Friday, May 24, 2013

A trip down memory lane


Granddaughter of Hildegarde Ware Warfield, class of 1914



For Nancy, for real.  For Kit, as proxy for her grandmother.

Today, we concentrated on western Massachusetts.  We started the day in Northampton, with the same kind of weather we'd been having - cloudy, a bit misty, and not terribly inspiring.  But, you gotta make do with what you get, so off we went with our raingear and good attitudes.

(I must interject something about yesterday, though - even though it was rainy & cloudy, it was also my humidity wakeup.  It's been cooler and not too humid for most of our trip, but yesterday, I started feeling it.  The air temp. was about 70 to 75F, but with the humidity, it felt much warmer, of course.  Esp. to me. I admit it: I'm a warm-humid-weather-wimp!  Today was much, much cooler, and therefore more comfortable to the likes of me!)

We stopped off at Northampton's Airport, the "home of Friendly Flying"  according to its signs.  Looks like a nice little airport.  Then, into the center of the village to find a place to park, and explore Smith College.  Northampton is a charming village, truly, with a less-than-modern street layout (I mean that in a good way.)  And, as I wandered, I had a local on my tail.  Now I know why they call 'em "Massholes"  lol.  We found a parking spot on a street just off campus without trouble, though.

Why a visit to Smith?  My father's mother, Hildegarde Ware Warfield, graduated from Smith in 1914.  Wouldn't you know that Smith was having an Alumnae weekend this weekend, too!  We saw women of all ages (mostly older, though) walking around campus with their nametags, pointing out features, greeting each other, and so forth. It's a gorgeous campus, straight out of central casting for a New England college:  old, pretty brick buildings laced in ivy, green expanses, tall, healthy trees. Understated signs for buildings, and no vehicles on campus.  Except for the golf carts for workers, and the Alumnae Shuttle vans running around, that is.  I don't think either of those were in use back in 1914!

We stopped by the library (of course,) then found the Campus Center and the book/T-shirt/etc. store.  As we were shopping, I couldn't help but tell the woman helping us:  "My grandmother graduated from Smith!"  The woman nicely said "Are you here with her this weekend as her associate?"  Um, no.  She was the class of 1914 -  Grammy Hilde passed away in 1975. But I'm sure she was there in spirit!  The woman went on to say that she'd served as an associate for older alumnae on these campus visit weekends.  "They need someone to run to the store for them.  More hearing aid batteries, good chocolate, and scotch.  That's what they usually need."  Excellent!

Came away with some great Smith wear (both of us)  and then had more of a wander around the campus.  Lovely, lovely place. Was fun to play a bit of "what if I'd attended this college?"  A Montana ranch kid on this genteel campus.  Hmm.... :-)

We departed Northampton to the west, and started winding our way through the Berkshires, home to many a Gershenfeld family vacation.  I know I've been writing this over the course of this whole trip, but this was yet another region of rolling rural greenery, small farms, winding roads.  Green green green.  And, even with low clouds hanging around, beautiful views, too.

We worked our way over to highway 20, and Richmond Pond, where the Gershenfelds used to rent a cabin in the summertime.  Great setting right on the lake (sorry, pond).  Nancy recognized it immediately, having enjoyed many a halcyon day there. I recognized it from the many pictures I've seen.  Looks like they might be working on it - at any rate, nobody was home.

We stopped, then, for lunch in Lee, MA, at Friendly's, a chain that's probably very well known to children of all ages from these parts.  For Nancy: lunch and nostalgia.  For me: lunch and cultural understanding. Loved it!

After lunch, off to Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony.  Yes, it's kind of like Band Camp for the professionals:  they get to go spend summer days in the country, practicing and performing in outdoor and semi-outdoor venues.  And, music fans can take picnics and listen to wonderful music in a beautiful rural setting.  This has been a favorite pastime of the Gershenfelds in years gone by, and although it's not open yet, we were able to explore the grounds.  Lovely!
Nancy at Tanglewood

At Tanglewood, we realized how much colder today was, compared to yesterday.  It was about 48F there, and we experienced a few sprinkles of rain.  Sigh.  Oh well, back into the car, and off for NY State!

We crossed into New York and headed for the Hudson River, crossing it on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to drive south on the western side of the river.  The Hudson doesn't disappoint in presenting itself as one of America's mighty rivers.  I was interested to see a number of industrial plants along the west shore, and, of course, shipping, too.  It's a very broad river, at least where we were, and its bridges are impressive.  (Couldn't help but think about those poor people on I-5 in Washington State, yesterday, though.....)

The various secondary highways along our route in NY today all are related to highway 9:  9G, 9F, 9H, etc. We spent most of the drive down the Hudson on highway 9W.  Near Saugerties, I spotted a sign for a lighthouse, and in keeping with the spirit of this trip, turned left immediately to go check it out.  Turns out we got a little walk through the woods and wetlands to see it - it's about a half-mile walk to get out to it, and it's available as a B&B if you're lucky enough to get your reservation in.  It was quite windy along the water, the wind blowing downstream (south), but it was peaceful walking along, too.  Great views of the river, even in the wind.



After that, back on the road after our walk, and south to the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge . (I know - all this talk of bridges is like Rimmer's collection of photographs of early 20th century telegraph poles #reddwarfgeek) Then, Fishkill, our last stop on our epic adventure. No, the town name does not refer to dead fish!  It's from the Dutch, don't you know.  Anyway, it's as close as we could get a hotel to where we want to do some exploring - Rhinebeck Aerodrome and Hyde Park.  We didn't realize it until today, but there are three graduations this weekend:  Vassar, Marist, and West Point. Consequently, every hotel room for 50 miles is booked, and there are lots of "Proud West Point Grandparent"  bumper stickers around.  No matter: we're comfortable, had a great Italian meal in a restaurant bustling with happy locals, and, even if it rains (it will) we'll have a good day tomorrow!

Hard to believe the trip is almost over.  Lucky to have had such a great opportunity!

cheers,
--Kit and Nancy



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