Alex’s Corner

The Birchwood Inn:

For Memorial Day weekend, husband Rich, faithful pup Alex, and I hit the road to find dog walking adventures a bit farther afield.  We’ll cover the glorious hike we took in the next post, but I thought our splendid accommodations deserved a write up of their own.

The Birchwood in is a wonderful old B&B located right outside of downtown Lenox. The inn is known for their gourmet breakfast, which will just knock your socks off. Fresh squeezed orange juice, cherry clafouti,  home-made quiche, the works! Dogs are welcome,  and the three of us ended up on the third floor, which is a bit of a hike for Alex, but our room was very pretty and spacious with a private bath.

New Places, New Faces:

No sooner had we had arrived than there was  a knocking on our door.  I opened to find Quinn the Inn-keepers golden retriever coming to say hello and introduce herself, what a welcome! Quinn was a fixture laying next to our table at breakfast.

Quinn and Charley welcome everyone to the Inn!

The Details:

While the Inn is dog friendly, there are a few things you should know. Here is a link to the Inn’s pet policy.

One of the other amazing things about this Inn is it is right across the street from a 500 acre town  park which permits off leash walking. Alex and I took full advantage if this to learn some new trails, which I will document tomorrow. Overall, the Birchwood Inn gets two thumbs up, one for it’s pet policies and one for it’s amazing accommodations. We ALL left feeling relaxed and happy!

Our Route of the Day

Gorgeous weather abounds, and that means getting out and taking my favorite dog buddy to walk and hike as often as possible. I’ve been planning large hikes for each weekend, but getting ready for the Somdog Spring Fling meant only having  time for a quick trip through my second home: Callahan State Park. Clocking in at 820 acres, it’s a substantial park, but the road that runs through splits it into two areas each perfect for a nice 2 hour excursion. For this trip, we opted for the south side of the park.

With my neighbor Captain Adventure, Alex, and my little Staffordshire Bull Terrier buddies, Roxy and Bear in tow, we all jumped in the car and headed over to my favorite parking spot. Given it’s proximity to residential neighborhoods, Callahan has MANY small trails leading onto the streets all around the park. I like to avoid the crush of weekend traffic coming into and out of the main parking lots, so we a peaceful alternative is to use these side streets for parking and walking onto the trails. This time we parked at the big star.

Ready to Explore!

Above,  I’ve marked out the path that we took. As you can see, there are a few trails that are not listed in the DCR map. For a first time visitor, I would recommend sticking to the posted trails, but as you get more comfortable, feel free to explore!

Beef Flavored Ice Cream? Dogs Say Yum!

All Dog Walking and no play makes Jill a dull girl, so this past weekend,  we at Running the Pack put down our leashes and picked up our ice cream scoops to raise money at the SomDog spring fling.  We met many new friends and had a chance to visit with many old friends. All funds raised at the event go towards the development and  maintenence of the dog parks of Somerville!