Friday - 4/1/2016
We had a very early morning flight from Corpus (6:40 AM), so we decided to leave our car at the airport and not bother anyone so early with taking us there, etc.
We arrived in Boston and by the time we got our car, it was around 2 PM and Remy was hungry, the rent a car car recommended some exits to find food, but I thought I remembered them having food stops on the turnpike, so I dismissed her suggestion. Even though my memory is more questionable these days, it turns out they do have convenient pull offs on the turnpike, so we were able to get a McDonald an exit or two past her recommendation.

Saturday - 4/2/2016
It was cold and rainy, but we headed to the Divine Mercy Chapel in Stockbridge. We stopped at the Red Lion Inn for breakfast, but we missed the early seating for breakfast and the next seating was not emminent, so we ate next door at the Main Street Cafe. My choice was ok, but Remy's Poached Egg looked espescially good and she testified that it was as good as it looked.
After breakfast we drove up the hill to Divine Mercy Chapel. Remy's first requirement was that we visited the shopping tent. They had a series of tents set up just inside the main entrance on "Prospect Hill Road". See map

I attempted to buy her a rain resistant cape to use, but I accidentally bought a blanket instead. It is tough shopping when the help speaks mostly spanish. We didn't realize the mistake until the next day when she attempted to use it.

We then moved on to the Shrine of the Holy Innocents. Here we lit candles for the intention of our neighbors suffering to assist them in their struggles. From there we made our way to the stadium seats in front of the outdoor chapel where they were going to celebrate the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. It was still early, so I walked the stations of the cross while Remy stayed in the bleachers waiting for the 3 pm start of the Chaplet. The link above will show the Holy Innocents mosaic and my trip through the stations of the cross. I finished the stations and joined Remy with her newly acquainted Filipino friends for the Chaplet.
After the completion of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, we stopped by the food tent and purchased some pork adoble that we took home to eat because the rain had already started to get thick because the temperature was dropping rapidly.

Sunday - 4/3/2016
The heavy snow they were predicting didn't start until after midnight, but by morning we had 3” of snow on the ground. We went back to the Main Street Cafe where I got the poached egg breakfast. The shrine didn't allow automobile parking on the Feast day, but they had a bus service shuttling people from the high School that was about 3 miles south of main street. The bus dropped us off at a side entrance and from there we walked up the snowy road to the chapel. The hill was pretty slippery from all the snow but when someone saw Remy with the walker they led us to a handicap spot that was flatter area at the top of the hill The Bishop, Mitchell Rozanski, officiated the mass, he was escorted by large contingent of 4th degree Knight of Columbus. The temperature in mid 20s and it was very windy at times and it continued to snow most of the day. See my pictures of the Snowy Mass . Based on the accumulation of snow on my car when the bus brought us back, we got an additional 4" of snow during the day.

Monday - 4/4/2016
We had over 4” more snow overnight and the roads looked pretty slick. We kept waiting for it to stop, and the roads to clear but it never did totally stop. We probably accumulated another 2” by dinner time. So I walked accross the street and bought a rotisserie chicken for dinner.

Tuesday - 4/5/2016
The sun came out today but it was still quite cold. We waited for the roads to clear up, then went to the Berkshire Museum. I had originally planned to go to the somewhat larger museum in Springfield, but settled for the one closer because of the snowy roads. It turned out to be a pretty good compromise.
The museum was quite interesting. The first area we visited was set up for the kids to develop an interest in designing and building things. As we moved on there were plenty of stuffed local birds and other animals in display boxes. They had some butterfly and other insect collections similar to what I did when I was a kid. Then there were cases displaying various mineral, including gold and silver. One of the areas had a big meteorite and showed how you can determine if the rock you find may be a meteorite or not. Then there were displays that showed various other areas native animals. They also had an abundance of skeletons and stuffed large animals.

Remy didn't go to the lower floor where they had a small aquarium display and some live reptiles. You can see my photo of some turtiles. The pictures of the snakes didn't come out too good. Between them curling up in the back and the reflection from the glass you will have to see them for yourself.
Summary: this museum is worth seeing. It appears to focus on the local ecology and getting youth interested in their surroundings. The abundance of stuffed animals and skeletons also focus on the local animals, but does not exclude non-local species.

We went to Jae’s Asian Bistro for dinner. We got some short neck clams for an appetizer. They were out of trout and lamb so I ended up settling for the shrimp and scallops. The meal was good, but I guess they keep less supplies during off season.

Wednesday - 4/6/2016
I had intended to hike up Mount Greylock in North Adams. There is a trail named the "Footsteps of Thoreau". It follows a portion of the hike that Naturalist Henry David Thoreau took in 1844 and wrote about in his book: "A year on the Concord and Merrimack rivers."

Instead I dropped Remy off at Berkshire Mall and hiked half of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. This is a biking and hiking trail along the Hoosic river and Cheshire Reservoir. I went from the mall north to the Bass Grill and back. This is about half the trail that currently exists for a total of 11.2 miles. According to the girl at the timeshare welcome talkd, they plan to extend this trail all the way to Canada one day. It is a former railroad corridor that is now a 10-foot wide paved path. The name Ashuwillticook (ash-oo-will-ti-cook) derives from the Native American word for the south branch of the Hoosic River and means "the pleasant river in between the hills." Most of the snow had melted from the asphalt due to the sunny day yesterday. Today was a bit overcast. I did see some ducks and other birds and squirrels. It is strange to see robins in the snow.

Thursday - 4/7/2016
Since the hike was my day of choosing and I hadn't figured it would be her choose also with the mall and hair coloring, I had left this day for Remy's choosing and she wanted to go back to the Divine Mercy Shrine for the 3:00 Chaplet. So we took our timing getting moving in the morning. We consumed some of the left-overs we had been accumulating during the week for brunch before heading to the Shrine of Divine Mercy.

On our return trip it was snowing a little bit. I attempted to find Frankie's Ristorante Italiano in Lenox by turning onto 7A from 7 on our normal return trip route. I found the town of Lenox and the streets seemed to match the maps I had viewed, but the buildings in the vicinity of where I expected to find the restaurant did not seem to match my expectations and we didn't find the restaurant. I'm not sure my co-pilot was performing her search function as I expected. We proceeded to the second choice: Mazzeos Ristorante which was also mentioned by our welcoming hostess earlier in the week. We had passed it on our way to the Berkshire Museum earlier, so we knew we could find it. The parking lot was pretty packed when we arrived which is always a good sign. I forgot to make notes of this day, but I think I had the deep sea scallops and Remy the Linguini Zuppa Di Pesce which looked good, but I can't handle calamari since my tongue surgery. Scallops on the other hand are much easier to chew if not overcooked. Anyway the atmosphere was nice and the food was ok, so a good end to the first leg of our vacation.

Friday - 4/8/2016
We took our time in the morning with breakfast on our leftovers, packing and checking out. When we left for Boston it was snowing somewhat heavy again. When we arrived at our destination, the Marriott in the theatre district, it was around 1 pm. We checked in, then I returned the car at the airport and took the subway back. That evening we ate at Remy's favorite restaurant, the Empire Gardens Restaurant – Dim Sum.

Saturday - 4/9/2016
We spent the late morning walking through Boston Commons. We looked at the gravestones in the Granary Burying Grounds. I bought Remy a trolley ticket for Monday so that I could spend the time at the Museum of Science while she planned to ride around town.

We then took a taxi to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Washington Street. This year, Pope Francis declared an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. So we included a a pilgrimmage to this cathedral in our itinerary. By completing a confession, holy communion and passing through the Holy Door of Mercy and Worship at this cathedral you obtain a plenary indulgence.

We thought we were going to get to see Seán Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap. but he was called to Rome at the last minute by Pope Francis.

After mass we headed back to the Empire Garden for Dim Sum.

Sunday - 4/10/2016
We had gone to mass on saturday so that we could see the matinee performance of the Sound of Music at the Opera House. The Opera House is only a couple of blocks from our hotel so we hoofed it there. The performance was excellent. After the show we planned to try the Legal Seafood Restaurant but it wasn't where the google search said it should be. Remy decided to try the Dim Sum at the Empire Gardens restaurant again. We were the first persons there, but it was good again.

Monday - 4/11/2016
So for today I planned to spend the bulk of my time at the Museum of Science looking at the displays I did not have the time to see the last time I was here. Earlier in the week we had bought the ticket for Remy's Hop-On-Hop-Off tour of the city, so I brought her to meet the bus for the tour around the corner from our hotel and she did the tour while I took the subway to the Museum of Science.

So this time I saw a lot of stuffed animals, fossils and other educational displays geared to educate the kids that there were a lot of visiting. There is also a section focusing on the engineering aspects such as gears and pulley that was pretty interesting. Finally I had to get another shot of the largest Van De Graaff generator I have ever seen.

Guess where ate that night. Dim Sum! On our way back to the hotel from the restaurant Remy noticed that the "Wizard of Oz" was opening at the Wang Theatre across the street from the Mariott.

Tuesday - 4/12/2016
Being as it was sleeting in the morning and I guess Remy was not excited about seeing a Red Sox game (Cubs fan). The weather forecast was for it to clear up before the game, but she was skeptical and convinced me to give the ball game tickets to the concierge. I was able to get Wizard of Oz tickets at the Wang Theatre, at 270 Tremont Street. As is turned out the weather forecast was accurate and the sun came out around 6 and the game was played under relatively good weather conditions. However the Red Sox lost 9 to 5.

Wednesday - 4/13/2016
Vacation over, we slept in late, then took a taxi to the airport. Back in Corpus Christi that evening.

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