ROCKING CHAIR STUDIES

I began this page September 2012, but sadly did not keep it up. I did an update in. 2016, but fell behind until now September 2016 – sorry, ten years later. I looked through all my posts for more “gems” to add, and I have done that from recent 2026 images back to even 2014. Bookmark this page, and watch it grow and “rock.” Some history will also evolve here for your reading pleasure, along with links to some of my great explorations.

Here from my trip to Lyme, NH, in May 2026. A second floor porch looking over the yard at an Inn which I understand is now closed. At least I finally got there.

Cathy and I stayed a couple times at the Ira Allen House on old Historic US 7A in Sunderland, Vermont. I always “snap” the chairs on the porch overlooking my favorite road in the US. This I took in 2023 on the holiday tour.

Now, can you say as a child (in the late 1950s) you played on property that became a National Park? In my hometown of Wilton, CT, the impressionist artist J. Alden Weir lived, just up the road from my home. Still in the family, I would play with the caretaker’s children. One almost pieced me when throwing a pitchfork from the second floor of the barn. At another time while fishing in the pond Weir built, all I caught was my finger – racing home to have my uncle, a doctor, pull out the hook. Here on a visit to WIER FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK in October 2021 is the artist’s front porch – rocking away.

if you have visited here before you know that STAR ISLAND at the Isles of Shoals is a place of rocking chairs on the porches of the Oceanic Hotel, and thus providing me many “Rocking Chair Studies.” Here is a collection from my visit in September 2021 as COVID was winding down.

Below is October 2018 on Two Train Trips when I stopped at the Eagle Mountain House. Do click the Train Trip link – lots to see.

below on the porch of THE RELUCTANT PANTHER during the holiday tour in Manchester, Vermont, in December 2017.

and, below in May 2017 on President Calvin Coolidge’s front porch in Plymouth Notch, Vermont – another of my favorite places. This is where he was sworn in as President.

OCEANIC HOUSE - Star Island, NH - September 2012 — OCEANIC HOUSE – Star Island, NH – September 2012

I started this page during a Road Scholar trip to Chautauqua, New York in September 2013. Below is through a window at the Atheneum Hotel to Lake Chautauqua.

The next three chair studies were found on porches while walking around the institution.

Paper yellowing with age, waiting to be read.

And circling Lake Chautauqua I discovered Hotel Lenhart at Bemis Point, built in 1880, a National Geographic undiscovered treasure selection, and now “on my list.”

and, another view of the porch

The two image below are from my stay at Martha’s Vineyard in April 2015 at the Harbor View Hotel. I rediscovered this post 27 June 2021, and had to add these two “studies.”

MV-18 — Sames chairs, but from the lobby.

My favorite porch (and place to visit) is The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I always sit and rock, write, sip wine, and share with you images from the front porch.

In August 2013 I attended Medal Day at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH. This is the only day of the year the public may explore the grounds, and visit various artist cottages. I may have more chair studies in my files from that day, but here are my favorites.

A "super" "Rocking Chair" study!!! — A “super” “Rocking Chair” study!!!

Another of my favorites harks back to my explorations of the Rideau Canal in Canada, October 2011. It was a great Road Scholar program.

And at the end of today's journey was the late 19th century resort The Opincon. Not much changed from the 1890's and reminding me of the old summer resort experiences that have spurned my "shunpiking." An easy comfortable afternoon, an easy retirement! — And at the end of today’s journey was the late 19th century resort The Opincon. Not much changed from the 1890’s and reminding me of the old summer resort experiences that have spurned my “shunpiking.” An easy comfortable afternoon, an easy retirement!

Did I ever tell you that I love going to Plymouth Notch, Vermont? Calvin Coolidge’s ancestral home, and essentially the same as when he was sworn in as our 30th President August 3, 1923. But as I will readily tell you – 1920s Vermont is 1880s anywhere else.

FLORENCE CILLEY GENERAL STORE - Plymouth Notch, VT — FLORENCE CILLEY GENERAL STORE – Plymouth Notch, VT

and, here is the front porch of the President’s home – of course, rocking chairs are present for the President.

Not everything I see in my travels is a WOW, and just to prove it, here are a few “so-so – nothing special” views of rocking chairs. I took these on my way back from Campobello Island in Canada, a short bridge from Maine. It was a great Road Scholar program, and my routes to and from are never direct.

Here is the old Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews Canada

And, knowing the history of the Poland Springs Hotel and old resort, I was disappointed with what I saw, and glad I had not made a reservation for the night — I browsed and then drove home. BUT, the museum in the Maine Building from the 1892-93 Columbian Exposition, for me, was worth the trip. (scroll to the end of this link for the museum)