Playing hookie

We had no workshop scheduled this afternoon (workshops are mandatory), so several of my classmates and I hopped in the car and headed to the Ben & Jerry's factory up the road a few miles.

First, we were subjected to some silly cow-related puns (let's moooove this along). We watched a short film about the history of the company, which was bought by Unilever several years ago. One interesting thing about the film is that there are no interviews with Ben or Jerry, just with employees who tell the audience things Ben and Jerry did or said. Makes me wonder why.

Next came the tour. We had a view of the factory floor where conveyor belts slid pints of ice cream, two by two, down the line, and turned them upside down. Our guide narrated another short video while we stood there, simultaneously watching people on the floor and the video that showed how the ice cream is made.

Then came the tasting. Unlike brewery tours, we only got to taste one flavor of ice cream. Today's flavor was apple pie. It had bits of apple pie and crust in vanilla ice cream. It was quite tasty, but a little bit went a long way for me.

After the tasting, we headed up the hill to the ice cream flavor graveyard. This is a small plot with tombstones that list the flavors, silly poems about why they failed, and their dates of "life."

The six of us (Mari, Christen, Page, Margaret, Barbara) relaxed on some Adirondack chairs in the shade for a while. It was a very relaxing afternoon.

Overall this residency is much more fun than the last one.