There are no secrets to making award-winning cheeses. Just buy the freshest milk and hire the best cheesemakers. Tillamook invites tourists to see the process from an observation deck inside the processing plant.
It is bad enough to have one co-worker looking over your shoulder while you are trying to do your job. Imagine total strangers watching you work. That’s the situation in Tillamook, Ore., where, over the course of a year, 1 million tourists stop at the Tillamook County Creamery Association factory, climb the steps to a second-story observation deck, and watch the cheesemaking process unfold below them.
When they have seen enough, visitors return downstairs to order a grilled cheese sandwich in the Creamery Cafe restaurant, sample ice cream from a dipping parlor or pick up squeaky cheese (fresh curds) and souvenirs in the gift shop. The visitors’ center is one of the top tourist attractions in the state.