Kate and I left for my inlaws after work on Tuesday to begin our nice long weekend. We knew leaving Wed would suck as we would only arrive in CT in time to get back in the car to head out for the beginning of our amazing weekend. So leaving Tuesday night was the way to go. We had a quick dinner and hit the road. To our delight there was no traffic and we made it up there quickly, relaxed for a bit and headed off to bed.
We had tickets to see James Taylor at Tanglewoods an outdoor venue in Lennox, MA (The Berkshires) on Thursday, July 3rd. Kate’s parents had kindly booked two nights at The Chesapeake Inn (a bed and breakfast) for Wednesday and Thursday after the show. This allowed us to experience The Berkshires, local culture, food and sights as well as to have a stress free concert experience as the Inn is only a 1/4 mile walk to the venue.
The Inn keeper, John, was an amazingly nice man. We really enjoyed his hospitality and he even endulged our odd questions with stories and background on his life. He allowed us to pick our breakfast the night before and shopped for everything fresh in the morning to prepare our own individual breakfast meals. Anything from breakfast meats (including a six ounce steak) to fresh fruits and juices were provided. This was Kate and my first stay at a bed and breakfast and if any of them can be on par with John and the Chesapeake Inn I think we’ll be doing this again.
On Thursday we relaxed around the Inn with a gloomy sky over us waiting for mother nature to let down with pooring rain. She heald out all afternoon and let loose just as Tanglewoods opened the gates at 4pm and we made a beeline to the lawn to setup our gear and begin the tailgating lawn seat extravaganza. The rain was brutal and did not let up until just before James Taylor came on stage. While it was chilly and certainly more wet than we’d have liked the experience was amazing and the venue was pretty full for a rain storm packed evening.
James Taylor was, as usual, absolutely amazing. He and his band played many of their classics as well as some stuff from a new album he’ll be releasing which is his first time ever doing cover songs from such artists as The Temptations. We all had an amazing time with great food, drink and of course an amazing concert. The local newspaper, The Berkshire Eagle, has a very good article on the concert goings.
After the concert it was a short walk back to the Inn where we played cards and laughed at the fools in their cars suffering through bumper to bumper traffic. We played a few games and turned in for the night so we could wake up energized and explore more of The Berkshires on the Fourth. I took a bunch of photos throughout the two days (none at the concert due to the rain).
Today we’re back in CT and after an awesome breakfast at our usual haunt we’re cooking up good food of our own. Since my in-laws know I love to bbq, grill or otherwise cook outdoors we’re making 16LBS of pork butt into pulled pork. We have two amazing recipes going. One is a mustard based one we’ve done before and we’re also doing a Memphis style recipe I’ve been aching to try for a long time. Below is a picture of the pork on the charcoal grill just before it started its two hour smoking session. I’ve already stolen a taste of each and they’re amazing so far. Neither of them are even dressed with their respective sauces yet! I can’t wait.
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