Shelburne Museum

"Rich in Vermont History both Inside and Out"

I took some out of town guests here with kids ages 4 & 6, along with my own, ages 7 & 10, and we had great day! It was a wonderful way to show our friends some of the rich history of Vermont, have fun and walk around outside at the same time.

The Circus Building which is adjacent to the carousel is simply amazing. It is filled with thousands of mini circus figures and old fashioned circus posters making me long for Ringling Bros. to come to town! The kids loved running through the decks of the Ticonderoga and then they took off for the old train cars complete with a train station to pretend to buy tickets from.

We also stopped by the Owl Cottage for the daily Owl Cottage Craft (which happened to be Circus themed). One thing to note, is it is not your average "arts & crafts" activity. Our kids were were creating circus still life pictures using a craypas with actual art instruction from the teacher. The kids that didn't feel like mini Picassos could play with all of the amazing dress up clothes and other toys there. Love the couch for Moms and Dads to relax on while still keeping an eye on their kids from the sidelines!

After that we popped into the cafe, which is right next door. Although we only had ice cream treats this time, I did note that they had more than your average snacky food on the menu...there were flatbreads, wraps and more. Inside the tables have table cloths and outside there are plenty of picnic tables to eat on.