We went out to Stockbridge, MA for a day in the mountains, including a visit to Naumkeag and the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. The day was beautiful and we spent a lot of time meandering along winding mountain roads through tiny mountain towns that never make the news. We had a pleasant lunch at Patisserie Lenox and explored that delightful town for a while as well.

Naumkeag was as advertised: a gorgeous house with gardens on splendid grounds, fine vistas, and cooling breezes.

Alas! The Berkshire Botanical Gardens were not quite as advertised, unless you are a terribly cynical viewer of the advertising... It seemed we had already seen all the best parts on the website, and there just wasn't much else to see. It's not nearly as big as the Boothbay Botanical Gardens or Heritage Plantation or even Tower Hill, nor as elegant as Blithewold, the Mount, or Harkness. We cannot recommend the Berkshire Botanical Gardens as a destination.

The Berkshires are home to some fine brewers and one excellent distiller. Berkshire Mountain Distillers are important makers of Artisanal Gins made in New England. Their award-winning Greylock Gin can be found on many bars throughout the region and in eastern Massachusetts, but they also make a small-batch special limited edition gin called Ethereal Gin. I have never bought Ethereal, mostly because I was plenty happy with the Greylock (my house gin) but also because I had no idea what to expect from such a project.

We had dinner at Perigee, just outside of town headed for Lee. It is rare enough to find the Ethereal on a bar; Tim the bartender had five different Ethereal Gins! Here was an opportunity to sample them all against each other for a real apples-to-apples comparison. It was fun. The report has  its own page.