Road Trip #2

Quilts! Where is a good place to see quilts on a random Saturday?
Hint: takes a few hours of driving northward.
Of course, when the route is mostly through Vermont, it's a very pleasant drive indeed.
We took the interstate--I-91, the one that runs by Webs--north to White River Junction, then cut across Vermont via Route 4 and Route 7. Took us past Quechee Gorge, through lots of lovely towns and even more lovely countryside.
Finally made it to our destination: the Shelburne Museum!
What a place! I can't begin to list all the delights in this very interesting museum--although, I don't think "museum" conveys the full flavor of the enterprise.
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector. Her tastes were eclectic and her purse ample, so her museum has lots of room devoted to some of her favorite things.
Quilts.
Dolls.
Trains--yes, there is more than one. Even a whole train station.
Dollhouses.
Samplers.
Folk art of all sorts--painting, sculpture, weathervanes.
Spinning wheels and looms have their own building.
So do the print shop, and the blacksmith shop. The blacksmith was making a large hook when we were there, chatting about the original owner of the shop on the premises and telling us what he has in his own shop, at home.
The weaving shop has a full-size operational jacquard loom, as well as lots of different spinning wheels and other looms.
Art--one building is Impressionist art.
Wheeled vehicles, including a couple of stagecoaches, peddlers' wagons, medicine wagon...
A lighthouse.
A schoolhouse.
A meeting house.
A recreation of an early New England family's house and outbuildings, with all of their furniture and tools, so well done you almost think you can hear them talking in the next room.

The round barn is the visitors' center, and it holds the current exhibit of contemporary Vermont quilts.
It's also got an exhibit of chandeliers, ranging from pretty to funky to downright weird--how about a chandelier made of plastic tableware? Or covered in feathers, fur, lace, and tassels?



There's a whole building devoted to a miniature circus parade, and carousel animals.
You can adopt a carousel creature if you'd like, as they are in need of restoration and your sponsorship can provide it.
Oh yes, there is a carousel on the grounds.
As well as a steamship.
If you are thinking that you'd like to visit Vermont, or any of the New England states, don't miss the opportunity to visit Shelburne.
Seriously.

The steamship Ticonderoga. Used to ply the waters of Lake Champlain--which is actually just a few miles away. Now it's got a rather interesting new career, wouldn't you say?

Oh, and the flowers are glorious.

So for part of the drive up, I wound up two balls of the Noro Cash Island, cast on a ripple scarf, and knitted happily away. (I told my brother that when I drove, he'd have to knit, but he convinced me that wasn't a great idea.)


We had a great time exploring. The docents were very interesting, and friendly.
One of them in particular was very chatty, and as we were saying goodbye to her, I happened to look at her name tag. Her last name is the same as my maiden name--my brother's name! Small world, huh?
We rounded out the day by meeting up with my cousin, his wife and daughter, for dinner and some good talk. Then we headed for home.
I got to knit some more on the way home--I opted to take the "dark" part of the drive, after the sun had set.
We also saw a double rainbow. At one point, the bottom of the arc touched down in the valley just a mile or so ahead. Quite magical.
Not so magical? Running into the very heavy rainstorm that was responsible for the rainbow! Quite a gullywasher.

So, back home again in the same day. But what a day!
Oh, the scarf? It got pretty far along, and then I realized that I was going to have a scarf that was 9" wide and 12" long. So it's been frogged, and re-cast-on at half the width. Now it's about an inch and a half long, so when it gets longer I'll take its picture and post it.

More road trips in the near future, including the one that's the reason for this whole trip. Stay tuned?
PS--if you click on my Flickr badge, it will take you to my page where you can check out all 175 or so of my Shelburne photos--in the set called, un-originally enough, Shelburne Museum!