Thursday, September 4

Left the campground and headed west to Vermont, only 25 miles. We went to the town of Graniteville and the Rock of Ages quarry and plant. This is the home of BARRE (barry) granite, a light grey stone used in monuments. The quarry is the largest dimensional quarry in the U.S., meaning that all stone taken from the quarry is cut to size before it comes out. It is drilled into very large pieces and then lifted some 600 feet to the surface. From there it is cut into smaller pieces and then into the shapes desired for monuments. All the work is done in the building on site.

From the quarry we ventured to Cabot, home of Cabot cheeses. A tour of the plant showed us how the cheddars are made and the various other products. Interesting fact is that all cheddars are white, they only become yellow when a coloring agent is added. Cheddars on the East coast are white, on the West coast they are yellow.

Next, in the town of St Johnsbury, was the Maple syrup plant and store. Unfortunately we were too late for the tour, but a video showed us the process of distilling the syrup. It takes 30-40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup.