This could be one of my favorite issues of UpCountry Magazine to date.
Why? Because it’s taken me to a couple of places that I’ve never been in, like to the top of Mount Equinox in Manchester, or at least haven’t been in a while, like Hildene, the home of Robert Todd Lincoln. I’m resolving to visit both spots at some point this summer because UpCountry’s Telly Halkias and this magazine’s associate editor Jennifer Huberdeau have inspired me with their pieces on both places, respectively. (Read about Mount Equinox on Page 50, and Hildene on Page 69.)
And it’s one of my favorite issues of UpCountry because it’s about so many of my favorite summertime destinations, like Tanglewood and the Bennington Monument.
Who isn’t looking forward to the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood celebration of the anniversary of the great Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday? The maestro was an amazing force and a true character who adored Tanglewood. As the classical music critic Andrew Pincus points out in his reflection upon the legendary conductor and composer on Page 42: “Everything about Bernstein … was larger than life.”
Of course, there’s baseball. And this region is steeped in baseball history, as Rebecca Sheir points out in “Baseball in the Berkshires” (Page 37). When you stop by to see a Pittsfield Suns game at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Mass., you’ll have to make a point to visit some of the city’s historic baseball landmarks, too.
If you have a family with young children like I do, my wife and I particularly enjoy heading up to the Bennington Monument in Vermont. (Cherise Madigan writes about the location on Page 27.) The kids like to run around on the grass around the monument, then we head to the gift shop nearby, and finally we ascend the elevator to the top for the view.
It’s a busy summer with a lot to take in. We wouldn’t have it any other way here in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont.
Kevin Moran, Editor
