Steamboat Ticonderoga at Shelburne

I would like to continue to discuss my tour around Shelburne Museum in Vermont last fall. On the map below, the Blue line shows my tour discussed in the first three posts which ended at the Railroad Station. From there I headed over to the Steamboat Ticonderoga, marked with a Red line..

As you pass by the treeline along the railroad tracks, there in front of you, is a large boat sitting in the middle of the park. It is big at 220 feet long, but almost looks like it belongs on the green grass of Vermont...

Interestingly, I happen to have photos in my collection that were taken back in 1955, the year the steamboat was moved from Lake Champlain across two miles of land to the site of the current Museum. My dad took my brother John along. The first picture the boat is in the water being moved to the train tracks...

This second picture has the head of my brother John, wearing a ball cap. He was five years old...

As you cross the bridge too enter the boat, there is a small sign explaining the history of the Ticonderoga.

The deck you enter contains some of the items that would be shipped. The boat early on went from Westport New York to the North. Passengers would enjoy the cruise along Lake Champlain, but goods were also transported. Sometimes the cars of the paying passengers.

This is the view looking from the bow toward the part of the ship containing rooms for guests and also some staff.

I think this room was for staff.

For the paying customers, there was a nice dining room toward the stern.

You can see there were not many tables, but that is real dinnerware and silverware along with cloth napkins and tablecloths. Fancy restaurant. I did not see any menus posted but they talk about the food in the previous photo.

Of course there was a purser and this was his area...

I knew I found my deck here....

From the deck you can see the lighthouse which is also on display at Shelburne Museum. It has kind of become iconic since you can see it from Route 7 which goes to Burlington to the North, and Middlebury, my hometown, to the south.

There is a nice sitting area above the dining room, open to the outside air. I bet it would have been nice to sit out here on a warm Vermont day (usually July 4) and enjoy the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains.

I had mentioned that this was a steamship, which of course had a steam engine...

The rich passengers could get a fairly large room which had room for your golf clubs...

Of course, like most things, there were certifications for the Captain, the Pilots, and the Engineers. Even the boat itself had a certificate. Sorry about the poor photo, I was getting seasick and needed to get off the boat, the steamship Ticonderoga.

I plan to write more about my Museum tour in the fall of 2019.