City: Deerfield, MA

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (413) 772-0443

Address: 500 Greenfield Rd.

Insider Pick:

Description: This local chocolate institution has been turning out small batches of handmade confections for more than 65 years. You’ll find a large assortment of old-school favorites like peanut butter twirler cups and copper-kettle-made fudge. Be sure to take home a box of Dixies, handmade caramel and roasted nuts drenched in milk or dark chocolate.

City: Deerfield, MA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (413) 775-7214

Address: 80 Old Main St.

Insider Pick:

Description: Farsighted preservation by local citizens has saved more than 50 historic buildings dating back to the 18th century along a mile-long section of Deerfield’s Main Street. The result is a unique outdoor living-history museum that examines early rural New England life. The district’s 11 museum houses make up the core of Historic Deerfield and are available for either guided or self-guided tours. They date from 1720 to 1850; some are restored to a particular period, some are used for exhibits, and some are viewed from the outside only. Perhaps the most opulent home is the Stebbins House, a 1799 brick federal-style mansion decorated in the neoclassical style of the period. The Dwight House is a working studio that demonstrates weaving, ceramics-making, and woodworking skills. The Flynt Center for Early New England Life is a modern, state-of-the-art museum with notable exhibits of powder horns, textiles, and early American furniture. Upstairs, “The Attic” is a visible storage facility for works not currently on view in the museum. The museum store is exceptional, with high-quality reproduction 18th-century wares, such as hand-wrought silver jewelry, needlework kits, cornhusk dolls, and furniture including early American–style tavern and trestle tables.