Vermont: Ben & Jerry's Factory

As promised yesterday, here's the Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour review!

Since our Airbnb during our stay in Vermont was located about two minutes from the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, we knew we'd be stopping by for some sweet treats. The tours are first come, first serve so we took a chance by visiting on our way back to NYC. It worked out really well! After just a 10-minute wait, we were on our way inside the factory to learn all the ice cream secrets. 

The first place you go is the screening room where you watch a super cute animated video about the evolution of the company. Then they take you where the magic happens. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures in this part because "secrets," but trust me when I say that there's just a lot of giant metal canisters. The real fun comes at the end of the tour in the "flavor kitchen." They give out a scoop of their most popular flavors for the year. In our case, that was Americone Dream. As a fairly lactose intolerant person, my insides nearly exploded just looking at the samples, so I just picked out the waffle cone fudge bits. After all, we had a seven-hour drive ahead of us. The tour was about 25 minutes and afterward, you can visit the store and grab a delicious treat including lactose-free options. :)

Full disclosure: We didn't pay for the tour because it was included with our Airbnb stay. I'm not entirely sure the tour is worth $4 per person, but hey, you get a free scoop of ice cream at the end, so that probably evens out. 

-Jen