The weekend after Franklin was here, Sabrina and I rented a car and drove out to western Mass to visit our friend Kristin. She lives in South Deerfield, so we spent some time there hanging at her house, had lunch in Northampton, and then dinner in Amherst.

Sabrina and I left Saturday morning in our car, which we rented from Dollar Rent A Car. After a Starbucks pit stop and some getting lost, we arrived at Kristin’s. She had told us that she lives in the country, and she was not kidding. She and her roommates live in a giant beautiful house, surrounded by cows, land, and dirt roads.

We headed into Northampton and had pad Thai and Thai iced tea for lunch at Thai Garden. We walked around a little, exploring the area. We stepped into a thrift store and strolled through it for a bit. But mostly we pet the store’s resident doggy. And watched whilst Sabrina attempted to take a selfie with said doggy, haha.

From there we went to Whole Foods, got some groceries for breakfast the next morning (and pie for later that night), then went back to Kristin’s house to hang out. Sabrina left to meet up with a friend, while I relaxed in the quiet of Kristin’s country family room. Kristin, her friend/roomie Jaime, and I then headed to Amherst for dinner. Amherst is a college town, so there were plenty of places to choose from. We ended up eating at Judie’s, since it claimed to be home of the popover, and I did not know what a popover was. I didn’t end up getting a popover, but the food was good, and we saw Judie herself, so that was kind of fun. We headed back to the house and hung out with some of Kristin’s roommate’s friends.

The next day, Kristin made us breakfast and we sat and ate and  chatted. Sabrina and I left and headed to Fenway for church.

And that was a our lovely weekend in the country. Though I definitely prefer city life, I look forward to my next retreat to the country.

photo cred: Sabrina Brooks