On Thursday we spent the day touring several places in Vermont. We had planned to go to these places in the RV on our way south but since they were not far from the campground in New Hampshire, we changed our mind and drove the Jeep instead. It was much easier to navigate the small communities in the Jeep and we were able to stop at more places. We left the campground around 9:00 in the morning and got back about 9:00 that night. It was a long full day. Shortly after leaving the campground, Michaela spotted this mother deer and her fawn on the side of the road. We turned around to take a picture and managed to get this shot just before they bolted. The poor little fawn could hardly keep up with the mother. It was so cute hopping through the brush to the edge of the woods.
Our first stop of the day was at Cabot Cheese in Cabot, VT. This business sits in the middle of hundreds of acres of farmland. The roads leading into the factory are small and in need of repair. It's hard to believe that so many milk and delivery trucks use these roads day after day. The factory is still located at it's original location. It has just been expanded over the years to keep up with the demand for the delicious cheese. The tour was really nice and very informative and the samples were generous. There were so many flavors to try. It was a hard choice, but we ended up selecting three of them: Hot Habanero, Garlic & Herb, and Private Stock Sharp Cheddar.
Our second stop was at Rock of Ages Granite Quarry in Barre, VT. It claims to be the world's largest granite quarry. One of the employees drove led us up to the top of the quarry to a place where we could watch the workers. The quarry was so much bigger than any of us expected even though we had already seen pictures of it. It's hard to get a good idea of its size unless you are looking at it in person. The views of the mountains from the site are amazing also. Our guide told us all about the history of the mine. It has been in operation since the late 1800s and it was named Rock of Ages (after the hymn) in 1925. The quarry is 600 feet deep and they say there is enough granite there to keep them in business for many more generations. The granite they mine here is mostly used for monuments. They are largest supplier of tombstones in the country.
We walked through the factory where they work the granite after it has been mined. You could see the different stages it goes through to get to the finished product. We all found it very interesting.
We made a quick stop at a Maple Farm not too far from the granite quarry. They had a "theater" with a video about our maple syrup is made. You can see from the pictures below that they need just a little updating....
We didn't stay long at all, but did take a minute to sample the different syrups they make. We bought one called Medium Amber. It has a distinct maple flavor but isn't super sweet. They said it was their best seller.
On to the sweetest stop of the day....Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream! What a fun stop. I'm sure this place is packed in the summer. They had a big facility and a nice playground outside. Unfortunately it started raining while we were on the tour so we didn't get to see any of the outside displays or go to the playground. And, yes, of course we had to get some ice cream. Jeremiah and Michael had Chunky Monkey, I had Late Night Snack, and Isaiah and Michaela had a new caramel flavor they were testing. The ice cream was very, very good, but we all agreed that we preferred the Cow's ice cream we ate in Prince Edward Island over the Ben & Jerry's.
The last tour of the day was at Cold Hollow Cider Mill. They weren't making the cider when we arrived, but we watched a video of the process and sampled the fresh cider. They also make cider donuts there and we bought a dozen to take back to the RV. They smelled so good that we couldn't resist!
After we left the cider mill, we followed the GPS to two different restaurants that weren't there! We did stumble upon a farmer's market though and stopped to look around. It was a small outdoor market in a city park. There was mostly food and plants and a couple of local artisans. We bought a hand turned bowl made out of butternut wood. The artist said the wood came from his parents' farm in Vermont. Isaiah was pretty impressed with his work.
We finally found something to eat at a small local restaurant popular with the locals and then drove the hour and a half back to the campground. We were all pretty tired from the day.
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