Reservoir that provides beautiful scenic views AND drinking water to 2.4 million MA residents.

And here we are, dualing-laptops a-going on our bed at the B&B.  God bless WiFi cuz there’s no tv/dvd etc. 

We just got back from dinner at an interesting spot.  Since we are in a remote part of MA, we’ve come to find that A Lot of businesses simply aren’t open every night of the week.  Our innkeeper here at the B&B informed us of the 2 local restaurants “open on a Tuesday.”

Now maybe I’m uber jaded from living in the most congested state in the union, but isn’t it simply crazy that of the 20 or so restaurants in a 20-mile radius of here, only TWO are open tonight?  Is it like that where you live??

So, I had friends in low places expectations.  And this joint didn’t disappoint (my expectations).  

The 1st course = 2 melba toasts + pimento cheese. 

Really.

There was a nice bread basket!  I had half a roll spread with some camera shy pimento cheese.  Not sure what it’s deal was.  It was happy as a clam to be photographed on the melba toast.  Stupid cheese.  I guess you might call this the 2nd course.

3rd course = salad  that was meh, but ok.   Imagine iceberg lettuc drenched in fat free vinagrette.

For Din,  I got the bay scallops, which ended up being nice, but I had to dig them out of the bath of buttered bread crumbs they were buried under.  Gross.  The real baked potato was nice.   The brew was Berkshires Brewing Company some kind of hoppy-ish pilsner.  It was very good, for a pilsner…Hubz got the apple berry crumble dessert.  I had 2 small bites.  Also just kinda eh.

Have a look at where we’re staying (the Highlight of our evening)!!  Upon arriving we had a nice long walk around the grounds, which were wooded paths.  So peaceful and nice to unwind after being in the car all day.

Our room, called the Charleston (like SC…our innkeepers lived there for a while).

The drive up here was supa easy, and we did some stops along the way.  We tried to stop at Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, MA, but quickly realized that Holyoke is a shithole and we had no business being there.  Google it for images if you’re curious.

Continuing 10 mins up the road we found Northampton, MA, home of Smith College.  THIS is a very hippy greeny town and we loved it.  Only about 3 blocks wide, but full of eclectic shops and restaurants.   Like where we ate lunch…

This Moroccon restaurant is apparently a hidden jewel of Northampton.  And we stumbled upon it and sat down b/c it had outdoor seating and we had Hillary with us.  Boy did we luck out!

I ordered a spicy lentil sandwich and it was Amazing.  One of the best sams I ever had!  These lentils were spicy and delicious, and mixed with spinach, some kind of peppers, red onion, and a clean-tasting white sauce that reminded me to Tatziki sauce you’d find in Greek restaurants.  It was served on a fresh baked lavish or pita bread (not sure which).  I ate 1/3 of this.

Hubz ordered a small plate of desserts too…a honey fried macaroon and a pistachio laced baklava slice.  I took 1 bite of each and that was more than enough.  Neither dessert were my cup of tea, but I don’t care for Greek/Mediterranean type desserts.  WAY too sticky sweet and chock full of too much butter.

We walked around town to digest.  Stopped to get Vitamin waters and have a walk thru the Tuesday Farm Market in that little square behind me!

So.  Tonight we relax.  Our B&B Breks is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30am.  I hear they make award-winning pear pancakes!  So I plan to not-be-a-lazy-ass and get my tookus gigantus out of bed BEFORE hand to go for a run thru the woods.

G’night from MA!

Er