The Shelburne Museum

Monday we were off to the Shelburne Musuem. We arrived at 10 am when they opened and left at 4:45 pm 15 minutes before they closed. 

The Shelbune Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 38 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds. It is located on 45 acres  near Lake Champlain. We visit a lot of this type of museums in our travels and I would rate this one a four out of five. The variety of displays and the amount in the displays were really great. They had more horse drawn vehicles then any place we have been. They have what is claimed to be the largest collection of  glass canes, straight razors and circus carvings in the country. 

So why 4 out of 5? The cost to get in is $22.00 each, senior price. We almost didn't go because of the cost but we are glad we did. (The website didn't mention that the ticket was for a two day admission).  It would have been a shame to miss such a place because of the cost.  

A beautiful round barn. One of 3 buildings with horse drawn vehicles in it. 

One of the first food wagons. They sold popcorn. 

One of the most impressive displays was the circus cravings. It took the head carver and five helpers 25 years in complete. Everything is carved to scale from prints and pictures. All the pics were taken through glass so the quality is not the best but you can get the idea. The Roy Arnold Circus Parade recreates in miniature 112 attractions from the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, Barnum & Bailey, Ringling Bros. and Robinson circuses in 525 linear feet of a special exhibition building

Hand-carved 3,500 piece Kirk Brothers Miniature Circus. 

The train depot

Light house

The Ticonderoga

 The steamboat Ticonderoga is America's last remaining side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer with a vertical beam engine of the type that provided freight and passenger service on America's lakes and rivers from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Commissioned by the Champlain Transportation Company, Ticonderoga was built in 1906 at the Shelburne Shipyard in Shelburne, Vermont on Lake Champlain.

Ticonderoga measures 220 feet in length and 59 feet in beam, with a displacement of 892 tons. Her steam engine, handmade by the Fletcher Engine Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, was powered by two coal-fired boilers and could achieve a maximum speed of 17 miles per hour.

 We watched the movie about moving the ship from Lake Champlain to it's resting spot at the museum. It was an amazing feat covering 2 miles that had to be done mid winter while the ground was frozen. The ship is open for tours and is a magnificent boat. 

Well looky here, a blacksmith shop.

One of many trivets on display

Louise was bad. Doesn't she look ashamed.

Blacksmith weather vane

A lot of the inside areas did not allow flash photography so it made it hard to get pictures in those buildings. All in all it was well worth the money. Seeing all the wood carvings  in the circus display was almost worth the price of admission for me. The blacksmith and horse drawn vehicle display just added to it. The entry fee was for 2 days and could take that long if you are the type to read about all the displays. We did it in one LONG day.

We passed this sculpture on the way back to the Elks Lodge 

We have several other trips to take while in this area. This evening we will visit family again. Tomorrow, weather permitting we will take the ferry across to New York to visit some site in the north part of the  Adirondacks.

Til next time

Duane and Louise