Blind and Visually Impaired Visit the Shelburne Museum

The Lions Club sponsored a day at the Shelburne Museum for the Blind and Visually Impaired. It was a described, hands-on tour of two of the exhibits: The Ticonderoga Steamboat and the Lighthouse.


The "Ti" is very impressive, now "docked" in a grassy basin on the museum grounds.


Museum guides provided replicas (or near-replicas) for everyone to get a feel for the boat.

Then we boarded the Ti to hear an excellent visual description. The Ti was restored to appear as it may have looked in 1923. The  cherry wood paneling and adornments are truly beautiful. As a sighted person, I appreciated this even more as we were invited to feel the detailing.

           
            To the left is a banister of the main staircase leading to the next level.

         
Our group, however, remained on the lower level. We even got a feel for what it may have been like to take the controls.

                                                                                    

        

Back to the area just in front of the dining room, we learned more about this magnificent vessel. 


The floor here looks like a puzzle. The guides had a sample piece of what the flooring is really like.

Our guide also pointed out that the carpeting in the dining room
looks like it is made up of tiny anchors ~ very appropriate! Can you see them?

The museum now has two magnifiers for visually impaired people to check out while on tour. This was the first day they were used.
Here Geo is looking at the ceiling while also seeing it up close in the magnifier. 

We walked back for a tour of the lighthouse before taking the shuttle back to the main entrance.

A wonderful experience. Thank you to the Lions Club for making this possible, and to the Shelburne Museum for hosting this group.