With Warm Weather Comes an Abundance of Wildlife

The Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Lenox, Massachusetts. The Sanctuary has 1,314 acres of land which holds seven miles of trails that weave through meadows, forests, wetlands, and even the Lenox Mountains.

The Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a large and growing beaver population, birds, and June-blooming Mountain Laurel. The peaceful scenery is also blooming with an abundance of flowers and wildlife.

The Sanctuary offers canoe trips on the Housatonic River beginning in mid-May until Columbus Day. Admission to the Sanctuary is $4 for adults and $3 for children.

Lenox is also home to the picture-perfect, elegant yet comfortable Gateways Inn. This enchanting inn is located in the Berkshire Hills with breathtaking views and 12 recently restored guest rooms. In the summer, lunch and dinner are served daily at the inn’s restaurant.

Getting Married In New England: Wedding Locactions

New England is quickly becoming a popular location for destination weddings. New England offers a wide variety of beautiful locations for every bride’s unique dream wedding. From crystal clear lakes, sandy beaches or snowy mountains, each New England state offers something picture perfect for your wedding all year long.

New Hampshire offers pristine lakes, mountains and oceans that each holds breathtaking views for your special day. A New Hampshire marriage license costs $45 and is valid for 90 days – then a certified copy can be requested for $12.

For a picturesque fairy-tale wedding, visit New Hampshire’s Chesterfield Inn in Chesterfield. The inns’ 10 acres of outdoor gardens is home to beautiful flowers and quaint ponds edged with cattails and willow trees and the habitat of a choir of frogs.

The Chesterfield Inn is a perfect fit for intimate weddings. The Inn design, reminiscent of an old New England farmhouse, has 15 guest rooms that have breathtaking views of the gardens and grounds with crab apple trees hung with white lights. Contact the Chesterfield Inn to start planning your special day.

Yoga Hikes in the Whites Inn at Thorn Hill

Join our yoga instructor, Carlene Sullivan of Symmetree Yoga, for a weekend adventure in the White Mountains as you reside, replenish and rejuvenate in the heart of Jackson, New Hampshire at the Inn at Thorn Hill & Spa.Upon arrival you will be greeted by dinner and a brief orientation where you will meet your yoga teacher, Carlene and mountain guides. Start the day off with breakfast, a guided hike through the pristine forests of the Mount Washington Valley and a restorative mountain top yoga class. The yoga excursion includes transportation to and from the trail head, a guided hike, safety techniques and skills to deepen your hiking techniques, lunch and a mountain top yoga class focusing on beginner yoga postures paired with breath & meditation. We will wind the day off with a little more yoga and dinner. An additional morning yoga class and breakfast will be offered the morning of your departure; leaving you feeling restored, invigorated and ready for a fresh start.

Horseback Riding In New England

Lenox Massachusetts, in Berkshire County, has beautiful mountains to both the East and the West, making this town in Western MA a perfect location to go horseback riding.

Aspinwall Equestrian Center has riding lessons through the scenic trails of Kennedy Park and the Lenox Mountains. Aspinwall Equestrial Center offers group lessons as well as private lessons, from beginners all the way to advanced riders. The Center takes riders on one hour rides, half day rides or even adventures that last overnight!

After your riding lesson, be sure to relax at the Gateway’s Inn – a beautiful Manor house with European charm. The Gateways Inn has 12 lovely guestrooms and offers breakfast and dinner in its charming dining room.

Aspinwall Equestrian Center is open Monday through Friday from 8AM to 8PM. Contact Terry Cook at 413-637-4894 or by email at trockinghorse39@yahoo.com .

Deerfield, Massachusetts

Often times, Deerfield, Massachusetts is referred to as New England’s gem. Deerfield is home to thirteen beautifully restored, historic homes built in the 18th century, as well as the Flynt Center of Early New England Life Museum and two memorial libraries.

The Flynt Center of Early New England Life is a great place to visit if you are interested in learning about 18th and 19th century New England, with its constantly rotating exhibitions and knowledgeable staff. Currently, the Flynt Center is showing the following exhibits:

“Clothes Make the Man: The Colonial Gentleman in New England.”
“Engraved Powder Horns from the French and Indian War and the American Revolution: The William H. Gutham Collection.”
“Celebrating the Fiber Arts: The Helen Geier Flynt Textile Gallery.”

Just this past weekend, the Flynt Center opened a new exhibit – “Into the Woods: Crafting Early American Furniture,” where visitors can learn about antique furniture.

Deerfield is also home to the jointly administered Henry N. Flynt Memorial Library and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library with volumes totaling 41,000 combined. These volumes include not only books, periodicals and microforms, but also local account books, diaries and letters.

To top off a visit to Deerfield, be sure to relax at the Deerfield Inn. The Inn offers 23 guest rooms and an award winning dining room that serves both lunch and dinner.

Chatham, Massachusetts

Located in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Chatham is a beautiful town that is perfect for a summer vacation. Chatham is home to the Chatham Lighthouse, which was established in 1808 by Thomas Jefferson to protect the ships circling the Cape. Main Street Chatham has a provincial feel with its numerous family owned and operated shops and restaurants, including the Captain’s House Inn – great for a gourmet breakfast before you start your busy day.

Chatham is also home to the Cape’s second oldest theatre, Monomoy Theatre. Open for fifty-one years, the theatre offers a summer theatre program for college students. Each summer the students perform eight plays with the mentoring help of seasoned visiting artists, actors and directors.

Celebrate the Warm Weather at the Manor on Golden Pond

Warm weather means being able to relax outdoors – and where better to take a stroll through the woods than beautiful New Hampshire. Holderness, NH, located in Grafton County, is home to the pristine Squam Lake and Rattlesnake Mountains. The area’s serene scenery was discovered in the 19th century by visitors to the area, and continues to bring guests each year.

The Rattlesnake Mountains are home to 173 acres of protected, public property with a network of trails waiting for your footprints. If you are adventurous, you can even climb Mount Webster, the highest point in Holderness, reaching an elevation of 2,076 feet.

After your tranquil hike, visit the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center to learn more about the wildlife in New Hampshire. Open for over forty years, the Science Center offers live animal exhibits, education programs and even lake cruises. Visit http://www.nhnature.org/for more information. To complete your stay in Holderness, enjoy a relaxing getaway at the Manor on Golden Pond where elegant surroundings, kind hospitality, and fine dining await.

Inn at Thorn Hill’s Tour of Italy Wine Dinner – May 3rd

The Saturday evening event is a five course dinner with paired wines at each course. The reception starts at 7:00pm and costs $75 per person. Below is the menu we will be serving.

Newport RI AAA Four Diamond Award: Cliffside Inn Makes It Five-Years In A Row

Distinctive Inns of New England founding member Cliffside Inn has received the prestigious AAA Four Diamond award for the fifth consecutive year. The luxury Newport RI bed and breakfast is one of five Distinctive Inns hotel or inn properties that are AAA Four Diamond rated, the others are Vermont’s Rabbit Hill Inn, New Hampshire’s Manor on Golden Pond and Inn at Thorn Hill, and The Captain’s House on Cape Cod.

The Cliffside Inn joins its sister Newport RI bed and breakfast Abigail Stoneman Inn with the AAA Four Diamond distinction. Owned and operated by the same family under the name Legendary Inns of Newport, the group is now in the unique position of running more than a quarter of all the AAA Four Diamond inns or hotels in Rhode Island.

The coveted Four Diamond award is given each year to only about three percent of the more than 32,000 AAA rated inns and hotels in America. Only seven Rhode Island bed and breakfasts, inns, or hotels have been honored with AAA Four Diamonds for 2008. Cliffside Inn was the first Newport RI bed and breakfast or inn to be awarded AAA Four Diamond status in Rhode Island. Check availability at Cliffside Inn. See all DINE inns.

What Is The Difference?

Many people often wonder the difference between bed and breakfasts, country inns, and historic inns. One kind of bed and breakfast, known as a homestay, is usually a private home with just a few rooms and offers a simple breakfast to its visitors. Homestays are often a part-time operation run as a means of extra family income.

Most bed and breakfasts, however, are professionally run and offer more rooms than homestays. The Camden Maine Stay has nine rooms, while the Cliffside Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, and Captain’s House Inn, in Chatham Massachusetts, have around sixteen. B&Bs are owner managed and operated, and usually employ additional staff to help with cooking, housekeeping, and guest services.

Country inns are bed & breakfast inns that offer dinner service as well as breakfast. Often, their dining rooms are open to the public like Gateway’s Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, which is an ideal getaway for conferences and weddings. Country inns tend to have between five to thirty rooms and, like the Windam Hill Inn and Rabbit Hill Inn in Vermont, or the Chesterfield Inn in New Hampshire, can have a staff of 20-30 people to maintain the inn and care for their guests. Some inns go one step further by offering on-site spas like those found at New Hampshire’s Manor on Golden Pond and Inn at Thorn Hill.

Many inns and bed & breakfasts are also historic inns as they are located in historic areas or are themselves a National Historic Landmark like the Deerfield Inn located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The Deerfield Inn opened in 1884, and is part of a 350 year old village that is home to an assortment of 18th and 19th century museum houses.

Whether you are looking to visit a quaint bed and breakfast, a renowned country inn, or an inn that is part of history, New England is your destination and the Distinctive Inns of New England offer it all.