After spending a week in the woods for my solo writing retreat in Warwick, MA, I decided to explore the surrounding area a little bit before heading eastward towards home.
My first stop was was to the Montague Bookmill at the recommendation of my Airbnb hosts. They knew my New England bookish soul would swoon for this used bookstore housed in an old 1840s grismill. I absolutely loved this place. After spending way too much time exploring all the used books in every room, I got some tasty lunch and coffee at The Lady Killigrew next door.
I thought my little detour couldn’t get any better, but then I stopped in Turners Falls which I’d seen on a map as a little mill town with a canal walking trail. What a surprise gem of a town! Well, not technically not a town, but a village in the town of Montague. There was free and easy parking near the start of the Canalside Rail Trail, a walking path running along a canal beside to the Connecticut River with views of a mostly-vacant and shuttered paper mill. After some rain, the river was so high, and the cloudy weather against all that faded brick was a vibe.
I followed the trail loop back through downtown, an avenue cutting through a grid of streets and multi-family homes clearly built to house mill workers. So much brick. The avenue, Avenue A, looked to have some cute shops and restaurants, but most things were closed due to it being a Monday during a pandemic.
It’s hard to put my finger on why, but I was just so charmed by this place. I later learned that during the 1970s, Turners Falls was home to the Renaissance Community, “one of the largest and most enduring communes in the northeast U.S” according to Wikipedia. Which honestly only makes Turners Falls even more intriguing. I’d love to go back and spend more time there once things open back up again (please let it be so).