Day Six of the Road Trip- The Last Hoorah

Flavor Graveyard

Today was our grand finale of the road trip. We woke up at our hotel in the Green Mountains of Vermont and made our way down the street to the Mecca, The Ben and Jerry’s Factory. The entire outside of the building was colorful and fun just like a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. We arrived about 30 minutes before the first tour began to ensure that we were the first tourists of the day. To our surprise, they opened the gates a little early and we got to begin our tour at 9:45.

Walking into the factory was like a dream come true. The smell of fresh ice cream filled the air, there were colorful clouds and cows painted everywhere, and the employees were so friendly. The tour began with a short video about how the company got it’s start. It was interesting to learn Ben and Jerry split the cost of a $5 ice cream course through Penn State to learn their trade. Obviously it must’ve been a very successful program! After the brief video we stepped into the production room to get to see the magic that creates each pint. The workers in the factory even took the time to look up at us and wave. It genuinely seemed like everyone there enjoyed their jobs! I guess it must be the 3 free pints of ice cream they get to take home each day. That would make anyone happy! The tour ended in the tasting kitchen. In this room we got to sample a flavor that is only offered in Ben and Jerry Scoop Shops, Cotton Candy.  The sample was more like a scoop! Baskin Robbins really needs to step up their game as far as samples go. Cotton Candy ice cream is amazing!! It had a cream base with small pieces of cotton candy. I recommend anyone to try this flavor if given the opportunity.

Happy Girls and Their Vermonster

Once the tour was over the real fun got started. We all spent a solid 30 minutes looking at the cute things offered in the gift shop. I somehow ended up spending quite a bit of MOOO- lah at this stop. Every single souvenir seemed worthy to me. So when you see me strolling through Indianapolis with my Ben and Jerry’s umbrella, key chain, and pint koozie you’ll know what happened.

After spending 1/8th of my life’s savings in the gift shop we made our way to the scoop shop to tackle the task we set out day one to conquer, The Vermonster. The Vermonster holds 20 scoops of ice cream, 4 ladles of hot fudge, 4 bananas, 3 chocolate chip cookies, a huge brownie, whipped cream, and 4 choice toppings. We chose m&m’s, gummie bears, reese pieces, and sprinkles, which in retrospect we wish we would’ve chosen something else besides the gummie bears. They turned into little pellets after a few minutes in the bucket. Originally I thought we could blaze through this bucket no problem, I mean we all love ice cream! Let me tell you, nothing can prepare you for this thing… it is the Mount Everest of desserts. After giving it our best efforts we finished about two thirds of the bucket. It was devastating to leave behind such a delicious conglomerate but we had to fly the white flag, we were stuffed!

Before and After

To finish up our time at Ben and Jerry’s we went outside to pay our respects at the Flavor Graveyard. Inside the graveyard there were many flavors that are no longer in production. Each head stone had a clever little epitaph that coincided with the flavor name. Once we said our goodbyes and did a few belly stretches, we hit the road for our next destination, Niagara Falls.

The drive to Niagara was long and very boring. 7.5 hours on a 2 lane highway, definitely not ideal! Especially after eating 5 pounds of ice cream. We arrived to Niagara Falls around 8:30 pm. We were able to see the falls while it was still light outside and then again once it was dark and the falls were illuminated. The falls were beautiful and definitely something everyone should experience once in their lifetime. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls before heading to our last hotel of the trip.

Niagara Falls

This trip has been an absolute blast full of lifelong memories. I’m sad it’s over but very excited to not have to deal with luggage carts and GPS for a long time. Tomorrow we will make our 7 hour trip back to Indy. It’s been real East Coast!

Day Five of the Road Trip

First, let me start by saying, Vermont is a severely underrated state. Before this trip Vermont was just the “safe place” in the movie I am Legend, it was completely off my radar. Vermont is extremely mountainous and beautiful. I swear the sky is even bluer here!

After checking into our hotel (which has a nice mountain view, hot tub, and game room!) we decided to drive down the road to Cold Hollow Cider Mill. The mill was full of local staples like maple syrup and pretty much any apple byproduct. We all got to sample the fresh apple cider after watching a brief video on how Cold Hollow goes about making it. Another main attraction is the Apple Cider Donuts. Priced at only 50 cents it was a must for us to try.

 The donut was still warm and not as dense as the usual cake donut. I probably could’ve eaten 6 without thinking twice. Our biggest regret as a group was not buying an Apple Cider Slushie. This place is a must if you are traveling to Waterbury. It is conveniently located down the street from the Ben and Jerry’s Factory. 

Across the the road from Cold Hollow is a cute little place called the Apple Core. Inside you’ll find a cafe and a very large selection of spiked ciders, beer, and wine. We were initially lured in by the sign advertising wine tasting. For 2 dollars we were able to sample a cider and 5 different wines. All of the wines come from Grand View Winery which is located just outside Montpellier. We all enjoyed the wine! One of the wines was even featured on the Today Show! 

After finishing up with a few purchases for ourselves, friends, and others we went a little further up the road to Cabot Creamery. From what I hear you can’t go to Vermont without trying the cheese, so we put this place high on the priority list. Inside you are able to sample every single cheese that they make! And really, you can take as much as your heart desires, but beware, cheese fills ya up quickly! There is also a wide variety of maple syrups you can sample as well. Cabot’s is a very cute place! 

For dinner went to a restaurant on the other side of our hotel called, The Reservoir. Since Vermont is so beautiful we decided to enjoy our meal outside. The menu had a wide variety of options with most under ten bucks. 

The rest of the evening we spent outside of our hotel playing on the swing and enjoying the hot tub. Tomorrow is a big day for all of us, the Ben and Jerry’s Factory Tour! After tackling the Vermonster we will be heading to Buffalo, New York to begin our journey home.