Burlington, Vermont

On our drive west to Burlington we went through the Capitol of Vermont, Montpelier.  Montpelier is the only state capitol without a McDonald's. 

We also stopped at the uber-famous Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in Waterbury.

Nothing like ice cream for lunch.

The company got their start in Burlington but their main factory is in Waterbury.

 

The 1/2 hour tour leaves every 10 minutes.

 Samples at the end of our tour.

Our guide says this is the new best seller.

This is the line to buy an ice cream.

 Flavors of the past.

The four-block pedestrian Church Street Marketplace is a great spot for a stroll.

 Al's French Frys was started in the late 1940's. Their fabulous french frys quickly made Al's into a Burlington-area institution. The line was out the door the night we were there.

Shelburne Museum

One of the nation's finest, most diverse, and unconventional museums of art, design and Americana.  Explore the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga,  ride the 1920's carousel,  marvel at a Monet or enjoy the award-winning gardens. Over 150,000 works exhibited in 38 buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds of 45 acres. 

Ticonderoga  

Built at the Shelburne Harbor in 1906

The Steamboat Ticonderoga is America's last remaining side paddlewheel passenger steamer with a vertical beam engine.

During the winter of 1955 the Shelburne Museum moved Ticonderoga overland to the museum grounds.  At 220 feet She was hauled across highways, over a swamp, through woods and fields, and across the tracks of the Rutland Railway to reach her permanent mooring on the museum grounds.



Bob made a leaf out of square stock as we watched on and asked questions.  When he was all finished he gave me the leaf.

This building built in 1840 originally served a large Shaker community in Canterbury, New Hampshire, (where we had just visited) as a one-story horse and carriage stand.  The simple, unadorned commercial structure was expanded in 1850 to provide storage space for brooms made and sold by community members and later, in 1853, to accommodate farming equipment.  The shed was moved to the Shelburne Museum in 1951.

 

Dave and George Washington

carved somewhere between 1800-1850

Double-lane covered bridge with footpath came from Cambridge Vermont.  Built in 1845

The Lighthouse, from Colchester Reef on nearby Lake Champlain, served as home and workplace for 11 successive lighthouse keepers and their families.  The Lighthouse, was built in 1871 to mark three reefs between Vermont and New York. Because it had to endure strong lake winds, the structure’s 25-foot-square post-and-beam frame, foundation, roof, and tower are pegged, bolted, and secured with 1½-inch thick iron rods.

In 1952, the abandoned Lighthouse was dismantled from its site on the lake and re-constructed at the Museum, where it sits near the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga.

 This museum is a must.  Your admission covers 2 days and if you really want to see it all you might want to plan on using both days.

Lake Champlain

Burlington Waterfront