The Absolute Pit - View this location on map  'On weekends from about Memorial Day to mid-October, the gravestone and memorial company Rock of Ages (866-748-6877) presents its 'On the Edge Tour' of the E. L. Smith Quarry near Barre (9:15 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Saturdays and 10:15 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Sundays; $4). Unlike weekday visitors, who must keep their distance as quarriers use pneumatically powered drills, explosives and derricks, weekend tourists can get really close to the nearly 600-foot-deep chasm. Granite has been extracted in the area since the late 1700's, but the Granite Museum's Web site estimates that Barre still has a 4,500-year supply. At the Rock of Ages Visitors Center, you can purchase an incandescent stone pastry- and candy-making board ($174.95) or an elaborate custom headstone worthy of a whacked Soprano. 'The trend right now is weeping angels,' said Jennifer Pierce, formerly one of the company's helpful 'memorialists.''' New York Times 558 Graniteville Road, graniteville, VT Kids, Cultural |