Checking in: Tourists in North Adams, Massachusetts
The renovated motel makes a great home base for exploring the Berkshires, but is a destination in its own right.
Checking In: Tourists, a renovated motel in the small town of North Adams in the Berkshires, is a lovely destination any time of year. We check in for a stay and scope out the dining options at the hotel and nearby area.
November’s Featured Field Guides: This month, we’re giving paid subscribers two freshly updated field guides! First, we’ve upgraded our Portland, Maine Field Guide. It’s now a five-day Signature Field Guide with more than 35 recommendations. Our four-day Southern Coast of Maine Field Guide has also been updated with some new favorites so you’re ready to make an off-season escape or get a jump on your 2025 vacation planning.
The Order: Out There, a new wine bar in Sawyer, Michigan, delivers fun wines and fresh oysters.
Weekend Reading: A bitter new cocktail bar in Chicago, a new food hall on the horizon in Oregon, and two destination restaurants in Iowa and Wisconsin
A Retro Escape in the Berkshires
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — Tucked in the upper left corner of Massachusetts, North Adams is a tiny town of 12,000 in the Berkshires mostly known for Mass MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) and scenic hiking at Mount Greylock. It’s also where you’ll find Tourists, a renovated motel that I’ve had my eye on for years. Since it opened in 2018, endorsements have flowed in from friends and family — my brother has stayed at Tourists a few times with his wife and two kids. Convinced, I booked a three-night stay.
We drove up from the Pioneer Valley and made a couple stops along the way. If you’re coming from the East, I recommend stopping at Hot Dog Ranch in Pittsfield for baby hot dogs with meat sauce, mustard, and onion. You should also stop at High Lawn Farm in Lee for ice cream and snacking provisions.
At Tourists, we checked into one of the Ramble rooms, which are set in a woodsy part of the 46-room property. Previously known as the Redwood Motel (and a couple other names before that), the lodgings had long welcomed tourists traversing the scenic Mohawk Trail. It was transformed into Tourists after a group that included Wilco’s John Stirratt took over the property. The rooms are spacious and airy, with bright white walls and linens and light woods. Our room had a built-in window seat/daybed, which is a cozy spot to read and watch the birds outside — one morning, I saw an orange-and-black American Redstart perched in a tree. The rooms are simple in design but have the kind of thoughtful little details I look for, like local postcards and a thick pad for taking notes at the desk. In the bathroom, there are bars of the peppermint-y Ursa Major Morning Mojo soap, which has since become a favorite.
The heart of the property is the Lodge, which was converted from a 1960s ranch-style house into a gathering place with a fireplace, bar, check-in desk, and plenty of seating to spread out and relax. There’s also a saltwater pool open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and a large outdoor seating area right outside the Lodge. We had picked up a loaf of bread and some cheese at High Lawn farm and paired them with a bottle of Barrel X Riesling we had brought along for a patio picnic one afternoon.
Our first night, we headed to dinner at Mezze Bistro + Bar in Williamstown (home to both Williams College and the Clark Art Institute, one of my favorite small museums), where the Mediterranean-influenced three-course prix fixe (a good deal at $65) includes plates like asparagus with muhammara, zhug, and a poached egg and a New York strip with potatoes and greens dressed with blue cheese and shallot vinaigrette.
In the morning, breakfast at Tourists is served either at the Lodge or brought to your door. We opted to take our breakfast at the Lodge and the menu included a lot of solid options. Our two favorites were the everything bagel board with smoked salmon, caper cream cheese, tomato, and pickled onion, and the breakfast burrito stuffed with scrambled eggs, beans, potato, salsa verde, avocado, and cheese. Paired with a few cups of coffee from local Barrington Coffee Roasting Company, set out for guests daily in the Lodge along with metal tumblers to fill up, and we were ready to explore the area.
Tourists is spread over 80 acres, and there’s a lot to do on them. You’ll find hiking trails with art installations and a 220-foot suspension bridge over the Hoosic River. If you pay attention as you walk across it, you might spot some loons. You can meander along on your own or take a guided hike. Other activities include tree walks, crafting, and yoga classes in the woods, which I participated in one morning.
After a morning exploring the property, we headed out to get lunch at Pedrin's Dairy Bar, which is open seasonally from March to October. The roadside joint has picnic table seating and a menu of road food and seafood shack classics, like herby tuna melts, whole fried clams, coleslaw, and the “fish fry,” a long piece of flaky fried white fish tucked into a hot dog bun.
While there’s so much to do in the Berkshires, Tourists also encourages relaxing. It’s easy to spend an entire day at the property, which we did one rainy day. There’s an all-day menu at the Lodge, and we split a turkey sandwich with bacon and avocado and a Caesar salad for lunch and then grabbed Negronis at the Lodge bar and sat by the fireplace. It was our last night, and we had dinner at The Airport Rooms, the hotel restaurant, which is open Thursday to Sunday and is accessible to the public. Located in a cozy house built in 1813, the restaurant’s menu skews toward global comfort food like tri-tip with chermoula and roasted salmon with curry. We had a couple rounds of cocktails and split a wedge salad and a very good cheeseburger, which has a thick patty, house special sauce, red onion, and pickles.
With one more smoked salmon bagel for the road (and a stop at the gift shop to snag some of that soap), we hit the road. While our visit was in the spring, Tourists is open year-round, and the Berkshires are wonderful in all seasons. If you’re looking for a winter getaway, Tourists has some good promos over the holidays, and it’s a beautiful spot for a quiet and cozy escape.
915 State Rd, North Adams, MA 01247 | @touristswelcome
MORE STORIES FROM MASSACHUSETTS
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Paid subscribers can download complimentary copies of two updated guides this month — our Southern Maine Coast Field Guide and our Portland, Maine Field Guide. Each guide has been freshly updated and revised and features daily itineraries with recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. Together, these guides offer nine days of curated itineraries with more than 55 recommendations. They’re downloadable for offline reading, include Google Maps and Instagram links, and are formatted for your phone — perfect for easy reference on your next trip. Paid subscribers to American Weekender can download these guides for free using the discount codes found in this month’s Weekend Getaway issue.
Wine and Oysters at Out There
SAWYER, MICH. — Harbor Country, Michigan’s food scene is quickly taking off, as you know from our report from there over the summer. PostBoy opened its doors in New Buffalo last week (we spoke to chef-co-owner James Galbraith earlier this summer after we went to his fun Tex-Mex restaurant Anemel). The great Chicago brewery and restaurant Middle Brow is putting down roots. And Out There, a new wine bar and shop, is serving wines, oysters, and small plates in Sawyer.
We popped in recently after an overnight stay at Lake Shore Resort in Saugatuck. Located in a renovated 1950s Shell station, Out There comes from friends Molly Kobelt, Penny Duff, and Michael Slaboch. They’ve curated a wine program with lots of interesting pours, from Lebanese pét-nats to a Michigan rosé from Stranger Wine Co. that’s the best wine I’ve had from the state (I loved it so much, I grabbed a bottle from the shop to take home). Freshly shucked raw oysters come with cava mignonette, and there are also small plates and snacks like marinated castelvetrano olives with orange, red pepper flakes, and olive oil; smoked fish sausage from Carlson's Fishery in Leland; and ice cream bars from Chicago’s Pretty Cool Ice Cream.
The vibe is low-key and airy, with a patio and shop that stocks bottles of wine, magazines and books, candles, and other goodies. There are regular music performances, wine tastings, and other events — friends have reported driving out from Chicago for a day trip.
12312 Red Arrow Hwy, Sawyer, MI 49125 | @outthere_mi
ILLINOIS
Cara Cara Club’s Breezy Italian Vibes: For Chicago magazine, Amy wrote about a great new cocktail bar in Chicago, Cara Cara Club. “Bitter flavors offer a through line here,” she wrote; I’m particularly fond of their Americano, a deceptively simple classic that they mix using two red bitters and a blend of vermouths.
OREGON
James Beard Public Market is The Win That Portland Needed: “With yesterday's announcement that the long-anticipated James Beard Public Market will open in Downtown Portland as soon as 2025, Portland is finally stepping up to claim an important piece of its own history and its place in America's culinary landscape,” writes
his newsletter, . “This is a really big deal, a milestone in the city’s history, a jewel in the crown.” Backers describe the market as a place for vendors featuring local products, fresh baked goods, roasting coffee, Oregon produce, and more. The market aims to draw the local dining crowd as well as tourists looking to learn more about Oregon food. Sounds like a good plan.
IOWA + WISCONSIN
Destination Restaurants Worth Building a Trip Around: Wini Moranville took a road trip along the Mississippi River and wrote about Brazen Open Kitchen and Jones’ Black Angus Supper Club for her newsletter,
. “Of all the restaurants I’ve ever dined at in Iowa,” Moranville wrote of Brazen, “I can’t think of one that is more firmly rooted in a sense of place than this gem.” As for Jones’ Black Angus Supper Club, she notes that “it’s got everything you want in a Wisconsin supper club: a moody dark interior with a U-shaped bar, mature servers, great steaks, golden fried walleye, and generous drinks.” We’ll add them to our list!— Compiled by Kenney Marlatt
Want more? Chat with us on Substack, download our Field Guides, check out our archives, or follow us on Instagram @americanweekender. We’ll be back next week.
Thank you so much for featuring my story on the Upper Mississippi! And for taking us to the Berkshires.
I've driven by Tourists and appreciate the peek inside... looks very cool and feels a lot more like Williamstown than North Adams. Not sure if you've shared a recommendation about Mass MOCA, but is is probably the coolest museum I've ever visited.