It is wet & blowy this morning and quite unseasonably warm with a top of 20 predicted. From our top storey window we watch the rainbow leaves as they tumble down from the trees around the property. We are the only guests with more coming tonight for the weekend so we eat breakfast alone in the ornate dining room. We are served a poached pear for starters, then 2 perfectly poached eggs on toast, elegantly decorated and served with an accompanying rissole which I thought was a bit salty & a bit unnecessary. Dressed for the weather we go for a walk around this artsy town of Great Barrington and as usual when we walk, we find lots of interesting places. The shops are beautiful but oh so expensive. One great find is an organic supermarket with the most amazing array of quite reasonably priced products and an outside display of colourful pumpkins for sale for halloween decoration.

This is not the weather for walking unfortunately so we have another driving day of discovery. First is the picture perfect town of Stockbridge, the home of the painter Norman Rockwell, but because it is so wet, the walk is very short and we head off again. What does one do on a day like this? Shop of course! The town of Lee has huge factory outlet centre so we head there for some retail therapy. There is no sales tax on clothing in Massachussets so this centre is very popular especially for people from the neighbouring states of New York and Connecticut. Brad parked himself in the food hall and people watched while I checked out the shops. I'm not keen on factory outlet shopping and this place was no better than those at home. However I did find a lipstick I use for less than half of what I pay at home. A small success!

Still raining, we head to Hancock Shaker Village which began in the late 1870s with about 100 Believers consolidating a community on land donated by local farmers who had been converted to the Shaker movement. They named their utopian village The City of Peace where they developed a large variety of crafts and industries which they maintained until the early 1900s when the movement was disbanded due to a lack of converts. The village is now a living history museum open to the public.

Tonight we decide to try Castle St Cafe which has been recommended to us by guests at the inn. There is a jazz band playing when we walk in and the place is packed with people aged 50+. Great Barrington is a great weekend escape for New Yorkers & we guess that most of this crowd are the escapees. Smart thinking prevails and we share a mediterranean plate as well as the main course of steak & veg basically. But the steak is 12 oz (375gm) - thank goodness we shared - and cooked to perfection. Most of the eateries here belong to the "local grown" association and all food is sourced locally. Excellent quality.