Topic starter
29/07/2011 8:50 pm
If you've never visited the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont (just south of Burlington), it is highly recommended. In addition to many other fine and varied exhibits, you can step aboard the steamer Ticonderoga. Fellow DQ entertainer Annie Lebeaux recently visited there and, like I did when I visited a few years ago, felt like she did when she would step aboard the Delta Queen.
Check out the Ticonderoga.
29/07/2011 9:58 pm
Jazzou, I visited the TI in 2007 and I concur with your statements about her. If a steamboat has to be preserved on dry land the Shelburne Museum has done it right. You can go aboard and wander about at leasure from boiler room to pilothouse - without a Twix card! (did I get the right name for that thing?) The museum has a million dollar endowment to keep the boat in good repair and she just sparkles! True, she isn't afloat but visitors are able to walk all around her hull and touch and inspect her feathering sidewheels. The story about how she was transported two miles overland to the museum is as fascinating as was her long career afloat. She is the last of the East Coast beam engine sidewheelers in existance.
29/07/2011 10:25 pm
Thanks!
Thanks, Jazzou and John, for the information on the steamer TICONDEROGA. Sorry to say, that's one steamboat I've not had the pleasure of visiting and she's certainly on my "to do" list for the future! It's wonderful that she's been high and dry as a museum vessel since 1955 and is well maintained. Most retired old steamboats haven't enjoyed such a lengthy survival.
John, it is a TWIC card -- for Transportation Worker Indentification Credential. You were probably thinking of the delicious candy bar, which is one of my favorites!
30/07/2011 2:08 am
TI
I plan to visit the TI in August. Shelburne did a major restoration in the early 2000s. Do I correctly recall a story about that project in Steamboat Bill?
Wesley
30/07/2011 9:54 am
We´ve been there last summer and I can second the others! It´s not only the Ti but the whole museum complex is really great. Lots do to and see! The ticket is valid for two days. Unfortunately we only planned one day and couldn´t go back again.
Carmen
30/07/2011 3:03 pm
Boat Heaven
It's on my list too. I did a sketch of it in 1972. I have long wanted to visit New England, or what I call Boat Heaven.
30/07/2011 8:51 pm
TICONDEROGA Centennial Feature in Steamboat Bill
Wesley, there was a 16 page feature on the centennial of the TICONDEROGA in the Summer, 2006 issue (#258) of Steamboat Bill magazine. For those, like me, who are not members of the Steamship Historical Society of America, well indexed back issues are available for purchase from SSHSA through their online store on Ebay. After your visit, I hope you can post some photos, especially interior views.
Yes, Lex, you need to go to New England. It is picture postcard perfect and I've enjoyed many visits there when I was in the pipe organ business. Besides the boats, scenery and food, you'd also love it that in that part of the world there's usually a beautiful old church containing an ancient pipe organ on nearly every corner of every picturesque village. It's a beautiful and interesting area to visit, but, despite the HEAT and HUMIDITY, my heart still belongs to the SOUTH!