Stockbridge Massachusetts Awesome Day & Bangor Maine Awesome Week!

Our drive from PA to CT on 21 May was beautiful!  The country side of green rolling hills with distant tree-covered mountains was just awesome!  We arrived at Tolland CT on 21 May 2024 to stay at The Quarry Campground for five nights.  Anita wanted to see the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Massachusetts from here, so that was the only day trip planned.  We hoped to lay low at the campground and get some rest to finish off colds we each were fighting.  The day (23 May) in Stockbridge Mass turned out to be such a treat that we took a lot of pictures and wanted to log the memories on our blog. 

The museum was about 85 miles from our campground, and an easy drive mostly on interstates.  The museum was one we walked through with a smile the whole time as we looked at Rockwell’s art and learned about the man behind the illustrations.  He wanted to tell stories with his pictures and as we looked at them, we certainly could see that.  The little details in his work are the testament to Rockwell’s talent at telling stories with his pictures. 

In 1943 FDR said in a speech about the war (WWII) that we were fighting for 4 essential human freedoms: Freedom of speech and expression; Freedom of worship; Freedom from fear; and Freedom from want.  Norman Rockwell painted each of these freedoms for Saturday Evening Post covers at that time and the sale of war bonds went through the roof!  The Internet says: Rockwell hoped that his paintings of the “Four Freedoms” might help raise some money for the war effort. Little did Rockwell know that, before the end of World War II, the U.S. Government would print millions of copies of his paintings and his “Four Freedoms” would help sell $132,999,537 worth of war bonds.

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Family Tree - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Checkers - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum - Abraham Lincoln was Rockwell's favorite American

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Freedom of Speech - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Freedom of Worship - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Freedom from Fear - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Freedom from Want - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The Runaway - Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Grounds of Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Linwood Estate - Grounds of Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Grounds of Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Grounds of Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

We used this map for clues to find "1783" on the house in Stockbridge

Grounds of Norman Rockwell Museum

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

We left the museum and went into the town of Stockbridge to see the house Rockwell lived in for 21 years before he died in 1978. 

Rockwell's Home for Christmas (1967) - Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The white building with 5 trees in front of it is still there today

The white building with 5 trees in front of it from Rockwell's 'Home For Christmas' painting today

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

"1783" identifying Rockwell's house on South Street

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Rockwell's home for last years of his life

We parked in a parking space in front of this church

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Shrine behind St. Joseph's Catholic Church

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

While in the town, we saw a street sign that read “Divine Mercy Shrine”.  A passer by asked if we needed help finding something and we asked about the shrine.  He said to just keep walking up that street.  We couldn’t see anything from where we were, so we opted to take a couple of pictures of downtown and Rockwell’s house and get the truck to drive to the shrine.  Little did we know that the shrine is a National Shrine!  The grounds are located on Eden Hill. It was a little overwhelming to understand everything when we got there. There is a receptionist there and she got us a very knowledgeable shrine employee who insisted on driving us around the grounds in a golf cart.  Anita had asked if any of the paths to the buildings are drivable and they are not by car.  We were a little pressed for time and Anita’s knees were resisting more hill walking, so we accepted Mary Kay’s gracious offer to drive us around in a golf cart for a quick tour.  The whole property is very peaceful and each area she took us to had its own serene feeling.  We lit a candle at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and Immaculate Conception Candle Shrine for a sick friend of ours.  Our Lady of Lourdes is known to have answered prayers with healing miracles.  When we thought the tour was over she turned into the life size stations of the cross area and each station was very powerful.  We highly recommend seeing the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge Massachusetts if you’re ever near there.  To read more about it: https://www.shrineofdivinemercy.org/

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

St. John Paul II Plaza

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The Shrine of The Holy Innocents

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

The Shrine of The Holy Innocents

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

Back of The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy from the golf cart

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

European Horsechestnut trees - The Grounds of Eden Hill

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

European Horsechestnut tree- The Grounds of Eden Hill

Stockbridge Massachusetts 23 May 2024

I hadn't planned on posting until some time in June from Nova Scotia, but we saw some neat things and did a couple of nice hikes in Bangor Maine. We arrived in Bangor on 26 May 2024 and stayed at Cold River Campground for 7 nights. We had admin things to do, so we hadn't planned much site seeing. We still got out a couple of times and we want to remember Bangor. We were amazed by the number of hiking trails there are in and around Bangor. We only went out on a couple of them and walked 3 miles on each, but we found the trails to be well marked and they had good signage. The first hike we did was at the Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden Maine. The next day we hiked at Bangor City Forest. We had gone to see a couple of sites in Bangor one day too.

Stephen King's house in Bangor Maine

28 May 2024

The hairdresser told Anita that he's planning to sell this house and will live in one of his others.

Yard Art at Stephen King's house Bangor Maine

28 May 2024

Bangor Maine 28 May 2024

Bangor Maine 28 May 2024

Bangor Maine 28 May 2024

Penobscot Riverwalk Bangor Maine

28 May 2024

Penobscot Riverwalk Bangor Maine

28 May 2024

Paul Bunyan in Bangor Maine

28 May 2024

Holden Maine 31 May 2024

Holden Maine 31 May 2024

Fields Pond Audubon Center Holden Maine 31 May 2024

Red Breasted Nuthatch - Fields Pond Audubon Center Holden Maine 31 May 2024

Downy Woodpecker - Fields Pond Audubon Center Holden Maine 31 May 2024

Bunchberry or Ground Dogwood - Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Cinnamon Fern - Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Wild Lady Slipper Orchid - Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Canada Warbler - Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Pitcher Plant - Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Orono Bog Boardwalk at Bangor City Forest 1 June 2024

Posted at a boat launch near our campground in Eddington Maine

Tomorrow (2 June 2024) we're driving in to New Brunswick, to Fundy National Park to stay in the park for five nights. We don't know if our Internet will work there, so posts may be scarce for a couple of months while we're touring Canada. On the other hand, we may see no difference in coverage. If you see nothing on the blog for a while, that means our Internet box isn't working there and we're having to find public Internet spots.