July 6th, 2008. 26 miles. Berlin, NY. Mowed field. Warm, sunny.
Western foothiils of the Berkshires, we have returned to New York State. While we’re all familiar with the idea that we have to park the show somewhere every day, Berlin is a town of 500 people, so why park it here? Passed the historic Shaker villages of Hancock MA and New Lebanon, NY this morning. The Shaker influence in the eastern Berkshires is haunting and easily seen in the odd house built here and there by Shaker craftsmen. Berlin sits onRt 22, the old Albany Boston Post Road. In what was once its commercial area old taverns and hotels dating to 1799 are now decaying apartments for workers at the local mill. There are, I imagine, ghost stories here where the Dutch influence ran head on into flinty New Englanders.
Western foothiils of the Berkshires, we have returned to New York State. While we’re all familiar with the idea that we have to park the show somewhere every day, Berlin is a town of 500 people, so why park it here? Passed the historic Shaker villages of Hancock MA and New Lebanon, NY this morning. The Shaker influence in the eastern Berkshires is haunting and easily seen in the odd house built here and there by Shaker craftsmen. Berlin sits onRt 22, the old Albany Boston Post Road. In what was once its commercial area old taverns and hotels dating to 1799 are now decaying apartments for workers at the local mill. There are, I imagine, ghost stories here where the Dutch influence ran head on into flinty New Englanders.
