Lee

lee eat, shop, learn

From left: 52 Park Restaurant & Tavern, glass blowing at Ozzie’s Glass Gallery.

Paper mills and marble quarries built

the town of Lee, with help from nearby forests and power from the Housatonic. (Learn more about Lee and marble online at BerkshiresCalendarMagazine.com.) The heyday of industry is past, but Lee has held its own, not least because an exit off the Mass Pike makes it “the gateway to the Berkshires.” Lee may be unpretentious, but it has small-town feel and eye-appeal in spades. The steeple on the First Congregational Church is the tallest wooden spire in New England: lift up your eyes.

The town hosts an astonishing range of restaurants. Cuisines range from sophisticated farm-to-table fare such as Starving Artist Café to seafood (Salmon Run) to Greek, Vietnamese, Chinese, Peruvian, Italian, French, and Indian establishments, as well as humbler eateries where you can get a hot dog on the go, pick up a pizza (try Timothy’s), or join the locally sourced customers for a plate of corned beef hash at Joe’s Diner or a tall draught beer at Moe’s Tavern, or bistro food in a cozy setting at The Morgan House, serving since 1853. 52 Park Restaraunt & Tavern offers a variety of outdoor dining options. The former Chez Nous has a new name (Café Triskele), and a new menu (more informal). Canna Provisions, off the Mass Pike as you head into town, offers a full line of THC and CBD wellness offerings (legal weed, in plain English). And for all your building and renovation supplies, don’t miss Dresser-Hull. The eclectic collection of shops downtown is complemented by the more than sixty stores at Premium Outlets, with namebrand merchandise at discount prices, just one mile east of town via U.S. Route 20. Premium Outlets is the most popular attraction in Berkshire County, with about two million annual visitors, some of whom then head into Lee and environs to find things that can’t be found anywhere else. Ozzie’s Glass Gallery on Route 102 towards Stockbridge is more than a gallery with beautiful, affordable pieces, including jewelry and pipes (the latter upstairs); it’s a chance to see Michael Ozzie, a native Lee artisan, in action blowing glass; he’s happy to explain to you what he’s doing, too.

Slightly out of town but worth the trip is family-owned High Lawn Farm. Stop by their Farmstead Creamery for a refreshing ice cream cone at one of their picnic tables while you enjoy their beautiful Jersey herd grazing in the fields. You can also stock up on their full line of fresh dairy products.

While not as eminent in the arts as its Berkshire neighbors, Lee has its own distinction. From a renovated former fiveand-dime on Main Street, the College Internship Program (CIP) offers a year-long curriculum focusing on creative and educational development in the visual and performing arts for young adults with Asperger’s, autism, ADHD, and other learning differences. The Spectrum Playhouse in a converted church and the Good Purpose Gallery on Main help integrate these individuals into the community. In South Lee on Route 102, the Saint Francis Gallery, also in a converted church, features an eclectic mix of emerging and established local artists. Young animators aged 5 to 95 will find AniMagic, a museum of animation run by a former Special Effects Oscar-winner, a fun experience. Animation classes are also available. Lee will appeal to nature lovers too. October Mountain State Forest, the largest in Massachusetts, is just north of town. It offers camping, hiking, picnicking, and non-motorized boating. There’s also the Goose Pond Reservation in a dreamy setting south of Lee. The Appalachian Trail crosses adjacent National Park Service land, and Goose Pond itself, a mountain lake with exceptionally clear water, is ideal for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. And if you’d like to try fishing, or simply floating, on the region’s rivers, Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing can help.