Randolph Center, VT

After an 80-mile drive down I-89 through the Vermont countryside, we checked into the Lake Champagne Campground in Randolph Center last Saturday. We spent the weekend relaxing and just hanging out. We had a great view out our windshield of our motorhome of the rolling hills and woods of Vermont.

On Monday, we drove about 30-miles up to Waterbury, VT and enjoyed lunch at a local café. After lunch we went to the original Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory for a tour. It was fun and the ice cream sample was really good too. Ben & Jerry’s original idea for ice cream was to make “chunky” ice cream, that they still do today. I was surprised to learn that they only make one flavor of ice cream at a time on the line at this original factory. They have another, much larger factory in Vermont that has five lines and can make five flavors at a time. 

We also enjoyed walking through the Ben & Jerry’s “flavor graveyard” where they pay tribute to past flavors that are no longer made.

We left Ben & Jerry’s and drove up the road to Cabot Farmer’s Store. Cabot is a cooperative of 800 dairy farms that is famous for their cheese, especially the Vermont white cheddar cheese.

Yesterday we went into Montpelier, the capitol of Vermont, for lunch. We were surprised to learn that Montpelier is the least populous state capitol city in the U.S. with a population of about 7,500. However, the day-time population swells to about 21,000, as people commute in from outside the town, to work. The state capitol gold-leafed dome was beautiful.  

We leave Vermont, our 48th state to visit, tomorrow and head to the Boston area for a two-week stay.


Steve & Julie Cornelius