A day in Vermont (Part 1)

Every year during NH School Vacation Week, we always try to take a couple of day trips to somewhere within a couple hours drive from our home. This year we decided that we wanted to try and find some factory tours to see how things were made. After doing a little searching on the Internet we decided that would try out the Ben & Jerry's Factory in Waterbury, VT and the Cabot Creamery in Cabot, VT. My wife and I had been to the Ben & Jerry's factory about 9 years ago, but never to the Cabot Creamery. In the fall I send a lot of people to both places, but felt I needed to check them out for myself.

We started out the day driving North up I-93 and my wife snapped a quick picture of Franconia Notch.


The total driving time was quicker than what I anticipated. The drive from St. Johnsbury to Cabot was along Vermont Route 2, which is a very scenic highway that goes through some very picturesque Vermont Villages. The road as somewhat rolling and a little bumpy due to frost heaves.

When we arrived at the town of Marshfield, VT we turned right and followed Rt 215 for 5 miles and came upon the Cabot Creamery. The parking lot had a few cars parked there, but it was not busy. We paid our $4 (Kids were free) and explored the gift shop and sampled the cheese while we waited for our tour to begin.

The tour took us into a small little theater where they played a video explaining the history and the process used to make Cabot Cheese. The video lasted about 10 minutes and was very informative.


After the video our tour guide took us into the factory where we saw how they package the yogurt and blend in the different fruits. They were making blueberry while we watched.

Our next step was to see how they made cheese. They took us to a window that had 3 large deep tables. Pumped into the tables were the Curds and Whey. There was a large mixer type device that moved up and down the table mixing the Curds. Eventually this will be come unflavored cheese and then they add the different flavorings to make the cheese, such as sun dried tomato or garlic.


We were then taken down the hall to see their labs. A sample of the milk is taken when the truck driver picks up milk at the farm. If there is any type of drugs or protein issues with one sample, about the size of a Dixie cup, the entire load of milk is discarded. The farmer who has supplied the bad milk is responsible for the loss. This rarely happens, but it can happen.

Our tour was completed and we were brought back to where we started. We continued to sample some of the fine cheeses available. They also had some items which are only available at the Visitor Center, including Whey Butter and Popcorn Cheese.


All in all this was a great stop and we spent about 2 hours there.