Shelburne Museum -- a Vermont Treasure

Today at the Shelburne Museum the grounds were transformed to a circus theme called Circus Palooza. They already have a wonderful carved circus train exhibit that must run 500 feet in a U-shaped building. All the animals are to scale with life-like features, expressions on faces, clowns, handlers, wagons, and more. It is one of my favorite exhibits located right behind the carousel.

Today, there was a huge tent in the space between carousel and building with wonderful acts. There were also other "circus" activities for the children such as "lion taming," balloon popping and bean bag tossing. We didn't get to visit the fun house but we did ride the carousel two times.

I didn't mention the most important part of the experience was getting to visit with our granddaughter! She loved the face painting best of all.

The Shelburne Museum has an incredible collection of folk art including quilts, dolls, and Cigar Store Indian statues, to name a few. Separate buildings house these exhibits, buildings that were either built for the museum or were brought to the museum from their original location. A lighthouse from Mallett's Bay in Vermont was brought to its resting spot on a gentle slope on the museum grounds. A full size steam ship called the Ticonderoga was brought from Lake Champlain across land to its spot on the property. A recent multi-million dollar renovation brought the ship to its original splendor.

The gardens are beautifully tended and contain perennials and annuals designed in formal and informal spaces. Lilac Sunday in May features hundreds of varieties of the most magnificent smelling flowers!

My favorite exhibit by far is the Webb Memorial Building. Electra Havemyer Webb's children built a Greek Revival style building, dismantled several of the 18 rooms that were in the Webb's New York City apartment and rebuilt the rooms in the Memorial, transforming the space to look like the apartment. The walls, trim work, rugs, and  furniture was brought to  Vermont. Leather walls were removed and put on the library walls in the Memorial. Real leather!!! The bedrooms were reconstructed on site. If the Webbs had lived to see the building, it would have felt like home! But, the most incredible part of the Memorial is the art work hanging on the walls: Monet water lilies and hay stacks; Manets, Degas ballerinas, Rembrandt! The collection is outstanding. There are four Mary Cassatts including one of Luisinne Havemyer and her daughter -- little Electra! Her mother was one of the earliest collectors of Impressionist painting.

What a gem we have in Shelburne, Vermont! What a wonderful place to explore. There are reasonable memberhip prices. But if you just want to visit for two consecutive days (they let you come back the second day for free) Vermont residents with a valid license pay only $10 admission. For more information, visit shelburnemuseum.org