Last Saturday we were finally able to visit the site of our first tourist pamphlet when we came to Vermont--the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. We had actually tried to visit three different times thinking it was located in Burlington on the lakefront. Every time we gave it up because of the ferocity of the rain. It is actually near Vergennes and was well worth visiting in a drizzle.
The museum is a working museum with several buildings such as the one pictured above. Every building smells of the sea itself and is meant to provide you with every sensation of various ships, shipmen, and sea life. most importantly it showcases the history of Lake Champlain. Our favorite however was the dockside delights. At dockside is the replica of an 1862 steamer, Lois McClure, a replica of a gunboat, the Philadelphia II, captained by Benedict Arnold (Displays point out that he was a wartime hero before commiting treason) and several longboats built by students.
We were given a wonderful tour of the Lois McClure by two volunteers, Ernie and a lady. Ernie was wonderful! A seasoned seaman he explained the ship will be sailing on the 4th of July down the Erie Canal to the Hudson River. He showed us every inch of the ship. We found out from the lady whose name I've forgotten that Ernie is a famous painter who has painted many pictures of the Lake and ships. The first picture is one of his paintings and depicts another important function of the museum. They've charted the entire lake bottom and have pinpointed all the sunken ships. I didn't take a picture of the longboats.
We're enjoying Vermont and its rich history. We're hoping to soon visit another feature of Lake Champlain--Lake Ticonderoga.
No comments:
Post a Comment