My First Trip to Granby

In January Brian and Anita moved to Granby, Massachusetts.  As to why, see my previous post of 3/31, "Brian's Move."  I didn't want to rush to see them but I found the perfect excuse to invite myself for a visit -- Brian's birthday on 3/22.

No he was not an insurrectionist on 1/6, that's just his COVID look.  He's such a friendly sort that I don't think he's scared any of the locals. 

Their home is in Hampshire County.

Another name for this area is Pioneer Valley

Brian and Anita picked me up at the unmanned Amtrak station in Northampton and we had delightful snacks and drinks (love mocktails) in plastic bubbles set up outside the Depot Pub, located adjacent to the station.  To read about my Amtrak trip, see the next post.

Everywhere we went we saw people in masks.  Good neighbors taking care of neighbors.

You'll notice I'm still not comfortable taking photos of people, so, sorry, you won't be seeing photos of Brian and Anita that I took since I didn't take any.

These are scenes on the drive from Northampton to Granby.

Who knew Massachusetts had such lovely rural areas.

Mount Holyoke

The drive included going through some mountain passes. One evening the fog was so heavy it was rather dangerous.  Guess not a lot of fun in the winter but road crews do an excellent job of snow removal.

This is part of the Agricultural Division of the Hampshire College

Hampshire County is unique in being an educattional center in a reural area.  Here's information from Wikipedia:  

"Hampshire County is notable for the presence within its borders of the "Five Colleges", comprising the University of Massachusetts flagship campus and four well-known private colleges:

    Amherst College, Amherst

    Hampshire College, Amherst

    Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley

    Smith College, Northampton

    Univerisity of Massachusetts Amherst

The Five College Consortium  provides course cross-registration between the schools and funds free bus service, provided by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, between the campuses."

A side note -- we've been watching Julia on HBO - Max.  Turns out Julia Child attended Smith and there is mention of her visiting the Pioneer Valley.

I needed to stop for my non-dairy provisions.

I was surprised to find a Whole Foods Market (sorry it's hard to read the name on the store -- trust me) but Brian informed me there wasn't a Wegman's in the area.  

I loved getting to see their new home but it's definitely a fixer upper.  I'll not show all the interior shots but the ONE thing that must change is the heating system.

Texans are just not comfortable with a huge oil tank right under their bedroom.  This must go!

The room this tank is in will become their mud room since there is a door that opens onto the drive way.

I recall a British saying "You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a vicar."  When I managed a law firm on K Street in DC  I converted it to ". . . hitting a lawyer."  Well, in Hampshire County it's ". . . hitting a student or professor."  With education being one of the major economic drivers in the area, it shouldn't be surprising that there appears to be a book store on every block.  Brian and Anita even inquired about buying one for sale but found out a developer is buying up the entire block -- reason unknown right now but probably going to convert the entire area to new retail and condos above.

The shop that's for sale.

You can't visit Hampshire County without visiting book stores.  We took our time exploring the many surprises in the Book Mill.

The building really did serve as a grist mill at one time and it did take a bit of hunting to find it.

Here are some scenes inside the store:

Wonder if any of these might help George finish his book.  I didn't buy any since he seems to be moving right along on his huge project.

Over the years, the store has received a lot of press and I discovered just as Virginia has a Blue Grass Music Trail, Massachusetts has a book store trail.

Not exactly ADA compliant.

Because their home was being renovated, I stayed at a nearby Hampton Inn.

My room was decorated with lovely photos of autumn in the area.  They really should give credit to the artist.

I was happy to discover EV charging stations being installed at the hotel on my morning walk.

On my last morning walk I explored the little shopping area next door.

At first I thought they were selling children -- at least not cut up.

Turns out this a community educational facility.  While I was taking photos a lovely member of the staff came out primarily to check me out but once she felt I wasn't up to something nefarious, we had a lovely chat.  She invited me in to observe a session of women who were members of a support group.  Again, to protect their privacy I didn't take photos of them.

Here are a couple of shots of the center windows.

On my last night we had dinner at a local TX/Mex restaurant.  Brian and Anita had not tried it, being highly skeptical, but it turned out to have the BEST chocolate mole

(Sorry, can't figure out how to add an accent over the "e". I was not eating small mammals.) I have ever had.

Whenever I took some time to just chill, I always had a companion.  Meet Carmen, the sweetest of the pack.  How they moved FIVE dogs almost 2,000 miles is baffling to me but they did.  

On my last day, Brian and I had a lovely lunch at the Northampton hotel before he took me to the train station and my relaxing ride home.

I hope some day to be able to head to Vermont.  Headed back to DC this trip.