Enter Through the Gift Shop

If ever, dear reader,  you find yourself passing through Amherst, Massachusetts, be sure to  tour the Dickinson Homestead.  NOT touring the Homestead would be like visiting Paris and ignoring the Eiffel Tower; or like visiting Cloquet, Minnesota and not stopping for a fill up at the R. W. Lindholm Service Station (the only gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright); or like driving through Croaker, Virginia, and not exploring the field of decaying President Heads (click the images below to enlarge). 

Below left: FLW gas station. Below right:  Presidential Heads 

If ever, dear reader, you realize that you will be passing through Amherst, Massachusetts, then plan ahead.  Purchase your tickets to tour the Homestead in advance.  They sell out.  The Dickinson Museum website says this: "To explore inside the Dickinson Homestead, visitors are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance."  More info from the museum's "Know Before You Go" page is HERE. 

​This past month, on my Dickinsonpalooza Tour 2026, I visited the Homestead on my day in Amherst. Of course I did -- and pics galore are exhibited below for your enjoyment. 

As you might have guessed, dear reader, my reputation preceded my arrival, and the museum staff was extremely concerned about my behavior once inside the home. To set their minds at ease, I agreed to wear protective garb and to have myself wheeled about on a dolly. I thought it was a bit much; however,  to set their minds at ease, I obliged their request.    

At the right:  There I am in my required ensemble in the entryway of the Homestead. 

Below left and right:   Various shots from the first floor of the home. 

Below:  The piano at the Homestead is not the actual piano the Dickinson's owned. Their piano is at the Houghton Library at Harvard.  I found this info:  "The Hallet and Davis piano in the Dickinson artifact collection of the Houghton Library, Harvard University, contains a patent date on its bridge of September 23, 1851, so it cannot be the one Dickinson first played in 1845. See 'Pianoforte; Renaissance Revival square piano.” But in all likelihood, the Pleasant Street piano was a square piano much like the one at the Houghton Library, perhaps also of rosewood, as that was the preference Edward Dickinson stated in a letter of June 1844."

Our tour guide asked if anyone in the group played the piano, so I gave it a try (after they let me off the dolly and out of my protective wear).  

The piece on the piano was called "Aeolian Waltz."  I tried to find info on it -- and it turns out that the Dickinsons did own a piece of sheet music called "Aeolian Waltz," but it was not this waltz.  The info I found below shows a waltz in E Flat major, and the piece I played was in A major -- and the waltz I played does not match the piece shown below. 

Below:  Inside (and one outside) pics of Emily Dickinson's bedroom.

Below:  A few misc shots from around the house -- and just FYI:  The sky had a yellow-gray tint on the day of our tour from smoke from Canadian wild fires. 

Tomorrow:  Pics from Austin and Susan Dickinson's home, the Evergreens.

More pics are on my travelogue, "Dial 'Em' for Emily," HERE. 

More posts from my trip are here:

08.02.2026:  FUN WITH JIM AND EMILY, CLICK HERE. 
08.01.2026:  THE BIG SLEEP, CLICK HERE. 
07.31.2026:  A WICKED ADVENTURE IN THE HUB OF THE UNIVERSE, CLICK HERE. 
07.30.2026:  PAINT BY BLUNDERS, CLICK HERE. 
07.29.2026:  YABBA DABBA DO BE DO BE DO WOP BOP A LOO BOP A LOP BAM BOOM DEE AY, CLICK HERE. 
07.28.2026: NOT YOUR GARDEN VARIETY, CLICK HERE. 
07.27.2026: THE TROUBLES WITH EMILY, CLICK HERE. 
07.26.2026: THE MAN WHO BLOGGED TOO MUCH, CLICK HERE. 
07.25.2026:  STRANGE TURNS ON A TRAIN, CLICK HERE. 
07.24.2026:  HOW SWEETEST IT IS, CLICK HERE. 
07.23.2026:  A DATE WITH DESTINY, CLICK HERE.
07.22.2026:  THIS – IS THE BLOG POST – ​THE SUNSET WASHES, CLICK HERE.
07.21.2026:  DOUBLE ETERNITY, CLICK HERE. 
07.20.2026:  THE ORACLE WORE A WHITE DRESS -- PART DEUX, CLICK HERE.
07.19.2026:  ALL THINGS MATTER, CLICK HERE. 
07.18.2026:  INTRODUCTORY PLOG POST ABOUT "DIAL 'EM' FOR EMILY," CLICK HERE.