My wife Cristy and I really enjoy driving up to Ripon, CA for lunch.  Our favorite place to eat is right on Main St,  Ede’s Taco Shop.  They have excellent taco truck tacos but lately our favorite has been their albondigas soup.  This past Saturday after lunch we decided to take a stroll up Main.  We walked up one side and down the other.  As we were on our way back we saw a house with an open door and a woman sweeping out front.  She called out, “Our sign is missing but feel free to come on in!”

“What would your sign say if it were not missing?”  I called back.

“It’s the Clarence Smit Museum!”  She called back.

Well, heck, we can’t miss the Clarence Smit Museum!  So Cristy and I walked in and started poking around.  It was in fact administered by the Ripon Historical Society and had lots of photos and artifacts dating back to the mid-1800’s.  Since I work in the medical industry I was really interested in the section they had that was donated by a local doctor.  He had a pretty well-equipped doctor’s office for the time.  He had some 1950’s vintage X-ray machines and other medical supplies and gadgets.

Another section had a collection of old washing machines.  My son loves appliances and I know he would have really enjoyed this part of the museum.  Someone was sure a Maytag fan.

There are also vintage sewing machines, tools, books, newspapers, clothes and a bunch of other things all dating back from the 1990’s to the 1850’s.  It’s a really cool place to go back in time in Ripon.  If you’d like to check it out it’s in the old library building located at 430 W. Main Street. Open on Wednesdays & Saturdays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.