After a week of writing at Wellspring House, I decided to spend an afternoon in Shelburne Falls, MA to reacquaint myself with society before driving home to the seacoast. On the map, I saw Shelburne Falls as the nearest hub of civilization to Ashfield. Little did I know that I was visiting on a momentous day: The 90th birthday celebration of the Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls’ most famous landmark!
If Shelburne Falls had cheeks, I would have to pinch them. What a cute little town with lots of free easy parking right after the narrow truss bridge that connects Shelburne Falls to Buckland over the Deerfield River.
My first stop was to see the Glacial Potholes—strange circular rock formations at the base of the falls. I grabbed a map from the nearby Shelburne Falls Information Center and learned that multiple movies have been filmed in Shelburne Falls, including Labor Day and The Judge. Movie locations are marked around town.
Then I walked the 90-year-old Bridge of Flowers with many other folks. It was a bit crowded due to the festivities, but still lovely. I was surprised how many flowers were still in bloom considering it was early October.
I poked around the little downtown and discovered the most awesome bookstore—Boswell’s Books, named after the store’s black-and-white cat, Boswell, who greets customers upon entry. Yes, truly. Boswell is a very social cat who walks around the store making sure all customers are satisfied. Beyond the cat theme, the bookstore is also organized, well-stocked, and fairly priced. I left with a couple new books.
I needed a coffee for the road so I stopped by Mocha Maya’s based on a recommendation. The coffee and cherry-chocolate muffin was delicious and everyone there was super friendly. Thinking I should probably also get a water for the drive, I stepped into what I thought was a pharmacy but was actually an old-timey soda fountain? Woah! Thankfully they had bottled water. With that as my last stop, I hit the road.
Overall impression: Shelburne Falls is adorable, chill, and old school New England. Also it seems to be quite queer-friendly, which shouldn’t be surprising considering NoHo isn’t very far, but still nice to see and feel at home there. I’d like to go back some time!