My Pilgrimage
I am away from home—away from vacuum cleaners and dirty dishes and laundry and cats-needing-fed and all things routine. Let’s not call it a “trip” (even if it is trippy), but a pilgrimage: to Amherst, Massachusetts, to hang out with Emily Dickinson. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years and years, and never quite managed, until now. 
On the first leg of my journey, my dissertation advisor and Dickinson scholar, Dr. Vivian Pollak, met me in Amherst. Vivian and I spent three days exploring together—visiting not only the Emily Dickinson Museum, but also Smith College (where Vivian attended about a year behind Sylvia Plath) and Chester (where a friend of the Dickinson family and correspondent of Dickinson, Joseph Lyman, was born). I also enjoyed sampling local restaurants with Vivian and her husband.
Emily’s iconic white dress and writing desk (in corner)
Emily Dickinson’s gravestone in West Cemetery, Amherst. All photos by B. Reid.
The Mount, Lenox, MA
On day four, when the Pollaks decamped for Boston, I headed west, to Pittsfield and Lenox. My aim was to tour the Berkshire home of Edith Wharton, The Mount (heady stuff). Although Herman Melville’s Arrowhead was closed, I also visited that property, walking around the house and grounds and trails, catching a view of Mt. Greylock, which is said to have played a role in the creation of Moby Dick (written at Arrowhead in “the bitter winter of 1850-1851.”)
Now I am back in Amherst, staying at a historic bed and breakfast and immersed in what I am defining as the writing-retreat phase of my pilgrimage. Thanks to Vivian, I had an hour alone in Emily Dickinson’s bedroom, scribbling (with a pencil—no ink allowed!) madly. On the 11th, I have a two-hour group session in the same locale.
Today I am at Mt. Holyoke College, visiting their special collections. On Monday, I have an appointment to visit Amherst College’s Dickinson holdings.
I carted along a number of books, and thought I would catch up with blog-reviews on this trip, but some sort of magic seems to be underway and I find myself hard at work (or at play) with my own manuscript, making discoveries, figuring out what my new book of poems is about.
Thank you, spirit of Emily Dickinson.
I’ve done some exploring around Amherst, too, discovering that a number of writers have called Amherst home (including Robert Frost, who taught at Amherst College). I’ve also visited the Eric Carle Children’s Picture Book Museum (oh my!). And, on one of my long rambles, discovered a mill pond and a water fall, completely unexpected and magical. Like the whole trip. 
I think this blog post has come out all a jumble, with the photos not staying where I placed them. But I’m exhausted! Thank you, for listening. Enjoy the photos!
You can explore Emily Dickinson’s home virtually at https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/
To learn about Edith Wharton’s The Mount, hop over to this link: https://edithwharton.org/.
Herman Melville’s Arrowhead is included here: https://berkshirehistory.org/.
Bethany, this post makes me happy! I’m smiling thinking of you having this experience, and that it is turning you toward your own writing. It sounds magical, restorative, and nourishing.
So much!
Bethany, I’m thrilled you’re pilgriming in MA and finding such inspiration! Your itinerary sounds superb. A few years ago, I traveled to New England with my son to tour colleges. We stayed overnight in Amherst to visit UMass. Our hotel was next to the Amherst College campus, so we explored it after hours. (When we walked through the Frost Library, I was a bit shocked to see how run down it was, despite the college having a sparkling new athletic facility.) That visit prompted me to wish for more time there to immerse in an exploration like yours. I hope your encounter with the Dickinson papers is fruitful and that you continue to find magic to fuel your new manuscript!
So glad you had someone to pal around with and exchange ideas and experiences. You sound refreshed!
How exciting and nourishing, immersing yourself in Emily’s environment while accompanied by your thesis advisor (!), then continuing on to explore literary, geographical and architectural treats, as well as fine dining. How wonderful to see the house and grounds of “Arrowhead” with that glilmpse of Mt. Greylock, then immersing yourself in your own writing at an historic B&B in Amherst. My first fifteen years were spent in Massachusetts, but I never visited the western part of that state.
Melinda — I want to apologize for not approving this comment earlier. I think noticed it as I was boarding the plane homeward and then forgot to go back when I again had access. I have been to Boston a couple times, and Concord, but it was my first real visit to the western part of the state, too. Worth it!