Indoor Outings

Being that the weather dudes were calling for thunder showers throughout the afternoon we decided to head out for Waterbury, Vermont, home of Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, and Green Mountain Coffee.  These were things that we could do inside should we get caught in a storm - which we didn’t.  We snapped some pictures along Route 2 on our way to Waterbury (Mark Hall, there’s one just for you – can you find it?).

Cold Hollow Cider Mill advertises a “factory tour”, however, it leaves a lot to be desired.  They do have a great gift shop with fresh homemade donuts, cider steamed hot dawgs, and other yummy treats.  Being noon time, we indulged ourselves in a hot dawg and a fresh plain donut for lunch.  I put Cold Hollow Maple Mustard and Cold Hollow Piccalilli on my hot dawg which resulted in a purchase of both condiments from the gift shop (I haven’t had any piccalilli since my grandmother used to make it way back when Hector was a pup).

Unfortunately we felt that Ben and Jerry’s was pretty much a bust.  I guess it’s a “must do” if you are in the area but, it borders on more of a tourist’s attraction than a factory tour.  On top of that, they charge for the tour which consists of a movie outlining the history of the company, a view of the “shop floor” from a balcony (no photos allowed), and a taste of the “flavor of the day” ice cream.  We did get a kick out of their “Flavor Graveyard” where they erect tombstones in remembrance of retired flavors.

The highlight of our daily tours was Green Mountain Coffee which is located in the old Waterbury Railroad Station.  We watched a couple of videos in their Visitor’s Center and sampled several of their coffees in their Cafe.  Briana had a Hazelnut Chiller while Grandma enjoyed her Perfect Peach Coffee and Grandpa sipped on his Summer Safari Blend Coffee.  Miss Judy left with a pound of Perfect Peach and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle coffees.  I like their Breakfast Blend and Nantucket Blend coffees but didn’t buy either on this trip.

We finished our drinks while enjoying the Rusty Parker Memorial Park which is across the street from Green Mountain Coffee’s Visitor’s Center and Cafe.  There is a memorial to all Vermont soldiers who served in World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War located in the park.

We decided to go swimming after we returned home and no more than got into the water when the forecasted thunder storm finally showed up.  So it was, “Emergency!  Emergency!  Everyone to get from water!” (Paraphrased from the old movie entitled The Russians Are Coming) making it a real quick dip but enough to cool off none the less.

We returned home for dinner, computers, and television for the evening.  Today is going to be a stay in the park day.  We will do some biking on the bike trail, swimming in the lake, and taking a nap with the katts (at least one of us anyhow!).