My family can’t get enough of Winslow Homer, who painted some of his most famous paintings in a studio on the rocky coast of Prouts Neck, Maine, where my grandfather grew up and my parents now live. Whenever there’s a Winslow Homer exhibit — and in recent years there have been plenty — we try to make it. We saw the 2005 Winslow Homer exhibit at The Clark in Williamstown, Mass., and in 2006 we traveled to the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City for the exhibit “Frederic Church, Winslow Homer and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape.”

One of the largest Winslow Homer exhibits I’ve seen was in the Montgomery County town of Canajoharie in 2004. At the time I knew next to nothing about the place, and was shocked to learn that the Canajoharie Library & Art Gallery was home to 21 Homer paintings, as well as works by Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth and other great artists. After viewing the exhibit, my friend and I ate at a small diner. We couldn’t help but wonder how a town that had clearly seen better days had acquired such an amazing art collection. Even more amazing, we thought, was the presence of this art in the town library.

Last year the Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery completed a $10 million expansion and renovation project that doubled its size. Now called the Arkell Museum, it features several galleries and a garden and reflecting pool, but is still adjacent to the library. This weekend I visited the Arkell with my parents, then stopped by the used book sale in the library basement — a bonus, as my dad put it. The museum was hosting two exhibits, an exhibition of portraits — including the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington — from the Arkell’s permanent collection, and an exhibition of immigrant and ethnic caricatures dating back to the late 19th century to World War I. Though both exhibits were good, I really enjoyed the exhibition of immigrant and ethnic caricatures. These images reflected the attitudes toward different racial and ethnic groups common at the time — there were a lot of negative portrayals of the Irish, for example, as well as the Chinese — but always placed those attitudes in the appropriate historical context.

The Arkell also has a permanent exhibit, “Arkell’s Inspiration: The Marketing of Beech-Nut and Art for the People,” that answered almost all of my lingering questions about how the Canajoharie Library & Art Gallery amassed its great art collection. I learned that Bartlett Arkell, a founder of Beech-Nut Packing Company, acquired and donated more than 300 pieces of art to Canajoharie; he was particularly fond of Winslow Homer. He encouraged his marketing staff to use images from his collection in his print ads, but also believed in making art accessible and available to people. For a time, he even brought pianists in to provide music for his factory workers.

Beech-Nut, of course, is no longer a family-owned company. Over the years, the business has changed ownership, and is now owned by the Switzerland-based Hero Group. Last year, the Hero Group announced plans to build a new Beech-Nut factory in the Florida Business Park. It required millions of dollars in state subsidies, but the company agreed not to leave the state and has announced to add 135 jobs and build a new $125 million facility. Beech-Nut, which started smoking ham and bacon about 116 yeas ago, is now the second largest baby food producers in the country.

I drove past Canajoharie somewhat regularly when I was attending college in Ohio, and the Beech-Nut factory was one of the few landmarks on this rather endless stretch of Interstate 90. I never stopped. I never knew that there was anything worth stopping for. But the Arkell is definitely worth stopping for, and there are a few other treasures nearby: a beautiful gorge, the Canajoharie waterfall. It’s a good day trip, one I’m glad I finally made.

I don’t get out to Ballston Spa much, but whenever I do I try to stop at the Whistling Kettle on Front Street. There’s a full menu of teas from all over the world, and you can order high tea, which is what I like to do. On Saturday I got a turkey and avocado sandwich, lemon-poppy tea bread, roasted red pepper and gouda soup and a small pot of Moroccan Mint tea. My dad thinks I’m not qualified to write about food because I don’t like onions, but I know a good meal when I eat one.