Are We There Yet?: Magical Weekends

Do you believe in magic?

I'm not talking about the kind of magic you see in shows at places like Six Flags, which are amazing and fun but are fairly inaccessible to the average person.

 

No, I'm talking about the kind of magic that makes you feel special down to your core, a moment that remains stamped on your memory forever, an experience that you can summon up to sigh and smile about weeks, months and even years later.

 

That's the kind of magic I felt when I went to the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation's annual firefly hike last summer for the first time.

 

I had heard about the event before, but last year was the first I felt like letting my now-7-year-old stay up until 10 p.m., even on a summer night. So we went, listened to stories, did a craft, ate a s'more created over the campfire and then went for a walk through the Sheep Hill meadows that glittered and gleamed and simply shone with fireflies, around you and above you and below you and somehow inside you, too.

 

It was magical.

 

That's why I hope the weather doesn't wreak havoc on this year's event, set for this Saturday, June 29, from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Sheep Hill, right on Route 7 just south of the center of Williamstown. Heavy rain will cancel the event, but fingers crossed that doesn't happen. Donations of $3 per person or $6 per family are gratefully accepted by this amazing local nonprofit, which you can find at wrlf.org.

 

If is raining for the next few days, you can find some more traditional magic for the family indoors in the form of an on-stage version of "The Little Mermaid" at the Mac-Haydn Theatre, just over the Massachusetts border in Chatham, N.Y. What is more magical than the story of the mermaid who trades her voice to get legs, because "flipping your fins you can't get too far/legs are required for jumping, dancing," and to follow the prince she has fallen in the love with?

 

If you have never experienced the Mac-Haydn, you are in for a treat. With its unique no-bad-seats theater-in-the-round, all kids will have a great view of the kickoff show of this summer's Children's Theatre series. Shows are at 10:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays all summer; "The Little Mermaid" runs through the weekend of July 12 and 13. Future shows include "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "Cinderella." Tickets are $10 a person; visit machaydntheatre.org for information.

 

To finish off a magical weekend, head back to Williamstown on Sunday, June 30, for one of the Clark Art Institute's famous (and free!) family day extravaganzas starting at 11 a.m. Headlining the day are folk singers Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, better known as Sarah Lee and Johnny, who will perform family sing-alongs at 12:05 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. Other activities include old-fashioned contests that include pie-eating contests, sack races, food games, and games of strength; sea chanty performances by Forebitter; hay rides around the Schow lily pond; lawn games including shuttlecock, croquet, giant chess, and hoop and stick; and fun photo opportunities in a 19-century-style photo booth.

 

I don't see any magic shows on the Clark family day schedule, but I bet you and your family will find it a magical way to end an enchanted weekend. Abra cadabra!