In the heart of Stockbridge, Massachusetts sits a colonial era landmark that still invites travelers to lay down their weary heads and stay a while.
The Red Lion Inn actually began as a small inn around 1773. According to the Red Lion’s website, Silas Pepoon created this welcome stop for stagecoach travelers between Albany and Boston.
In the centuries since, a number of owners have cared for and grown the hotel and its influence in the Berkshires. For the last fifty or so years, it has been the Fitzpatrick family that has taken it to the next level in terms of physical growth and making it a year round destination.
We didn’t stay there, opting instead for a more cost effective option outside of town but we did pop in to their gift shop and to look around part of the first floor.
There are numerous places to sit and relax in public areas. I really liked this spot near the stairs.
And this one.
It feels every bit its age in the best way possible with high ceilings, gorgeous woodwork, and windows with a view. I could imagine myself curled up with a good book in this room some cold winter day.
Don’t think I’m weird but I was charmed by the wallpaper in the ladies room. Ok, maybe it is a little weird but I like it anyway.
Lots of famous people have stayed here including US Presidents lIke FDR and Teddy Roosevelt, celebrities like Bob Dylan and Oprah Winfrey, and literary giants like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Someday I’ll stay there but for now am just glad we looked around for a few minutes on our way somewhere else! Want to learn more? Here’s their website.
We had some good meals along the way on the Stockbridge trip but one of my very favorites was this lunch in the courtyard outside the Red Lion Inn.
Fish and chips. Diet Coke. A good friend. A delicate breeze beneath an umbrella. Blue skies above.
It was divine.
There was a little bird, politely hopping around looking for something tasty. He finally found a french fry, happily flying off with his found treasure.
Whether it’s when we travel or just a stolen moment during our week, this is what it’s all about. Quiet moments with someone who understands us, fresh air, and time to slow down – even if for just an hour – help us to recharge and remind us that life is more than schedules and busy work.
Oh, to be as happy as a bird with a french fry! Now there’s a life goal I can get behind.
The Norman Rockwell Museum tells the story of Rockwell’s life and work through his paintings. There are three large floor to ceiling walls of framed magazine covers. So many that it’s almost overwhelming.
A film tells his life story.
There’s also a full gallery of his paintings including some that seemed kind of obscure to me and others that are almost infamous.
One of the reasons I like Rockwell’s work is that he had a way of telling stories of everyday life with only imagery. You can tell what they’re thinking and feeling and you don’t need a card next to it on the wall to know exactly what’s happening. It’s a study on the beauty of life.
This is one of my favorites. From November 1945, it’s titled “Thanksgiving: Mother and Son Peeling Potatoes.” He gives us a seemingly simple scene. They’re in the kitchen, chatting while he helps her prepare the meal.
He’s a soldier, freshly home and still in his uniform but he’s wearing civilian shoes. He seems content to be back in the warmth of his mother’s kitchen but the chair he’s perched on looks too small.
He has outgrown it somehow but he sits with feet up like a little boy would.
Look closer.
He has creases in his forehead and lines on his hands. The time away has aged him. The young man has returned home a soldier. Look at how natural and realistic his hands are. It’s almost like a photo.
Now consider his mother. This is the face of a woman who has spent many a sleepless night praying for her son. In this moment, she can scarcely believe he’s here. Look at the way she gazes at him as though she wonders if this is a dream.
Their surroundings tell a story of harvest and abundance with a pan of cranberries and a pumpkin on the floor. Is that a bushel basket of apples? A mixing bowl, preserves, a couple of oranges and that bright pop of red in the tablecloth tell a story of country folk who will use what they have to make this the best Thanksgiving they’ve ever known.
But her soldier is home so it will be the very best even if the potatoes turn out lumpy.
This is true Americana and it really is one of my favorite paintings of his. But there are so many more.
Like this one of a lineman in 1947.
And a coal miner in 1944.
They both look like they could step off the canvas and set down the road toward home.
Of course, everyone clamors to see this fifties era view of Stockbridge, his adopted hometown. It’s one of his most requested and recognizable works.
He used models. Often the models were folks right there in the county. Some he used more than once.
His paintings tend to tell the stories of the small towns and the dying ways of the people who made this country great with their heads bowed in prayer, their hands grimy from hard work, and their eyes raised up in hope for the future.
He made a series called “The Four Freedoms” based on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s declaration that the U.S. would fight for:
Freedom of Speech.
Freedom of Worship.
Freedom of Fear.
And Freedom of Want.
So, friends, this was the inspiration for our trip to Stockbridge, Massachusetts and I am so glad we went.
There are many more paintings I could share with you today but I’m thinking we may hold onto a few to revisit some winter day when we are all itching to hit the road.
Want to visit this museum? Click here for their website.
Several months ago I read a story about the town where Norman Rockwell said he found some of his best inspiration. The story promoted a quaint New England town and a Norman Rockwell Museum where visitors could get to know more about the man and his work.
While Norman Rockwell has become something of a cliche to many, I tend to think his storytelling is genius and that our society could benefit from a good dose of small town innocence.
So, off we went to Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the Berkshires. This town of 2,000 residents is a year round attraction known for access to outdoor activities, small town charm, and a handful of famous folks who once made their home here.
Rockwell’s first Stockbridge studio was in the upstairs of a building that now is home to a cafe (also the same building that was home to the famed Alice’s Restaurant). He moved to the area and set up shop here when his wife came to Stockbridge for medical care.
It has north facing windows on the second floor that overlook the Main Street and would be quite the window out on the world. What I wouldn’t give for a morning of writing and people watching from that space! While he rented this studio space, he set out to have renovated an 1830s carriage house in the yard of his home in town.
This would be his creative space beginning in 1957 until his death 21 years later. He adopted Stockbridge as his hometown and said some of his best work originated here. Most of his important social commentary work was done here in this studio.
The studio is no longer located in Stockbridge. That’s because it was loaded onto a flatbed truck and moved to the campus of the Norman Rockwell Museum in 1986.
We toured the studio before we went through the museum and had a wonderful tour guide.
He shared with us that the museum looks much the same as it did when Rockwell worked here, aside from the fact it is now perched on a rural hillside instead of in town. His easel is set up as though waiting for the master to return from lunch. His paints and brushes are on the table.
His radio and phone too.
Rockwell was a fastidious housekeeper who our tour guide said cleaned his studio several times a day. This seemed odd to me given how messy most artists are but fitting giving how squeaky clean his storytelling was. The space is light and pleasant and I can see why he said it was his best studio of all the twenty or so he worked in.
I lingered at the end of the tour and remained for a moment after everyone else had filed out. It was easy to imagine that Rockwell had just stepped out and that I might be able to perch on the couch while he began his next painting.
The property has walking trails which we didn’t take advantage of and a world class museum that we enjoyed thoroughly. I’ll take you to the museum next time.
I clocked this church on our way into town and made a beeline in that direction when we were out for a stroll in Stockbridge the next morning.
I wandered around outside for a minute before realizing that the sign said “open.”
Open, indeed, and my friend and I were the only people in the sanctuary.
This is the First Congregational Church of Stockbridge. While this building dates to 1824, the congregation originated in 1734 when John Sergeant began a mission to the Mohican people of the Berkshire Hills.
They celebrate this history with plaques on the wall surrounding the alter.
The light is absolutely perfect. And while you can feel the weight of age and history here, there’s a lightness to the space that feels warm and uplifting. As a church should be.
I was all but obsessed with the crisp white walls and the symmetry throughout the church. Here’s a view from the balcony.
What a wonderful place to worship or to sit in quiet meditation.
Frequent visitors to this page will notice that I have an affinity for empty churches. Organized religion has done me no good as I don’t care for the focus on worldly things or how noisy it is. If you want to hear the voice of God it seems to me it’s best to shut up and listen.
But that’s just me and we all know I’m an oddball. Everyone should worship how they see fit.
What I can tell you for sure is that the stolen moments in the back of empty churches are some of the most awe inspiring and most profound I have experienced.
This was one of the best.
Here’s a peak at those gorgeous front doors.
And the light in the entryway.
If you wish to visit this church, it’s on Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. They do keep regular daily hours for the public to tour and enjoy the space.
Find the church online to learn more about their ministry and even to listen to a service online if you are so inclined.
