Spring Fling 2026 - Day 40: Norman Rockwell Museum

The plan was to drive to Stockbridge, MA and tour the Norman Rockwell Museum.

No issues driving along the NY Thruway and then onto the Mass Pike.

We got to the NRM, Norman Rockwell Museum, shortly after opened at 10:00 a.m.  after disconnecting The CRV so I could back the motorhome into a bus spot, we went over to the new museum:

Martha and I are fans of Norman Rockwell, so be warned, lots of pictures of his artwork follows: 

I believe this is the first cover he did for the Saturday Evening Post:

Boy with Baby. Carriage 

He illustrated I believe 323 covers for the Saturday Evening Post over his career, these are the ones that caught my eye: 

Hero's Welcome

He showed America's fascination with automobiles:

Speeding Along

Little Spooners or Sunset

Doctor and the Doll

Blank Canvas or Deadline

Package from Home

Willie Gillis in Church

Some soldier is in trouble:

Double Trouble for Willie Gillis

Disabled Veteran 

Willie Gillis Generations

Homecoming Marine

The Homecoming 

Coming and Going

I like the embarrassment evident in the son's face as he gets "the talk":

The Facts of Life

The Runaway

Family Tree

The last cover....

We then wandered through the rest of the museum which was showcasing mostly his artwork but also some other artists as well.  It was also the second day of a special exhibit related to the 250th anniversary of American Independence.

Again, here is the artwork that caught my eye: 

Painting the Fence

Yankee Doodle Sketch

The New Tavern Sign

Home from Vacation 

Stockbridge Main Street on Christmas 

Visiting Hours by

Amos Sewell

Audibon Observing the Passenger Pigeon 

The following painting by Rockwell really resonates with me:

Glen Canyon Dam

FDRs famous Four Freedoms speech inspired Norman Rockwell to depict them thus:

Freedom of Worship 

Freedom of Speech

Freedom from Fear

Freedom from Want

The Lineman

Veterans of Two Wars

United Nations 

The Golden Rule 

Refugee Thanksgiving 

Outside in the museum's lush grounds, is Norman Rockwell's studio, transplanted from its original location to its present site:

We didn't have a tour appointment of course so we just peeked in one of the windows:

A tour of Stockbridge's main street ended with us finding more of Norman Rockwell's artwork within:

Voyager

The Collector 

Shuffleton's Barber Shop

After we picked up the motorhome again, We headed over to the town of Westfield, MA to the Harvest Host location we are overnighting in: Bright Ideas Brewing Co.

Dinner was pizza and beer:

Tomorrow, New Hampshire!

Spring Fling 2026 - Days 38+39: Philly Visit and Touring along Hudson River

Friday, Jun 5

Martha and I drove into Philadelphia to visit with Thing 2 at her apartment near the city's downtown.  Thing 2 moved to Philly for work and resumption of nursing school about 3 months ago.

We went to lunch at the large eatery complex known as Reading Station.  We went for cajun food but ordered too much food unknowingly!  Still it was a good lunch:

We got photo bombed.....

In the morning, we also went to IKEA to get Thing 2 some furniture:

A couple of city views:

It was a very good visit. I had been dreading going into the city but it turned out to be a manageable experience.  After dinner with Thing 2 along with 5 friends of her, we parted company and Martha and I returned to Macungie for the night. 

Saturday, June 6

We left Mike and Terry's home before 9:00 a.m. and by early afternoon had arrived at a harvest host site. It is the Hudson River House and Distillery in West Park, NY.  No hookups, just a gravel parking lot. There are three other rigs here tonight with us. 

We disconnected the CRV and headed over to the other side of the Hudson River over the mid-Hudson bridge to visit the FDR Museum and Presidential Library located in Hyde Park, NY.

Pretty good museum and house tour. If you got a few hours, I recommend you check it out. 

As usual here are some things that caught my eye in the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the presidential library he set up. 

FDR birthplace, home

Library/Study

Manually powered elevator, FDR could 

apparently raise it himself

Boyhood bedroom 

Adult bedroom 

Fire Extinguisher, you throw it at a fire....

FDR and Eleanor's gravesites.

At the front of the library/ museum 

In case you're into genealogy and how Teddy

Roosevelt and FDR were related...

The First Pet:

FDR desk

Hanging out at the visitor center with the Roosevelts 

By this time it was late afternoon and too late to take a guided tour of the Vanderbilt to mansion nearby.  Also run by the National Park Service it gives you a glimpse into the world of the gilded age. 

So we settled with some outside shots of The Mansion:

Italian Garden

The back porch

We hit quite the thunderstorm, with hail, on the way back to the RV. Traffic going eastbound across the Mid-Hudson bridge was at a standstill due to construction on the east end. We looked out, since we were on the westmound traffic and managed to catch the westbound flow as it started moving.

Lots of walking today, almost 8000 steps for me.