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Few people paid much attention to WATERBURY before 1978; even then, the opening of a homemade ice-cream stand run by a pair of hippies on the forecourt of a gas station excited little interest. However, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory , one mile north of I-89 on Rte-100 in the center of Waterbury, on the way up to Stowe, has grown so huge, so fast, that it is now the number-one tourist destination in Vermont. Half-hour tours (daily: July & Aug 9am-8pm; Sept & Oct 9am-6pm; Nov-May 10am-5pm; June 9am-5pm; $2; tel 802/882-1260) include a short film, a view of the workforce from an observation platform, and a free mini-scoop of the stuff that made it all possible - you can buy more at the overpriced giftshop and ice-cream stall outside. The omnipresent black-and-white cow logo, and the sanctimonious reminders to recycle, eat organic and buy milk from farming co-ops can get to be a bit much; if the summer crowds seem intolerable, bear in mind there are better things to do in Burlington and Stowe.

Waterbury is the closest Amtrak stop to Stowe - the station is just south of the interstate on Park Row - and Vermont Transit buses also pass through