We went to the big Brimfield Antiques Fair on Saturday. It's a three-times-a-year tradition for the past 20 years for us. After prowling the fields for treasures, we go for a scenic drive (of course). Depending on what you're looking for, you can spend all day browsing booths from a thousand or more dealers from all over the country. Lorna looks at everything, often requiring two days to do it. I look only at kitchen gear, dishes, and barware.

Over the years I have stocked my kitchen and dining room with an assortment of neat, good-condition old serving dishes, bowls, and barware like my grandmother might have used. I like them much better than the things you find today at Bed, Bath, and Beyond! I use these things all the time, and I like the color and the homey sense they bring to my kitchen. I posted an album of photos of Brimfield dishes and kitchenware at my Facebook page. 

Of course, not everything at the fair is as homey as grandma's mixing bowls. One of my favorite discoveries was the Tantalus, an Art Deco bit of glamor barware that comprises two amethyst-glass decanters and six matching cordial glasses on a chrome tray. The decanters are locked within a contraption that holds their stoppers in place and keeps the round decanters firmly in place on twin chrome pedestals. It was a steal at $795! Well, maybe next time...

After we finished in Brimfield, we took a drive, the way we do, through scenic farm country along Route 32 from Palmer, MA down through Connecticut to the coast. Central and Eastern Connecticut is cow country and horse country; there are some very pleasant drives there, among gentle hills and green pastures.

Along the way we passed through Willimantic, which according to legend was once saved from an invasion of British soldiers by a loud chorus of frogs. The frogs are honored at the four corners of the main bridge in town. Willimantic is not farm from the UConn main campus at Storrs. I was lucky to find a growler of Back East Brewing Misty Mountain IPA at a gas station there.

It wasn't much later that we passed through Norwich and reached the coast. The farm country continues into Rhode Island; it was near Watch Hill in far western Rhode Island that we met these two adorable tykes. After exploring waterfront neighborhoods of both the ritzy and the trailer-park variety, we got on the highway to Newport and Tiverton for dinner, and then home after dark.

Best of Show for this trip goes to Treehouse Brewing, in Brimfield. Last July we visited them as they were just getting started. It was brewer Nate Lanier who convinced me that today's IPAs are much more interesting than they used to be.

On this visit we were warmly greeted by Dean, the chief, who showed us the shiny new hardware they have had to install to keep up with growing demand.

On this visit they were filling growlers with an IPA, a milk stout and a blonde session ale that I am very eager to try. I got the stout and the blonde to bring to my beerhound friends for sampling.

I really like watching the artisan brewers and other food producers of New England as they grow. This is an exciting time to be a foodie in New England!