New England Vacation Vignette 2: Another pleasant visit to Northampton and its classic namesake brewery.

2019 vintage.

Again in 2019, just as before in 2017, we made our base near Northampton at a delightful Airbnb just north of the city. I'm happy to share information about it, so contact me privately if you're headed that way.

There was less time than to roam than our previous trip, as we spent most of our 2019 stay with Diana's niece and her family in nearby South Hadley. However, we still managed to indulge two visits to the outstanding Northampton Brewery. Following is my account from April 18, 2017, which should be largely accurate.

Note: The Airbnb cat was no less friendly the second time. What a sweetheart.

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New England 2017: The many delights of Northampton, and a digression on Jonathan Edwards.

The old folks (that's us) decided to give the kids a break on Tuesday, and with yet another pretty day dawning, we elected to spend the morning and early afternoon in Northampton.

I'll get straight to the point: I really like Northampton. If it turns out we'll be making regular visits to the vicinity ... well, I can adapt. At our current level of income attainment, living there is out of the question, but visiting is a blast.

Street parking in downtown Northampton is exhaustively metered, and most of these spaces are 50 cents per hour. There's also a large parking garage one block off Main Street, which costs the same as the meters.

Adjacent to the parking garage is a row of buildings that includes the fantastic Northampton Brewery, and a few yards south of the brewery are two surface parking lots. The surface lot fee is only 25 cents an hour, and what's more, one of the city's many shared use paths passes between the two lots.

We parked, bought five hours of car storage for the sum of available quarters in my pocket, and started walking -- though not just yet on the shared use path. First there was the vital matter of coffee, and perhaps a nice doughnut or two.

These we found in abundance at Glazed Doughnut Shop. There are as many Dunkin' Doughnut shops in New England as drug stores in Southern Indiana, and they're to be avoided, seeing as numerous local (better) options usually can be found with a bit of effort.

Duly refueled, the longer-range stroll began. Two hours and stray espressos later, we'd circled northward through lovely neighborhoods, all the way back downtown, where I stopped to peruse one of the historical markers and learned about the life of Jonathan Edwards.

Not Jonathan "Sunshine" Edwards the musician, who lives in Portland, Maine.

Rather, it's Jonathan "Fire and Brimstone" Edwards the 18th-century theologian renowned for his eloquence. Edwards preached in Northampton during the 1730s and 40s, and even then the town was well-heeled, suggesting that spiritual redemption (Great Awakening) was necessary.

Edwards' tenure in Northampton eventually came to a messy end, but I'm fascinated to learn that he apparently was a more complicated thinker than some modern fundamentalists care to acknowledge. In particular, he did not reject science, instead attributing it to God's bounty. In fairness, there were repercussions.

Did you know that Jonathan Edwards died from a small pox inoculation? by Bob Schoone-Jongen (Historical Horizons)

... Edwards embraced the new science of his day, especially new techniques being used to combat diseases. When small pox swept into Princeton, New Jersey during the winter of 1757-58, Edwards, the local college’s newly minted president, got a shot from a reputable doctor. Thirty-seven days later Jonathan Edwards was dead from the shot.

Musings on the life of Edwards made me hungry. It was time for lunch, and where else but Northampton Brewery for sustenance and even more history?

Here is an account of a Best Bitter to return for, as written in September of 2016 after our first visit.

A lovely Best Bitter at Northampton Brewery.

 ... What impressed me most was a Daniel Shays Best Bitter. So few breweries in my neighborhood (anywhere?) bother any longer with stylistically accurate English-influenced styles. Northampton Brewery's version reminded me a bit of the ESB at Broad Ripple Brewing Company, though milder and at a lower alcohol content ... precisely as it should be.

You should be asking, "But Roger, who is Daniel Shays?"

Follow the link to find out about Shays, another interesting regional character.

Tuesday Phase One ended with a walk across the Norwottuck Rail Trail - Connecticut River Bridge. Neither bells nor whistles, just essential functionality. Perhaps some day this lesson will migrate to the heartland.

Our Airbnb hosts have cats, and seldom are felines as friendly to guests as this one.

After a siesta, Tuesday Phase Two commenced with a short drive back into Northampton for carry-out brick oven pies from Pizza Paradiso.

We conveyed the pizzas (mine had lovely anchovies) to South Hadley, where Jen and Ruby were waiting, and Ben was home from work.

He was eager to lead me on a further exploration of his garage beer fridge, especially a collection of high-gravity beers from Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company, which operates exclusively above a threshold of 8% abv.

This gravity sampling came perilously close to intoxicating me, which doubtless was Ben's objective all along.

Craft beer?

Craftier youth.

New England 2017: Lots of Naismiths, and so a visit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts seems fitting and proper.

As is my usual custom, I'll be posting photos, commentary and links about our trip; the daily accounts will be back-dated to coincide with their occurrence. It won't be the most thrilling reading, but in addition to whatever else NAC may or may not have become over the years, it's still a personal blog, and you're fully entitled to views of our holiday.

We've stayed at a variety of Airbnb properties since our first foray into the sharing economy back in 2010. Our choice of lodging in Northampton in 2017 was located just outside of town in a bucolic rural setting. It was exemplary. We had a private bedroom and bath, and shared the remainder of the house with delightful hosts who produced bagels and cereal each morning and dined alongside us.

On Wednesday morning, we mentioned to Rachael and David that we planned on a visit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in nearby Springfield. Rachael was delighted, and asked if we knew who Dr. James Naismith was.

"He was inventor of basketball," I said. "You can't fool me -- I'm a Hoosier."

Rachael proceeded to execute a 360-degree slam dunk, not unlike Dr. J.

"James Naismith was my great-grandfather," she said, pointing to the framed photo of a house hanging behind her on the wall. I'd been looking at it for three days without thinking to ask what it meant.

The key to the photo is the rock resting atop the boulder in the bottom left corner. It references the medieval children's game called "duck on a rock."

In “Duck on a Rock”, a large stone (“duck”) would be placed on top of an even larger rock or tree stump or the like. One unlucky player was then given the job of guarding the rock. All the other players would then have one rock to throw at the “duck” each, in order to knock it off the tree stump or rock it had been placed on. If the “duck” was knocked off before the throwers had all thrown their rocks, the defender will cease defending and pick up the “duck” and go on the offensive. Unfortunately, he does not get to chuck the duck back at the people who were just chucking rocks in his general direction. Rather, after the duck is knocked off, all the players throwing stones must go and retrieve one of the thrown stones and then make it safely back to the throwing line. After the defender picks up the fallen “duck” and places it back on the rock or tree stump, he/she is then allowed to run around and tag any of the players who have not yet made it back to the throwing line. If a player is tagged, they become the new guard.

Given a scant two weeks to devise an indoor game capable of being played in winter, Naismith drew upon this and other experiences, producing what we worship today as basketball.

In short order, we received an overview of family history from Rachael, and shortly thereafter David walked into the dining room with a pair of complementary tickets to the HoF, which he'd received, stashed, and forgotten.

And so off we went to Springfield.

The first inductees (above) and Ed Diddle's red towel (below).

Bob Lanier wore size 22 basketball shoes. Mine are 16. Does size matter?

We arrived early, and the court was deserted. Within 30 minutes, it was filled with children shooting baskets.

The late Craig Sager's coat has bits of real gold woven into the fabric.

The remainder of the day was relaxed. With Ruby at daycare, we met Jen for lunch in Northampton at a natural foods restaurant called Paul and Elizabeth's. which is located at the epicenter of downtown, within a fascinating feat of adaptive reuse: Thornes Marketplace.

150 Main Street has been the cornerstone of downtown Northampton and at the center of shoppers’ row for more than a century. Pressed tin ceilings, hardwood floors and staircases, and a host of period details give this contemporary shopping center an old world charm that belies its 55,000 square foot size.

Built in 1873, the McCallum’s Dry Goods store expanded twice through the Calvin Coolidge years to become the McCallum’s department store.

In 1975, Floyd Andrus, a local developer, purchased the historic department store out of bankruptcy and began a comprehensive renovation highlighting the original wood detailing.

In 1977, Brinkley and Gordon Thorne, together with their wives Mazie Cox and Annie Woodhull, purchased the building from Mr. Andrus, and renamed it Thornes Marketplace. In 1989, a parking facility was constructed behind the building connecting directly to Thornes by a skywalk.

In 2006, Thornes was purchased by a group of local real estate investors. The new ownership group has been working diligently on the execution of substantial building improvements to enhance the overall shopping experience at Thornes.

Today Thornes, under its familiar green awning, teems with traffic exploring the sights, sounds and smells of a contemporary bazaar. Locals and visitors alike are attracted to the vibrant colors and unique merchandise while helpful independent store owners enjoy being able to provide you with the highest quality service. 

On the other side of the parking garage? Why, Northampton Brewery, of course.

Meanwhile, in middle of this photo of Northampton's main drag, you can barely make out the Summit House atop Mt. Holyoke, to which we'd hiked on Monday.

Returning to South Hadley, Ruby came home and I foraged for leftover pizza from the night before.

Pro tip: Put anchovies on your pizza, and others dare not swipe it.

As a personal postscript, most readers already know that I've never had children, and tend to shy away from touchy-feely in this and other instances of interaction to which I'm unaccustomed.

This probably won't be changing.

However, for once in my life I can state that spending time with a one year old was providential for me. There have been too many deaths the past 16 months. Perhaps it was the right time for me to absorb a lesson about "life goes on," and who better to teach it than Ruby?

New England 2017: The many delights of Northampton, and a digression on Jonathan Edwards.

As is my usual custom, I'll be posting photos, commentary and links about our trip; the daily accounts will be back-dated to coincide with their occurrence. It won't be the most thrilling reading, but in addition to whatever else NAC may or may not have become over the years, it's still a personal blog, and you're fully entitled to views of our holiday.

The old folks (that's us) decided to give the kids a break on Tuesday, and with yet another pretty day dawning, we elected to spend the morning and early afternoon in Northampton.

I'll get straight to the point: I really like Northampton. If it turns out we'll be making regular visits to the vicinity ... well, I can adapt. At our current level of income attainment, living there is out of the question, but visiting is a blast.

Street parking in downtown Northampton is exhaustively metered, and most of these spaces are 50 cents per hour. There's also a large parking garage one block off Main Street, which costs the same as the meters.

Adjacent to the parking garage is a row of buildings that includes the fantastic Northampton Brewery, and a few yards south of the brewery are two surface parking lots. The surface lot fee is only 25 cents an hour, and what's more, one of the city's many shared use paths passes between the two lots.

We parked, bought five hours of car storage for the sum of available quarters in my pocket, and started walking -- though not just yet on the shared use path. First there was the vital matter of coffee, and perhaps a nice doughnut or two.

These we found in abundance at Glazed Doughnut Shop. There are as many Dunkin' Doughnut shops in New England as drug stores in Southern Indiana, and they're to be avoided, seeing as numerous local (better) options usually can be found with a bit of effort.

Duly refueled, the longer-range stroll began. Two hours and stray espressos later, we'd circled northward through lovely neighborhoods, all the way back downtown, where I stopped to peruse one of the historical markers and learned about the life of Jonathan Edwards.

Not Jonathan "Sunshine" Edwards the musician, who lives in Portland, Maine.

Rather, it's Jonathan "Fire and Brimstone" Edwards the 18th-century theologian renowned for his eloquence. Edwards preached in Northampton during the 1730s and 40s, and even then the town was well-heeled, suggesting that spiritual redemption (Great Awakening) was necessary.

Edwards' tenure in Northampton eventually came to a messy end, but I'm fascinated to learn that he apparently was a more complicated thinker than some modern fundamentalists care to acknowledge. In particular, he did not reject science, instead attributing it to God's bounty. In fairness, there were repercussions.

Did you know that Jonathan Edwards died from a small pox inoculation? by Bob Schoone-Jongen (Historical Horizons)

... Edwards embraced the new science of his day, especially new techniques being used to combat diseases. When small pox swept into Princeton, New Jersey during the winter of 1757-58, Edwards, the local college’s newly minted president, got a shot from a reputable doctor. Thirty-seven days later Jonathan Edwards was dead from the shot.

Musings on the life of Edwards made me hungry. It was time for lunch, and where else but Northampton Brewery for sustenance and even more history?

Here is an account of a Best Bitter to return for, as written in September of 2016 after our first visit.

A lovely Best Bitter at Northampton Brewery.

 ... What impressed me most was a Daniel Shays Best Bitter. So few breweries in my neighborhood (anywhere?) bother any longer with stylistically accurate English-influenced styles. Northampton Brewery's version reminded me a bit of the ESB at Broad Ripple Brewing Company, though milder and at a lower alcohol content ... precisely as it should be.

You should be asking, "But Roger, who is Daniel Shays?"

Follow the link to find out about Shays, another interesting regional character.

Tuesday Phase One ended with a walk across the Norwottuck Rail Trail - Connecticut River Bridge. Neither bells nor whistles, just essential functionality. Perhaps some day this lesson will migrate to the heartland.

Our Airbnb hosts have cats, and seldom are felines as friendly to guests as this one.

After a siesta, Tuesday Phase Two commenced with a short drive back into Northampton for carry-out brick oven pies from Pizza Paradiso.

We conveyed the pizzas (mine had lovely anchovies) to South Hadley, where Jen and Ruby were waiting, and Ben was home from work.

He was eager to lead me on a further exploration of his garage beer fridge, especially a collection of high-gravity beers from Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company, which operates exclusively above a threshold of 8% abv.

This gravity sampling came perilously close to intoxicating me, which doubtless was Ben's objective all along.

Craft beer?

Craftier youth.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 7: Northampton MA and Labor Day in a Blue State.

Don't ask me why my subconscious elected to disgorge this number on Labor Day. 

It took a while to sink in, and when it did, Northampton boggled the mind, this city in Massachusetts that seemingly wears "leftist" on its sleeve -- owns it, admits to it, and probably has Democrats who really are Democrats, without the "Dixie" and "Disney" qualifiers so prevalent in my own antebellum milieu.

Photo credit.

Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. Based on U.S. Census demographics, election returns, and other criteria, the website Epodunk rates Northampton as the most politically liberal medium-size city (population 25,000–99,000) in the United States. The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian a high number of same-sex households, and is a popular destination for the LGBTQ community.

Concurrently, Northampton's Smith College bills itself as "Individual, Global Exceptional," although not necessarily implying Maoist, as alumnae like Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan might attest, though Gloria Steinem graduated from there, too.

As did Julia Child, and by virtue of free association, the food at the venerable Northampton Brewery was excellent, as were the beers. In fact, any brewery selling t-shirts adorned with the 1960s "peace" sign is okay by me, even if I promptly spilled chowder on mine. More about the brewery here:

LINK SOON

Northampton is very near South Hadley, headquarters for our Massachusetts stay. Jen and Ben both thought it would be a good place to have lunch and stroll on a sunny, humid Labor Day Monday, and they were absolutely right. Once again little Ruby was packed into car and we made the short drive.

Following lunch, a walk brought us to Smith College's botanic garden.

The Botanic Garden of Smith College was founded over one hundred years ago by L. Clarke Seelye, the College's first president, who expressed his hope that the whole campus could be developed as a botanic garden so that it might be of scientific as well as aesthetic value. The landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame, was enlisted to create that plan.

Eventually we grabbed a sidewalk table at a pizza joint and had a drink. Ruby maintained admirable composure throughout, and this photo is my favorite of the trip.

That evening, we were back at the Yarde Tavern in South Hadley. Jen was going back to work, and the following day would be Ruby's first in daycare. We planned to hit the road early, with along drive the Frederick, Maryland on the itinerary.

I miss New England already. Something tells me that as Ruby grows up, we'll be going back there often.