St. Anne, Patron Saint of Mothers

Diane and I took one of our beloved road trips up to Sturbridge, MA to visit the shrine to St. Anne, who is the patron saint of mothers. It was suggested to me by a friend at work. So we figure what the hey, we're good for a ride. It was gorgeous. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there but it was easy driving (any time I DON'T have to go over the George Washington Bridge is a good thing) and the weather was just beautiful. The shrine and church are on these amazing grounds. There's a whole trail devoted to the stations of the cross, with sculptures of each station. I learned a little - I didn't know each station teaches some lesson. It was really interesting. I don't know why, but the stations of the cross just fascinate me - every time I'm in a new church, I look at them and how they're done. Every Easter I say I'm going to go to a live one.

Here's Diane at the entrance to the stations of the cross trail.

These are sacred steps that lead up to a sculpture of the cruxifiction.

The steps were pretty steep and I did indeed climb them. Not that I was a pretty sight when I reached the top. The view was lovely though. There were birds everywhere outside and they didn't stop singing once. I got some prayer cards and a little St. Anne medal to wear while I'm pregnant. I figure we can use any help we can get!

After the shrine we found a cute little restaurant that had a deck outside. Dining al fresco! And so inexpensive - I had a catfish dinner for $9. In the foyer of the restaurant was a CIGARETTE MACHINE! I haven't seen one of these in ages! I thought it hysterically funny so I took a photo. Then off to a candy store that's been around since like the early part of the 1900's where I had to purchase chocolate peanut butter fudge and a smores type thing and red licorice for Tommy. THEN to the bakery at the Publick House where I bought a delicious cookie (chocolate filled with peanut butter) and a whoopie pie. What's a whoopie pie? Surely you jest! It's like a big, huge, homemade devil dog except the cake part isn't dry and crumbly. Then home we went. We're planning another trip - we need to find Purgatory Chasm and check out the Polish Pottery.