You've probably heard the phrase "No man is a hero in his own country," coined by Australian World War I commander John Monash. Well, here's a related sentiment, updated and de-gendered: No one is a tourist in their own state. That's not strictly or always true, of course. But it's practically a maxim that many — most? — New Yorkers have never elevatored up to the top of the Empire State Building or boated out to Ellis Island. And, in Vermont, who among us can say we've visited all the state's sites and attractions? The recent debilitating heat wave aside, summer weather in Vermont lends itself to going out and doing stuff. We generally try to squeeze as much as possible into the short season. Sure, the state offers us plenty of self-propelled activities — hiking, jumping into bodies of water, foraging at the farmers market. But when we learned that one of our reporters — a nearly native Vermonter — had never been to the freaking Ben & Jerry's Factory, a mission was born. Combining an assignment with a little voluntary edutainment, seven reporters set out to tour something in Vermont. The only rules were that it had to be a guided tour and something they'd never done before. Their choices ranged from the historic to the agro to the simply scenic. Some locations were highly trafficked, others quieter. The presence of cute animals seemed to be a bonus. In the process, each writer got a taste of what Vermont's $2.5 billion-per-year tourism industry is all about. That is, before the foliage and the snow return. — Pamela Polston As Above, So Far, Far Below Guided quarry tour, rockofages.com As many Vermonters know, Barre is a city founded on granite — literally. Some folks raised in the Green Mountain State, myself included, may even have hazy memories of a granite quarry tour lodged deep in their psyche, tied tenuously to an elementary school geology unit. I'm no longer a third grader but an aging millennial, more excited now than years ago to visit this big, pretty hole in the ground. At roughly 600 feet deep, it happens to be the largest operating deep-hole granite quarry in the world. Our tour departed from the slick, glass-walled Rock of Ages visitors center, a multipurpose space that serves as gift shop, history exhibit and, as director of visitor services Todd…
You've probably heard the phrase "No man is a hero in his own country," coined by Australian World War I commander John Monash. Well, here's a related sentiment, updated and de-gendered: No one is a tourist in their own state. That's not strictly or always true, of course. But it's practically a maxim that many — most? — New Yorkers have never elevatored up to the top of the Empire State Building or boated out to Ellis Island. And, in Vermont, who among us can say we've visited all the state's sites and attractions? The recent debilitating heat wave aside, summer weather in Vermont lends itself to going out and doing stuff. We generally try to squeeze as much as possible into the short season. Sure, the state offers us plenty of self-propelled activities — hiking, jumping into bodies of water, foraging at the farmers market. But when we learned that one of our reporters — a nearly native Vermonter — had never been to the freaking Ben & Jerry's Factory, a mission was born. Combining an assignment with a little voluntary edutainment, seven reporters set out to tour something in Vermont. The only rules were that it had to be a guided tour and something they'd never done before. Their choices ranged from the historic to the agro to the simply scenic. Some locations were highly trafficked, others quieter. The presence of cute animals seemed to be a bonus. In the process, each writer got a taste of what Vermont's $2.5 billion-per-year tourism industry is all about. That is, before the foliage and the snow return. — Pamela Polston As Above, So Far, Far Below Guided quarry tour, rockofages.com As many Vermonters know, Barre is a city founded on granite — literally. Some folks raised in the Green Mountain State, myself included, may even have hazy memories of a granite quarry tour lodged deep in their psyche, tied tenuously to an elementary school geology unit. I'm no longer a third grader but an aging millennial, more excited now than years ago to visit this big, pretty hole in the ground. At roughly 600 feet deep, it happens to be the largest operating deep-hole granite quarry in the world. Our tour departed from the slick, glass-walled Rock of Ages visitors center, a multipurpose space that serves as gift shop, history exhibit and, as director of visitor services Todd…