Here is a subject I have never written about…sports bars around Hampton Terrace in Lenox.   This was inspired by a couple that just checked in.   SInce tonight's important game is only being televised by the NFL Network, which is not carried by 65% of cable providers, they wanted to know where they could go to watch the game.

Although not a "sports bar" per se, The Heritage Tavern is the closest thing within walking distance.    A place where the locals hang, there is a pool table, peanut shells on the floor and wide screens in key places.   Recently remodeled, The Heritage has a typical bar menu of wings, burgers, wraps, pizzas and baskets of fried food.   Also within walking distance, many of the upscale restaurants in Lenox have televisions behind the bar:   Alta, Firefly, Prime Italian Steakhouse.    A different experience:   depends how you enjoy your game…with a $12 martini or a $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Open for less than a month, Halpins Pub and Grub is located on 7/20 North about a five minute drive from Hampton Terrace.   Jeff and Sue Halpin used to be regulars at The Heritage, so it will be interesting to see how their dive into the bar business might divide the Lenox bar crowd…but there is no doubt that Halpin's is more of a sports bar model.   There are wide screens on every wall and the current renovation of the old "Sophie's" restaurant is about as complete a gut job as you could do.   So since our couple was looking for a place where the game would be treated as more an event, than something that happened to be on the televisions, I sent them there.   The menu is very similar to The Heritage.

Another five minute drive north takes you into Pittsfield, where there are multiple choices….Bobby Hudpucker's on North Street, Patrick's Pub in the center of town (the best food on the list) and a new one, opening next week called "Jae's Press Room," which I am sure will be great.   Jae recently bought the "Spice" restaurant on North Street, which has been met with immediate success and lines at the front door.   Adjoining Spice was "Burger," an extension of the same restaurant which recently closed so that Jae could transform that space into what I am sure will be the most upscale sports bar in the region.

At Hampton Terrace, we have twin 15-year-old sons, so our televisions are usually tuned to Sports Center or whatever the important game of the minute is.   Most of our guests are into the Patriots, Jets, Giants, Red Sox, Yankees, Celtics, Nets, or Knicks (well, maybe not the Knicks) and the Berkshire sports bars are a good mix of fans rooting for both sides of a rivalry.   Join us at Hampton Terrace and let us send you out to watch the game.

Most of you know that our off-season Romantic Weekend Package (now through late June) includes a $30 Gift Certificate to Nejaimes….the extraordinary wine and gourmet food shop located in Lenox and Stockbridge.

But during the month of November, Nejaimes features their WINE SPECTACULAR SALE, when they discount much of the store from 15% to 30%.   And these are not discontinued, expiring, or less popular selections.   In fact, they include some of their most popular wines, because they stock up for the summer and Fall crowd, and what is still left by November is offered for prices designed to reduce their inventory.  For example, ALL Australian reds in the store are 25% off.  

So if you are a wine lover who takes advantage of wine discounts by buying in bulk, and you consider our $30 "starter," you could significantly reduce…or maybe even off-set the cost of your  2-night stay at Hampton Terrace with your savings.

And always, regardless of the season, Nejaimes gives a 15% discount for wine by the case…even mixed cases.   Extraordinary.

Hampton Terrace continues to be ranked #1 by Trip Advisor reviews, and our off-season rate is $189/night for all rooms in our two main buildings and $249 for the king suites.  

We include full breakfast, and most of our rooms feature fireplaces and Jacuzzis.  We have a private heirloom bar on the property, stocked with glasses and openers…just in case you can't resist the urge to start digging into your case of wine.   Enjoy!

At Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Lenox, MA,  we attempt to make every guest happy for every night they stay with us.   Since 1999, when we bought the inn, that represents 26,300 opportunities to meet or fall short of expectations.

Let us start by saying that we KNOW we cannot please all of the people all of the time….although we try very hard.   It is especially difficult to do that in a 110-year-old historic home, where every room is different and expectations are hard to manage.   For those who are looking for the uniformity and guarantees of a cookie-cutter hotel chain, they may not be prepared for what they find in an inn….a place where such guarantees are replaced by distinct experiences, authenticity and the warm embrace of an innkeeper hoping to earn a repeat guest. More on Hampton Terrace #1 in Lenox, TripAdvisor.com

For many decades there has been concern that there is not enough music education in the schools.   But one of the by-products of so much classical music in the Berkshires is a plethora of music education opportunities. More on Music in the Berkshires: Classical Beyond Tanglewood, Part 3

You can find classical music of some variety just about every night at Tanglewood from mid-June until late August every year.   But on any given night in the Berkshires there are thousands of visitors and second homeowners who are willing to support music at other venues up and down the county.

The Concerts at Tannery Pond is a series of six or seven chamber music evenings held in an 1834 Shaker building in New Lebanon, New York from May through October.   Established in 1991 by photographer/pianist Christian Steiner, the annual series combines music with a serene setting that would be hard to beat anywhere.

Continuing in the chamber music genre, there is the South Mountain Concert Series, held on weekends in September each year.   Located just north of Lenox, the series has been presented since 1918 and is held in a hall built that specifically for chamber music.   Performers over the years have included Leonard Bernstein, Gary Graffman, Leontyne Price and Peter Serkin, and quartets have included the Borromeo, the Emerson, The Guarneri, the Tokyo, the Julliard, the Orion and the Vermeer. More on Music in the Berkshires: Classical Beyond Tanglewood, Part 2

Of course, Tanglewood created the reason people began coming to the Berkshires annually to hear classical music.   But under the rationale of "critical mass," numerous arts presenters have sprung up over the years to give concert-goers multiple nightly options.

The Berkshire Choral Festival began in 1982 and performs weekends from mid-July to early August at the Berkshire School in Southern Berkshire County.   The Springfield Symphony provides the musical accompaniment.   If you are an experienced choral singer, and you would like to spend a week in the Berkshires, it is possible to sing with the Berkshire Choral Festival.   They also offer opportunities to sing with the Chorus in England, Canada and Austria.

The Berkshire Opera presents fully staged performances, featuring internationally known opera stars, on multiple venues throughout the Berkshires.  

The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield and the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington also present an annual slate of classical music.   Their websites offer calendars and the opportunity to purchase tickets.

Hampton Terrace in Lenox also offers classical music…much more ambiantly.   We have hidden speakers in our common area rooms that play classical background music during the day and jazz at night.   We also have a 1929 Steinway L Grand piano which is in great shape, is always in tune, and is frequently played by guests.   So for a great Berkshire bed and breakfast experience, stay at Hampton Terrace, one of the best reviewed Lenox inns.

What is he doing?   Promoting another Berkshire lodging option?   I guess that could be the end result of this entry, because I do really like everyone I know at the Red Lion Inn, including Nancy Fitzpatrick and Brian Butterworth.   But I am really just trying to promote their nightly music, and if I lose a few potential guests along the way, so be it. More on Music in the Berkshires: The Red Lion Inn

In 1937, when the Depression and taxation caused the gild to come off the Gilded Age, the great mansions and estates of Lenox were largely abandoned.   Many became institutional:   schools, asylums or monasteries, and some spent more than half a century empty.   But luckily, one was donated to the Boston Symphony…and the rest, as they say, is history.

Over the decades, as the audiences who attended concerts at Tanglewood grew, more and more of these great estates and historic "cottages" were able to be put back into service:   Cranwell, Wheatleigh, Blantyre…and even Hampton Terrace, one of the original "Berkshire Cottages."   In fact, most of the Lenox inns are the former second homes of the turn-of-the-century's rich and famous.   Tanglewood itself, one mile down the hill from Lenox town center, consists of multiple performance venues inhabiting a most embracing rural setting.   Lenonard Bernstein, a alum of the affiliated Tanglewood Institute always proclaimed that the Tanglewood property, and the Berkshires in general, had captured his soul. More on Music in the Berkshires: Tanglewood