City No. 11: Blanton, Massachusetts, or “How we stayed in a house built in 1760!”

Our Honeymoon, or, How We Got to the Midwest One Interview at a Time:  The Northeast Cities According to Me, the One Who Wanders the Cities While Peter Completes the Interviews
 
Disclaimer: This should by no means be used as a real resource to the northwestern cities.  While I am an observant person, I have no background in city development, nor do I have expertise on the cultural or historical background on these cities.  For the most part, I am reviewing these cities based on my personal preferences, as we will be moving to one of these cities in the spring.  And, if you are hoping for a lot of artwork (as this is my art blog), sorry to say, but you will be sadly disappointed if you continue to read this blog in the upcoming two months.  Apart from my photographs of the cities, I doubt I’ll get to very many art and craft projects.

 
Now this city is not really a city as much as a place where people live—on their own lots—spread out.  Peter had made reservations at this bed & breakfast in Blanton, called “Baird’s Tavern” a while ago, and the stay was meant to be a forced vacation for the two of us.  And it was!  Thank goodness, after all of the moving and shaking, we got a peaceful night’s sleep, and some time to just sit and read.  We did not have internet-connection, and phone service was a little inconsistent, so we were pretty much incommunicado!  Wee! 

Apparently, this bed and breakfast was originally a tavern that had positioned itself very strategically next to the road that connected the towns.  Because people traveled using horses, it would take days to travel from town to town, so people needed pit stops along the way—like this tavern!  And though “taverns” had drink at the time, mostly it was for food and to provide a place to sleep for the night.  The thing about this place that is worth noting after hearing its history, is that the road doesn’t exist anymore.  Now its a parking lot surrounded by trees.  Though the highway is nearby, the remnants of the old throughway and of days past are preserved in the tavern.  A place that, according to the owner, could house 55 men a night (who would sleep on sheepskin laid down on the floor—feet to the fire), where food was cooked in huge fireplaces (after childbirth, the leading cause of death to women—large sleeves are not conducive to safe fire-place cooking—who knew!), where babies were birthed in the “birthing room” (which was also the place where food was prepared… “hopefully not at the same time!” remarked the owner), and where men played “pennies in the corner” (that’s the name I gave it—NOT historically accurate) so much that they rounded large potholes in the corner floorboards, and it had to be re-floored to remedy that specific issue caused by the game. 

The history of the house was incredibly interesting.  Our sleep was very peaceful and quiet, and breakfast was delicious (blueberry pancakes, yum!).  If you ever find yourself in the area of Blanton, Massachusetts (which might be a bit odd, it’s not really a “I was just in the area!” kind of place…) definitely stay here!  The Baird Tavern.  Thumbs up.