Concierge!

Touring Tanglewood ~ Boston Pops

Hotel: Blantyre, Lennox, MA

Tanglewood Program: Tuesday, July 10th Boston Pops

We arrive at the hotel in mid-Sunday afternoon. My companion has an appointment in the Potting Shed for a “Relaxation Masssage”. I review my choices, should I take this opportunity to walk the grounds? Or perhaps simply relax in the Music Room or on the Terrace with an unfinished NY Times article and a refreshing Chablis. I choose the latter.

At six-thirty we wend our way down to the wine cellar where we meet our friends and are greeted by sommelier Luc Chevalier. He introduces us to his latest purchases from California and Bordeaux and perhaps some of the “not so” latest. It is almost eight when we sit down to dinner. The dining room is exquisite, as is the food and the suggested wine . The conversation? Our cars, of course, and where to go tomorrow.

These are the Berkshires at their best we have much from which to chose. A light desert, an excellent Cognac and we are off to our room for a relatively early night.

We have decided on an early nine holes of golf. We are thru by 10:30 and on the road by twelve. We decide to drive south and see what is happening at Lime Rock Park. Perhaps it is a school day or someone is testing. Either way, it is always great to be there, even if it only for a few hours.

But we are not in a rush and the weather is very pleasant so we open the sunroof but leave the air conditioning on low. By the time we arrive, the lunchtime crowd at The Boathouse in Lakeville Ct. has thinned out and we find a pleasant table. A salad, small piece of poached salmon and a glass of white wine and then off to the track.

We are in luck! It is a track day and all manner of cars, some belonging to old friends are being exercised. We stay for a while, but not too long. We have our own driving to do and the quiet Monday roads of Connecticut and Western Mass beckon. It’s a spirited drive taking the back way through the woods to Blantyre. We arrive at 5:00 and relax for an hour before meeting the group in the lobby and heading to downtown Lennox for dinner.

We dine at a small restaurant we have been told by the hotel has excellent food and service. The two don’t always go hand in hand in a crowded seasonal resort town.

Our companions also had a good day. They drove north to Williamstown and visited the Clark Institute, the roads are beautiful and so is quaint Williamstown. We will go tomorrow.

After dinner, we walk back to Blantyre, looking in the shop windows and talking about yesterday, today and tomorrow. Blantyre, the roads, the weather and the Ferrari have all made for a wonderful adventure. A hour later we are tucked in to fresh, cool sheets and the Berkshires has worked its magic again.

A late breakfast and we are on the road. This time we are with friends. They have a Jaguar coupe, about the same vintage as our Ferrari and he is an excellent driver. We met at a 6th Gear track day and became fast friends. This is the first time our wives have met and they have hit it off splendidly. That's always a plus.

The drive to Williamstown is well suited to both cars. The long sweepers are made for these engines and we cruise comfortably to the Clark where we enjoy a late light lunch. A quick tour of the just opened expansion and we are on the road again, finding new ways back to Blantyre.

We arrive at 4:30 and relax a little before picking up our picnic basket, blanket and wine for the” Pops” concert. The hotel van delivers us and our new friends plus the other two couples in the group to Tanglewood. We are early, there is still plenty of light and we find a spot on the lawn to lay out our blankets and set up our lawn chairs. While I open a bottle of white and a bottle of red, my companion has opened up the wonderful Blantyre picnic basket. Warm chicken breast, moist and still fresh from the oven, potato salad made in heaven, foie gras, imported cheeses, beautiful fruit, cloth napkins and real silverware. The wine is perfect and life is good. We finish dinner as the sun is setting and the orchestra is tuning. Maybe time to take a minute to stroll around or maybe just close our eyes for a second or two.

The pops were great, the music and the memories filled an entire two and one-half hours. We finally hit those lovely fresh sheets in our beautiful room at 11:30. Not to worry, today is an easy day drive back along Route 2 to Northampton, lunch at the Inn, a little shopping on the main street and some exercise to the car on the winding road back to Boston.

A wonderful plan.

Cost: $2,500. Per couple.

Value: Priceless

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