The highlight of a visit to Cabot is our guided tour. View our award-winning cheese as it's being made. You'll learn a ton about cheesemaking, and Cabot's history - not to mention a bit about Vermont agriculture. Following the tour, you're invited to nibble our many varieties of cheeses, including the World's Best Cheddar and Best Flavored Cheddar.

Tour Fee: $2.00, children under 12 Free

Barre proudly calls itself “the Granite Capital of the World” — a slight exaggeration, perhaps, but not much. The city’s quarries produced the world-famous “Barre Gray” granite steps on the east side the U.S. Capitol. But gravestones are Barre’s niche. The personalized memorials the workers made for each other — and many other people — are all over the city’s most remarkable cemetery. Look for the life-sized armchair, big soccer ball, race car and airplane, all with accompanying sad stories. PHOTO: ALICE LEVITT

How do the people of modern-day Barre blow off steam? If it’s summer, they go to the Thunder Road Speed Bowl, atop Quarry Hill. Every Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, thousands make the trek to “the nation’s site of excitement” to watch mostly local drivers compete in street-stock and late-model races. There’s even a state senator — Phil Scott — tearing around the track.

If there were railroad tracks between Barre and Montpelier, Barre would be “on the other side” of them. It’s a working-class city that sprang up around the region’s remarkable granite quarries, which are still producing world-class stone. The original laborers were immigrants from Italy and Scotland. This museum documents the history, geology and technology of the dangerous trade that cut many Vermont lives short.

If there were railroad tracks between Barre and Montpelier, Barre would be “on the other side” of them. It’s a working-class city that sprang up around the region’s remarkable granite quarries, which are still producing world-class stone. The original laborers were immigrants from Italy and Scotland. This museum documents the history, geology and technology of the dangerous trade that cut many Vermont lives short.

Contemporary quarriers are still at work at the Rock of Ages Quarry, where you can observe artisans cutting massive blocks of stone as well as sculpting the memorials. Take a guided tour (May 23 - October 17, 2008) or check out the do-it-yourself Cut-In-Stone Center.

Located in the Pavillion Office building, this museum offers a great primer on the forces that have shaped Vermont. The permanent 5000-square-foot exhibit “tells the story of Vermont’s people from 1600 to the present,” according to the website. “Using Vermont’s motto, ‘Freedom and Unity,’ as its thematic cornerstone, the exhibition shows visitors how Vermonters have always balanced individual freedoms and community.”

Located in the Pavillion Office building, this museum offers a great primer on the forces that have shaped Vermont. The permanent 5000-square-foot exhibit “tells the story of Vermont’s people from 1600 to the present,” according to the website. “Using Vermont’s motto, ‘Freedom and Unity,’ as its thematic cornerstone, the exhibition shows visitors how Vermonters have always balanced individual freedoms and community.”