by Tom Bastek
Last updated: 5:00 AM ET, Fri December 12, 2014
Every kid and kid at heart loves to watch an assembly line of car parts or cookies fly by at record speeds. Factories are the heart of America and Americans are still fascinated by them today. Most factories offer up tours of their facilities giving a tiny peek into what makes the machinery tick. Here are five favorites you can't miss.
Hershey's Chocolate World - Hershey, Pennsylvania
Even if you don't love chocolate, you have to wonder how the bean becomes a bar and Hershey's has taken the tour to the next level. Jump into your chocolate-mobile and ride along to see how the beans are harvestedfrom the rainforest all the way through the process in Hershey. There are even free samples at the end.
For the kids there is the 4D experience, you can create your own bar of chocolate with your own ingredients and wrapper, and even take a tasting class with the Hershey's professional staff.
Crayola Experience - Easton, Pennsylvania
Staying in the state of Pennsylvania, there is another great factory to explore. The Crayola Experience offers you the chance to play, explore and learn. Totally renovated in 2013, the factory now offers 60,000 square feet with over 20 attractions. Your child can, "do everything from building a custom marker to animating your creations on a huge digital projection." You can see how crayons are made through their animated theater show, an even create your own crayon including label. I knowthere are some of us that still own our original box of 64.
Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory - Louisville, Kentucky
The home of the baseball bats since 1884 offers up a tour and so much more. Tours are offered seven days a week and even when they aren't doing scheduled bat production, there are bat making demonstrations given all day. You can have a personalized full size bat made with your name right on it and take it home before you leave that day. See the big bat, the signature wall and everyone who takes the tour gets to take home a miniature bat as a souvenir to beat up their favorite sibling with.
Photo by User Derek.cashman on en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory - Hyannis, Massachusetts
The factory opened originally in 1980 as a small store front in Hyannis and started giving tours just five years later. If you have never had a Cape Cod Potato Chip, it is probably one of the best things to come out of Massachusetts. You can take a tour of the factory Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and they are self-guided. Not sure that it would be a good idea to leave me alone in a potato chip factory. Cape Cod is a great place to visit with tons to do for the summer.
Ben & Jerry's Factory - Waterbury, VT
The only place worse to leave someone alone than on a potato chip factory tour would be on an ice cream factory tour. Well good news, the tours at Ben & Jerry's are actually guided and take about 30 minutes which leaves you plenty of time to sample ice cream afterwards. Find out everything you ever wanted to know about the ice cream-making process, and about the corporate values-led decision-making process. The scoop shop has special items that you can't get anywhere else, and they have a graveyard you can visit to pay homage to the flavors that have been discontinued. Bring on the Chunky Monkey!
There are just five of the many places to put on your travel radar for the New Year. What factories have you visited? Let us know below.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
