Author Edith Wharton’s Restored Estate

One of my favorite signs of spring is the opening of The Mount, author Edith Wharton’s Close Encounters with Music presents Nordic Lights – Grieg Revival, at Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, with special guest Tina Packer as narrator. www.cewm.org

Norman Rockwell Museum’s summer feature is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – The Creation of a Classic, June 8-Oct. 27, celebrating the 75^th anniversary of Disney’s pioneering feature-length animated film. This exhibition offers a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of this classic. The Rockwell is the only other than the Walt Disney Family Museum to present this exhibition. www.nrm.org

The Mahaiwe presents the Paul Taylor Dance Co., featuring the New England premiere of Perpetual Dawn. Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-26. The Mahaiwe presents London’s National Theatre in HD The Audience, starring Helen Mirren, June 13. www.mahaiwe.org

Shakespeare & Co.’s Summer Season opens with Master Class, Terence McNally’s Tony-Award winning play based on the infamous Maria Callas, starring company favorite Annette Miller, May 24-Aug. 18. Heroes takes the stage June 13-Sept.1, winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, and is an irreverent story of three WWI veterans confined to a nursing home in their twilight years. www.shakespeare.org

The Clark focuses this summer on Winslow Homer: Art, Making History and provides an opportunity to appreciate the full range of Homer’s artistry through the lens of the Clark’s more than 200 works by one of America’s most important artists. Opening June 9. Clark Remix immerses you in a gallery filled with paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts objects from the Clark’s permanent collection. It’s both a physical reality and a virtual space, featuring a dynamic salon-style installation and two new digital applications that offer exciting ways to engage with the collection. Now through January 2014. www.clarkart.edu

Berkshire International Film Festival, May 30-June 2. The 8^th annual event brings the best of world’s films to the Berkshires. Four days. 70 films – documentaries, shorts, and features – from 15 countries. It just keeps getting better and better. At Great Barrington’s Triplex and Pittsfield’s Beacon Theaters. www.biffma.com

Memorial Day Marathon Races: May 25-26. www.memorialdaymarathon.com

Rhubarb Festival: Rhubarb Pies, Rhubarb Chili Contest, fun and games for all in Roche Reading Park, next to the Lenox Library. May 25. www.lenox.org

Berkshire Cycling Event: June 9. www.lenox.org

One of our guests found this vintage Austin Healy in her father’s garage,restored it, and drove up to Lenox for the festival.

The Third Annual Lenox British Motor Car Festival: Back by popular demand! June 14-16. Join the hundred of residents and guest ogling (no drooling, please!) the brilliantly polished British cars, old and new, Mini-Cooper to Rolls Royce, lining Lenox, MA’s main streets near our Berkshires bed and breakfast. Last year’s Best in Show was Birchwood Inn guest Dave Hutchinson and his red 1961 Triumph Italia 2000 Coupe. www.lenox.org

And summer is just around the corner:

Tanglewood: www.tanglewood.org

Shakespeare & Co.: www.shakespeare.org

Williamstown Theatre Festival: www.wtfestival.org

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival: www.jacobspillow.org

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center: www.mahaiwe.org

MASSMoCA: www.massmoca.org

Berkshire Theatre Group: www.berkshire theatregroup.org

Call us today to reserve your favorite room at our Berkshires Bed and Breakfast. We look forward to seeing you soon!

// Enter Page Content Here

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here The Berkshires are Blooming :: Lenox MA Weekend Getaways.

Last year's British Motorcar Festival winner and his 1959 Lotus.

Last year’s British Motorcar Festival near our Lenox, MA inn was such an enormously successful event that it calls for an encore! This year’s Berkshire British Motorcar Festival hits the road June 15-17, 2012, in downtown historic Lenox and at Shakespeare & Co. just a couple of blocks from the center of town.

And you don’t have to have a British Motorcar to participate in the weekend events!

Friday:

• Fun Rally, a 30-minute self-guided rally, back (but paved!) roads driving tour of the scenic Berkshire hills.
• Registrants’ Reception, 4-6 pm, for registrants, car owners and vendors on Shakespeare & Co.’s grounds.
• At 6:15 pm, the British Motorcar owners with festival credentials form a procession to downtown Lenox. This is my favorite event of the weekend with the cars all lined up on the village streets. No drooling on the cars permitted! Also you can enjoy the live British Tribute Band, and savor food and drink along the way.

Saturday:

• The Concours d’Elegance, the judged competition.

Sunday:

• And it’s not over yet! Sunday features a 60-minute scenic driving tour, led by a 1947 Bentley, starting at 8:30 am. Be still my heart!
• British-themed Tailgate Picnic Competition.
• British Car Corral so get your checkbooks out as this is an opportunity to buy or sell a British motorcar or motorcycle.

Throughout the weekend British companies and vendors will be selling all things British at the British Market Place & Auto Jumble.

Come and have a great weekend during your stay at our Lenox, MA Inn!

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here The British Are Coming… Again!.

Shakespeare & Co’s 35th season is one of rebellion and revolution, and features one of Lenox’s favorite visitors, Academy Award-winning Olympia Dukakis (she loves Cafe Lucia!), in “The Tempest” and OBIE Award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson in “Satchmo at the Waldorf.”

“The season is designed to look at who we were, who we are, and where we’re going,” said artistic director Tony Simotes. “Revolution and rebellion, that the energy of the theater. That’s what we do.”

The summer portion of the company’s 35th anniversary season runs from May 25 through Labor Day.

Highlights include “The Tempest,” mid-July-mid-August; “Satchmo at the Waldorf,” mid-August-Labor Day; and “King Lear,” mid-June-mid-August.

The season also features “Endurance,” the story of the unlikely survival of Sir Ernest Shackleton and crew in Antarctica; and “Red,” a play based on painter Mark Rothko.

“Cassandra Speaks,” a play about controversial journalist Dorothy Thompson; “Parasite Drag,” a dark comedy of two estranged brothers; and “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”; a comedy about a depressed, unfulfilled Upper West Side wife, round out the season.

A star-studded season for a star-studded anniversary! We hope you have the chance to enjoy this exciting season during your stay at our Bed and Breakfast in Lenox!

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Shakespeare & Co. Celebrates 35th Anniversary.

Quinn says: Lenox, MA, in the heart of The Berkshires, has been

compared to a Currier and Ives sketch. This is especially true during

the December holiday period. And there’s nothing that says New

England better than Lenox village dressed in holiday-style.

Catch the spirit on the weekend of December 10 when the village hosts

the Lenox Caroling Festival. The festival is a gala weekend, a

Christmas stocking filled with holiday events. The celebration

of seasonal songs begins on Saturday, December 10. Thirty or more

of the Northeast’s finest choirs and choral groups have been invited

to lift their voices in a day-long songfest and competition, 10 am to

noon and 1:30 pm to 4 pm throughout the village (in case of

inclement weather, the festival will move to indoor venues).

During the weekend you can also tour many of the village’s renown

bed and breakfast inns, including Birchwood Inn (Our Lenox Bed and Breakfast is

offering holiday special rates this weekend — and throughout most

of November and December as well) and sample holiday treats from

our special local restaurants (Quinn notes that this is her favorite event,

ever optimistic that there will be some cookies that drop on the floor!)

Lenox’s unique shops and restaurants will also be featuring festival specials.

On Saturday, from 6 pm to 7 pm, enjoy the Carolers’ Reception,

award presentations, and sing-a-long at Shakespeare & Co. For a

great feel-good experience, moreover, see David Sedaris’ “Santaland

Diaries” 7:30 pm on Saturday as well as two matinee performances,

Friday and Saturday at 2 pm.

Trinity Church invites everyone to its Holiday Fair and Silver Tea

on Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm.

And what are the holidays without a gingerbread house? The Lenox

Library hosts the annual Gingerbread Contest on Sunday, 10 am to

3 pm.

This is a most special weekend, for sure, but everyday is special

in Lenox during the holidays. Come and celebrate the season of

lights with us at our Lenox MA Inn!

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Hot Time in the Old Lenox December 9, 10 & 11.

Here in Lenox, in the heart of the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts, there are gentle breezes in the garden and on the front porch at Birchwood Inn.

The leafy hiking trails in Kennedy Park across the street are very pleasant. There is plenty of shade under the ancient oaks at Tanglewood, and fortunately the air-conditioning is working mighty fine at Shakespeare & Co., Jacob’s Pillow, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage Co., The Colonial, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. I also love taking a cool respite at The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Clark Art Institute, and MASS MoCA.

And there’s nothing more refreshing than a swim in one of the many nearby mountain lakes.

Nothing doggy about it. Why not the Cat Days of Summer?

And that’s the way I see it. Quinn

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Dog Days? I’m Insulted.

The first annual (we hope!) British Motor Car Festival at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA, has been a smashing success this week. The very London-like drizzle stopped just in time for the block party on Friday night. Residents and guests strolled the village streets, enjoying the classic cars from Minis to Rolls lined up at the curbs while a band played Rolling Stones hits to set the English tone for the weekend.

Happily, more than 2,000 people were in awe of the 310 cars participating. And everyone was in a festive mood. Very civilized.

Sunny Saturday, the cars showed off at Tanglewood and competed in their categories. A number of our guests brought and showed their cars in the competition, and we are very proud to have hosted a very grand winner, Pat and Joe Marchione, from NJ. Their 1959 Lotus Elite 1096 Series took first place in their division, Concours Post WW II sports car. We were honored to have this beauty in the parking lot at Birchwood Inn!

 

1959 Lotus Elite

Sunny Sunday the Rolls and Bentleys competed for the best picnics.

Among the numerous classics was this awesome Austin Healy. This gem belonged to owner Nancy’s father. After he died, the car was garaged for 30 years until Nancy had the car restored in all of its glory.

Beautifully restored Austin Healy.

What a wonderful Berkshires weekend!

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Jolly Good Time.

Andrew Rossi’s documentary “Page One: Inside the NY Times” opens the festival on June 2nd and the festival closes on June 5th with the Sundance Audience Award-winning “Buck,” Cindy Meehl’s documentary about real-life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman (also being shown on June 3rd). Other highlights include a special screening of “A Letter to Elia,” a documentary about Elia Kazan, and a series of films from the Human Rights Film Festival.

“And,” Quinn adds, “there will be some of the best popcorn east of Sundance. I know because I eat the popcorn off the floor!”

Sorry! Robert Redford will not be in attendance, but guests at our Berkshires Inn are sure to have a great time and enjoy some memorable films and discussions.

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Berkshire International Film Festival: The New Sundance East??.

Tanglewood British Motorcar Festival

One of the biggest blooms will the Tanglewood British Motorcar Festival, June 17-19, 2011.

Friday features a Driving Tour and fun rally along Berkshires back roads as well as an evening Main Street Party in downtown Lenox. The show itself is on Saturday on the Tanglewood grounds, with the Concours d’Elegance competition among classic British motorcars. The festival concludes on Sunday with a Mt. Greylock driving tour, a tailgate picnic competition, and a British car corral. General admission is $15.00 for a two-day pass.

Oh, and by the way, our Lenox, MA inn will be offering a special that weekend. Please check the Specials Page of the Birchwood Inn website or on the Motorcar Festival site.

I am sure that a considerable number of dogs will be chasing the cars that weekend, but I will not be one of the them. I am far too civilized for such shenanigans!

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!.

Yes, The First Ever Berkshire Festival of Women Writers takes place throughout the Berkshires from March 1 to April 1. Workshops. Readings. Exhibits. This is going to be FAN-tastic!

Come celebrate with us!

www.simons-rock/iwd

Innkeeper Ellen meets Ruth Reichl, local author, former NYT food critic, former editor of Gourmet, and the ultimate foodie.

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here We Girls Have A Lot to Celebrate in March.

This year’s festival opens on Friday, September 4, with An Evening with Paquito d’Rivera.

Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molskey sets the tone for Saturday afternoon, September 5. With special guests Bucky Pizzarelli, Aaron Weinstein, and Harry Allen, this event will be taped live for a national radio broadcast.

The evening features Reverse Thread with the Regina Carter Quartet as well as Dreaming the Duke with Nnenna Freelon, Harolyn Blackwell and, and Mike Garson.

Swing and sway on Sunday afternoon with A Piano Duet with Kenny Barron, Mulgrew Miller, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

The Jazz Festival concludes on Sunday evening with A Triumph of Trumpets with the Jon Faddis Quartet and The Dave Holland Octet.

And back by popular demand, the Tanglewood Jazz Cafe features exciting new artists performing prior to each show in a relaxed cabaret-style setting, free with a ticket to the mainstage performance.

You can purchase tickets by phone, 888-266-1200, online at tanglewood.org, or in person at the Tanglewood Box Office.

And Birchwood still has good availability!

[I love to wag my tail in time with the music at the Jazz Festival! Quinn]

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here All that Jazz!.