The Berkshires

finally got covid from the Chicago trip and I got it BAD. incapacitated in bed for 5 days. Jen didn't get it. I wore a mask for the small amount of times I was not in bed and maybe Jen is just a superior human being.

 

Jen's bday weekend trip was our first time in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. We stayed at Seven Hills Inn. Good luck finding good food in Lennox though.

turns out Bartlett and Katie were in the Berkshires also so the next day we met up at The Norman Rockwell museum which is like holy ground for illustrators. It's amazing there I can't recommend it enough for artists and normies alike. 

photo reference rockwell shot of his friend's daughter for the painting "The Problem We All Live With"

Hilltop Orchards with the Bartletts

We got a drink in the basement dungeon like bar of the huge Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge which is actually really cool and next time we should stay there and Rockwell has painted it before. We all ate at Once Upon a Table around the corner

Seven Hills was nice cuz they had several camp fires

finally got to try Mont D'or cheese after missing it when i lived in Paris because its only available for a short window of time. This is a Swiss one and it was an eye popping $45!!!

shove in some garlic slices and top with a white wine like Arbois, Chasselas, chardonnay, sancerre, gerwurtztraminer, champagne, or even beer and make sure you bake it for long enough so its truly molten. I took it out and it wasn't totally molten and put it back in and when it was done it was much better. It was actually a lot of cheese for 5 people we struggled to finish it with potatoes, bread, and some charcuterie. Really good though, unique and I ended up buying 2 more for the 2 xmases we were supposed to have but forgot them in the fridge so then had to have 2 more cheese parties immediately in January. Our cheese shop, Cheese Board in park slope said they were only able to procure 12 of these so i ended up getting 3 out of 12 and I don't have regrets cuz the cheese goes a long way, its an event, and it is unique and delish.

my Alice in Wonderland bottles for Rabbit Hole Distillery arrived and they are beautes. 

new Fortnite loading screen art for the new season!

somehow this made it past the Nintendo censors because Nintendo is a VERY family friendly gaming system that wouldn't allow this.