Vermont’s eccentric streak
Beyond the mountains and the maple, Vermont harbors a deep independent, eccentric streak — a state where a retired ice-cream flavor gets a real tombstone, a president’s son built a mansion with its own pipe organ, and the corner store still sells penny candy from creaky wooden floors. Chasing these oddities is one of the most charming ways to explore the back roads.
This is a tour of the state’s quirkiest stops and its living general stores — the social hearts of Vermont towns for two centuries.
Roadside oddities
A handful of stops are pure Vermont whimsy and history.
Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard (Waterbury) — real resin tombstones with rhyming epitaphs for retired flavors.
Hildene (Manchester) — Robert Todd Lincoln’s 1905 estate, with formal gardens, a 1,000-pipe organ and a Pullman railcar.
Rock of Ages (Barre) — tours of the world’s largest granite quarry.
Dog Mountain (St. Johnsbury) — artist Stephen Huneck’s hilltop Dog Chapel, open to all and their dogs.
More curiosities
The eccentricity runs deep. The Bread & Puppet Museum in Glover fills a barn with towering political puppets; the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury is a barrel-vaulted Victorian cabinet of natural-history oddities; Brookfield crosses a pond on New England’s only floating bridge; and the Vermont Marble Museum and Wilson Castle in Proctor turn stone into spectacle. Half the fun is that these places are scattered down dirt roads, waiting to surprise you.
The general store
Before supermarkets, the general store was the commercial and social heart of every Vermont town — post office, lunch counter, hardware, gossip exchange. Remarkably, dozens still trade, and stepping inside is like stepping back a century.
The Vermont Country Store (Weston) — penny candy, flannel, oil lamps and hard-to-find remedies.
F.H. Gillingham & Sons (Woodstock) — the same family since 1886, wine to maple to hardware.
Warren Store (Warren) — a Mad River Valley institution for sandwiches and finds.
Hastings Store (West Danville) — a Kingdom classic on Joe’s Pond with the post office inside.
Why the stores survive
Vermont’s general stores endure because they still do real work — in towns too small for a supermarket, the store is where you get milk, a hot breakfast sandwich, hunting licenses and the local news. Many are now community-owned or state-supported to keep them alive, and the state even runs a grant program to preserve them. For visitors they’re the perfect stop: local cheese and maple, a creemee window, and a genuine slice of town life.
Building a quirky day
These stops link naturally by region. In the center, pair Ben & Jerry’s and the Waterbury food scene with a Montpelier or Barre curiosity; in the south, combine Hildene, the Vermont Country Store and a covered-bridge loop; in the Northeast Kingdom, string Bread & Puppet, the Fairbanks Museum and Dog Mountain. Drive slowly, follow the hand-painted signs, and leave room in the schedule to be surprised.
Good to know
What is the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard?+
A real hillside 'cemetery' behind the Waterbury factory where retired flavors get resin headstones and rhyming epitaphs.
What is Hildene?+
Robert Todd Lincoln’s 1905 Georgian Revival estate near Manchester, with gardens, a pipe organ and a Pullman railcar, open for tours.
Which general store is the most famous?+
The Vermont Country Store in Weston — a nostalgic emporium of penny candy, flannel and hard-to-find goods.
Why do Vermont general stores survive?+
In towns too small for supermarkets they remain essential, and many are now community-owned or preserved with state support.
Where are the quirkiest attractions?+
Scattered statewide — the Flavor Graveyard (Waterbury), Bread & Puppet (Glover), Dog Mountain (St. Johnsbury) and Hildene (Manchester).