"There was a shopping mall Now, it's all covered with…read moreflowers" (Talking Heads) Our May 10th visit to the Bridge of Flowers was marked by two things -one thing we saw and one thing that we didn't see. What we saw were gates locked on both sides of the 400-foot-long bridge to prevent foot traffic. What we didn't see were any flowers on the Bridge of Flowers! We learned that when the Bridge was opened in the Spring, something was wrong with the soil in the flower beds that line the bridge. I heard that the vendor that delivered the soil delivered the wrong thing, so the planted flowers weren't exactly flourishing. Everything (over 500 varieties of annuals and perennials) had to be dug out, all of the plants went to temporary" foster homes" in the community, and the bad soil was removed and replaced with the correct type of soil. Everything should be back to normal very soon, so we'll have to make a second visit to the Bridge of Flowers to actually see the flowers.

I absolutely love visiting The Bridge of Flowers in the lovely New England town of Shelburne Falls,…read moreMA. I've been here several times over the years, and the bridge is just so beautiful in the summertime when it is filled with blooms. I love that it's free to walk over the bridge and enjoy the flowers, and I love browsing the shops and stopping for ice cream nearby. The bridge gardens are well maintained by a crew of volunteers, and although they have had hardships to endure such as structural repairs to the bridge and most recently problems with the soil, they always persevere and keep this beautiful landmark going. I will always stop in and enjoy the Bridge of Flowers whenever I'm in the area. Thanks so much to each and every person who keeps this bridge in bloom!

This was, by far, my favorite covered bridge of the trip! Not only is it strikingly beautiful and…read morehistoric, but the surrounding area is everything you could want - bucolic, peaceful, colorful, and a perfect place to practice any photography skills! It has become the place I return to in my mind when I'm stressed or meditating lol! This is the largest bridge in the area and was built in 1864 to replace the existing bridge. There's plenty of room to park off to the side and the bridge has walkways on either side that span the length of the bridge. There are also pathways that take you down to the riverbank for more views! The river is incredibly beautiful, especially with the fall foliage - just wow! I could've quite happily stayed here all day! It's very easy to find - just plug the name into google maps and it will get you here (Apple Maps didn't work for me though).

While driving down the back roads in New Hampshire, trying to get home, I came across this really…read moreamazing covered bridge. This bridge located in Winchester is huge and also has some really unique features. My favorite was that both sides of the bridge had covered areas to walk, which you don't see in some of the smaller covered bridges. Overall, it's a unique little landmark hidden in the middle of nowhere and if you are a little bit of a nerd like me you'll probably enjoy it.

Zoar Picnic Area located on Zoar Rd. in Charlemont is one of our favorite places to go during the…read moresummer. This picnic area has a ton of different benches and grill. The other great part about this park is the fact that it has easy accessibility to the river which is great when it come to swimming on a hot day. Yearly we make it a point to bring our water resistant chair and plop in the water for hours. Overall, the park is pretty basic but it is definitely a go to for us.

This is a great place to just grab a tube and go all on your own for free. Life jackets should be…read moreworn for younger kids .Its a great time with a 45 minute lazy river ride and great scenery .Some areas have higher rapids but for the most part pretty safe just have to hang on when going through rapids (best part is the rapids) so enjoy the ride .I've been coming here since I was like ten .I have great memories.

Really impressive playground. Tons of things to play on that I have never seen before. Fun for…read moretoddlers all the way up to 10-12 year olds. Nice to see the river from the playground.

Puffer's Pond in Amherst is a place that I like to stop in at when traveling through the area. The…read morepond itself is a nice place to come and swim at, but it is also nice to walk around the pond and eventually come out at their waterfall. I also make it a point to come in the winter just so that I can see the waterfall get frozen over. The only critique about this place is that at the end of UMass' school year the place tends to be packed and at times people leave their trash everywhere. Besides that this place is nice and relaxing.

A great place to swim, but get here early on a hot day because parking does fill up fast…read more Please keep an eye on your stuff though people have had stuff gone through before. The swimming hole closes at dusk and alcohol is prohibited alone with smoking

As someone who has loved and cherished Emily Dickinson's poetry my entire life, I hate to leave…read moresuch a bad review, but it was my honest experience. So, they strongly recommend you order your tickets online to make sure there is enough availability, so I did. However, when we got to the museum, they said something along the lines of our tickets being invalid for some reason. We were a party of elderly and disabled people so if something went wrong on their online system or the ticket order wasn't processed correctly we should not be punished. They refused to let us in, but at least we could walk around the grounds for free, and they were truly very lovely; unfortunately, the people who run the museum are not.

I want to kick this review off with a fact nugget- I knew NOTHING about Emily Dickinson (except…read morethat she was a poet) before I planned my trip the prior week to visiting the museum. This was a learning experience. It was Mother's Day weekend and also the museums 41st annual poetry walk to celebrate the anniversary of Emily's death. This is really what caught my eye- I love special events. So here are two review in one: Poetry walk Review: You report to the home, pick up a pamphlet that identifies the poem that will be read at each stop along the way along with a map of the stops and your daisies (her favorite flower.) Note: you are asked to pre-register online for the event (I mean they need to know how many pamphlets and daisies!) Off you go! We knew we were going to make it for maybe one stop and the cometary (last stop) due to an early morning tee ball game I wasn't going to miss. So that's what happened, we were able to stop at one poetry stop right outside the cemetery where they read two poems aloud and people were able to ask questions. The final stop is visiting Emily at her family plot in the West Cemetery (take a look at that mural on your left as you start waling into the cemetery with Emily in the center.) As we neared her tombstone, they were passing out cups of lemonade for a noon toast to Emily. They told some facts about the cemetery, a song was song that was inspired by Emily's writing and then one of her poems was read. We then raised our glasses and cheers to the woman herself. After the toast, everyone took their daisies and gently placed them on or around her headstone or the gate to the family's plot. It was nice to walk back through town as we grabbed lunch and then scooted back to the house for our 2pm pre-purchased entry into the house. Very nice event. The House Review: First off- no parking on site. Based on my experience- I would suggest not visiting the house during the week when college is in session! Around the house most parking spots are permit parking only for the college. With the event happening as well, it was hard to find parking. The Dickinson house has bene restored to Emily's writing hay day. As much as we did not have a guided tour (those happen in the morning) there were people stationed in each room who were a wealth of information. I had a lot of questions and they were not stumped and answered beautifully. I learnt a lot from all these fine folks who were just so interested in her, the family and the historical aspects. Thank you! (I really asked a lot of questions.) Austin's house, The Evergreen House, next door is preserved. Very different from Emily's. One has frozen in time and one has been reinvigorated to present the time. Walking through Austin's home was quite interesting as well. Their art is very interesting. I do enjoy how the museum opted to treat each house differently. I have mixed feelings after my trip about Emily and her poems especially the heavy editing but none the less very impressed with the museum and the people working there- vast amounts of knowledge that they were easily willing to share.

Cute little museum that is currently free for an anniversary year with exhibits on the town's 1704…read moreraid, music, architecture, ceramics, etc. from the town (and region's) history. There's a lot of cool artifacts including a door that got slashed during the raid. There are a lot of rooms so it's actually quite a diverse collection and worth an hour-ish of your time. The gift shop doesn't have much in the way of souvenirs, but if you're in the area, it's a nice but small museum to visit.

This IS the place! Don't waste your time or money at the 'fancy' history center a block away. Three…read morecount em THREE FLOORS of treasures galore! Quilts, Barbies, history OH MY! two of the kindest docent gents imaginable, a gift shop full of vintage and antiques!! feed the donation kitty!

The mountain is a very cool place with the BEST marked trails and map I've seen so far. As someone…read morewho frequently goes the wrong way when hiking it was a huge relief to know exactly where I was on the mountain. The visitor center staff was helpful and parking plentiful. There are many trail options from wide and easy to narrow and more challenging. None of it was tough. I'd say this is a great choice for those who don't hike often, or like a fun over a hard climb. We did a 6 Mile loop to the reservoir on top of the mountain and back down along the Rose Ledge trail.

Northfield Mountain is a great place to go for recreation, education, or just to relax. It is not…read moreonly a recreational/conservation area but also a pumped storage hydroelectric facility (meaning that it has a man-made pond of sorts at the top of the mountain that is used for hydroelectric power when the towns and cities in the area need it...they have free tours to check it out!). There are also a lot of outdoor activities including hiking trails, education programs, canoing, and the list goes on (check out their website). The scenery is incredible, its a very quiet place to go and take in some nature. I was there recently for an environment education program which was a lot of fun and very well organized. I've actually been going to place since I was a kid.