We spent part of two days of our vacation at the Shelburne Museum, an amazing place with large collections of everything from dolls to duck decoys, all housed in historic buildings, including a lighthouse, and a side-wheeler that used to offer rides up and down Lake Champlain. Once again, I sought out animal-related exhibits, even if they weren’t all dogs or cats.

Our first stop was an exhibit in the Pizzagalli Center for Arts and Education where there was an exhibit of the artwork of William Wegman. I was familiar with Wegman’s photographs of his weimaraners, but I hadn’t realized he was also a painter. He has a wonderful sense of humor and we enjoyed his art immensely. One of my favorites was a very spare watercolor entitled “dogs imitating rabbits,” which has three rabbits sitting up, with two dogs, with prick ears, also sitting on their haunches. Another was a landscape of a lake, seen through a “V” of rocks, which, when looked at closer, were the backs of three dogs.

Next stop for me was the circus parade building. There’s an old Herschel carousel in front of the building, so I had a ride on that before we went into the building, which houses a carved circus parade.

Before starting the journey around the building, we looked at the Kirk Brothers circus, a miniature three-ring circus of over 3,500 pieces, including an audience. The brochure says it took Edgar Kirk more than 40 years to carve the circus, using just a treadle jigsaw and a pen knife.

Roy Arnold carved the circus parade of 4,000 figures at a scale of one inch equaling a foot, and it includes elephants, camels, tableau floats, horses, and dozens of exotic species, as well as clowns, acrobats and a calliope.

The building is built in a large horseshoe shape because, I was told, Mrs. Webb, the museum’s founder, said you shouldn’t be able to see the end of a parade while at the beginning. The building almost needs two visits, as the parade progresses along the right wall, while on the left are dozens of vintage circus posters.

Also on the left are life-like carousel figures from the Dentzel carousel factory. Besides horses, there are goats, giraffes, a snarling tiger, and a magnificent maned lion.

Next, we went through the woods to the Beach Lodge and the Beach Gallery. Amongst the trees were sculptures of a bear and cub, a deer, and a wolf, all made from nuts and bolts by artist Jonathan D. Ebinger. The woods were a perfect setting for these amazing sculptures.

Down the hill past the lighthouse, we stopped briefly at the Dorset House, which is filled with decoys, as well as carved birds.

There are decoys of swans, geese and ducks, and one duck was carved with such detail that it was hard to believe I couldn’t sink my fingers into those feathers.

At the Stagecoach Inn, which houses cigar store Indians, weather vanes, trade signs and assorted carved folk art, I snapped pictures of a set of chalkware dogs, and, my favorite, a painted carved wooden spaniel. I also took a photo of a weather vane featuring a hound chasing a fox.

Then it was back up the hill and a stop at the Webb Gallery. This gallery features American art. I love the portrait of “Tinkle,” a white cat sitting on a cushion, and wearing a collar, complete with bell. A companion portrait of a tough-looking black and white cat, “Minnie, from the Outskirts of Town,” was in storage, but I remember it from previous visits.

Andrew Wyeth’s “Soaring” is another of my favorites. The painting of three turkey vultures is painted from the perspective of a fourth bird above the others and it is mesmerizing. It’s easy to feel as if you are that fourth bird.

While there was no animal art involved, we enjoyed the many horse-drawn vehicles that were in the Horseshoe Barn, its annex, and in the Round Barn. One of my favorites is a brightly painted, carved Sicilian donkey cart.

One small collectible that is no longer in the Beach Lodge is a postcard that epitomizes the way I have always felt about Vermont. “I like this little place because, it offers after dark, a pause for rest, a rest for paws, a place to moor my bark.”

If you ever visit Vermont, don’t miss Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms, both places that let you step back in time and enjoy a “pause for rest.”