Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury Center Vermont

While we were driving around Vermont, EVERYONE told us that we had to stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

One local actually encouraged us to skip Ben and Jerrys and to spend all of that time at Cold Hollow.

Well, Cold Hollow Cider Mill ended up being a site that we spent a good amount of our time at.  There is a lot to take in here.

We had been traveling, and we needed a place to stop for lunch anyway.  We decided to have lunch here as there is a very nice café on the property.

We each had a nice sandwich and salad.  It was very fresh and satisfying.  I had a great chicken cordon bleu wrap with horse radish that really hit the spot.  The café was worth a stop on its on.

BUT, after our meals, we went over to the main area at the cider mill.

They did have some displays on making the cider.  They also had an actual bee hive where you could observe the bees doing their thing.  Near that display, you could sample some honey cider.  I expected that this would be sweet, but it wasn't.

Their shop had all sorts of Cold Hollow local items.  I did buy a cup of hot cider for myself, and some of their cider donuts.  We enjoyed these on some comfy chairs outside.

Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury Vermont

We stopped at the most popular tourist attraction in Vermont.... on a VERY busy weekend.  In fact, we decided to skip it on a Saturday, and come back around to it on a weekday... we were going to be back through the same area.

It was a lot easier coming back during the week- it was still lively, but we were able to pretty much by tickets for a factory tour and to go right on it. 

It was $4 to take the factory tour, which lasted about half an hour.


We were taken to see a short film about the company and its history.  Then, we were taken to an area where we could watch production through windows directly over production machinery.  Our witty guide told us that we could not take photos in this area- as there might be spies from Hagen Das amongst us.

At the end of the tour, we were given a sample of a flavor that is only available at the end of the tour!  You can't buy it anywhere!  It was a strawberry cookie flavored ice cream, and it was very nice!

There is a large and well stocked gift shop area to explore after your tour, and there is a place to order more ice cream if you would like.  The place is very large in general, and there is an outdoor trail that leads you to the famous "graveyard" where defunct flavors are memorialized on tombstones.

The factory tour is nice, and this is a cool place just to hang out.  I see why this is a top Vermont attraction, and if you are going to the area, you must stop by once.  But, once is enough.

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory Tour

The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory was another stop on our trip through Vermont.

We arrived at the factory on a weekday morning, so the place wasn't overrun with other tourists or anything.  There may have been 15 people here, counting staff when we arrived.

It was $4 each to take the tour.  The tour itself was not too long.  We did each get a cute button to wear for the tour, and we were given bear shaped pieces of fur made from extra fur on the tour, which was a cute bonus.

We had a great tour guide named Mark who showed us around.  He pretty much took us on a walk around the factory telling us about the process.  Many of the areas weren't really working factory areas but they were cute displays.  There was a "hospital area", where bears are repaired because all of the Vermont Teddy Bears have lifetime guarantees.

Mark was fun and witty through the entire tour, making numerous bear puns that cracked us all up.  He was a great guide!


There is a large visitor center gift shop here too.  They had a lot of bear clothes, bears, accessories, etc.

We had a great time here and it was a lot more fun than we expected!

Brandon Vermont

Here are just a few photos we took while in Brandon Vermont, a great little town. 

Their Main Street area is a very nice walkable area, with several nice shops.  We stopped by their town museum/Stephen Douglas birth site, Provence Café (both previously mentioned).

They have a very nice little book and coffee shop called the Book and Leaf.  I noticed a nice selection of local books there and some cool older paperback fiction titles.  I hope the town supports this cool little place!


We noticed a nice monument to the Union soldiers of the Civil War nearby too.

Cafe Provence in Brandon Vermont

We saw some great reviews for Café Provence while we were in Brandon Vermont, so we checked it out.

This place gets our nod as our favorite lunch stop in the area.  It was very comfy, clean, and just pleasant.  They have a nice vibe going on.

The food was great.  BUT, most impressively, I had a small salad, a cup of delicious mushroom soup, and a half Reuben sandwich for $9!  Seriously, I am not making that up!

My wife had a turkey BLT and fries and she loved hers too and the lunch price was similar.

Brandon is such a cool area, and this is the must stop spot for a meal!

Stephen Douglas House in Brandon Vermont

The Brandon Museum and Visitor Center in Brandon Vermont is housed in the home where Abraham Lincoln's arch rival, Stephen Douglas was born!

I love sites like this.  The former home/current museum is packed with info on Brandon's history, and there is a large part of the place dedicated to Douglas.

A lot of the display deals with his head butting with Lincoln.  And, politically, Douglas one upped Lincoln a time or two early on, but Lincoln ended up winning in the end.  Not only were they rivals politically, but Douglas had eyes for Mary Todd at one time before Honest Abe came around!

Anyway, Stephen Douglas actually moved away from here early on, but the town still gets bragging rights to being his birth site.  He did come through town later on while campaigning.  The town welcomed him warmly... and then voted for his opponent, Mr. Lincoln.

The home is small, but we were glad we stopped by.  There is no admission charged, but they do have a donations box.

Fort Ticonderoga in Ticonderoga, New York

We squeezed in a visit to another Fort on this trip.  This made our 6th Fort visit between New York and Ontario over the last several months, and a 3rd visit for us this year to the state of New York.

This is a significant fort with a ton of history and a very nice set up for visitors today.

Here are some photos!

Driving in to New York from Vermont

While in Vermont, we realized that ANOTHER fort was not too far away in New York state.  We had plenty of time, and driving anywhere in this area is part of the fun.

Anyway, here are a few photos we took right at the New York/Vermont line.