Tillamook Creamery, Oregon
One thing I absolutely hate is wasting vacation time dealing with bad weather. Seriously, what do you do with a nasty day and you’re away from home and away from all of your distractions. Well, how about take a tour of a World-Class creamery for a product that spans the globe? Turns out that’s exactly what happened on a rainy day in Oregon, not to be confused with a Rainy Day in Georgia; which is a classic song.
My buddy Jeff and I had just rolled down from a visit to Mount St. Helens in Washington state and were headed back to his place in Oregon. He (being the Geography Genius that he is) knew of a perfect stopover to make our long drive back, not so long.
We ended up in Tillamook, Oregon at the Creamery Visitor Center, and yes it was pouring rain and a totally horrible day, weather-wise. We had to park really far out from the entrance but when we finally got to go in we were inside of a really nice facility. It had been totally renovated back in 2018, specifically to give those who dropped by a fun and educational experience on the production of cheese.
The upgraded facility has tons of interactive exhibits, multi-media stations, a view of the cheese-making process through massive glass windows, information on not just the various species of cows, but how the area is so perfect for the production of their product line. One thing I especially appreciated is how they tied in the history of the area to their business, with some really nice display panels showing farm life “back in the day”.
Once you’ve had all the fun you can have looking around you can treat yourself to some samples, and/or go grab some ice cream to finish off your experience in high fashion. If you’re in the mood for something more; they also offer fudge and grilled cheese sandwiches (no surprise there). If you’ve wondering about the fudge, it’s made with one of their 30 varieties of butter that they make on-site. Mystery solved.
Like many high-end tourist attractions they have a very nice Gift Shop where you can pick up a number of unique and theme-specific souvenirs to take home as a remembrance.
I really enjoyed my visit to Tillamook, not just because it’s such a cool place; but because I’d been buying their products in Kentucky and always loved the quality and flavor of their cheddar cheese. Now that I’ve been to their creamery I actively look for their cheese in the store, just to help support an All-American company that produces a wonderful product. If you ever have the chance to go there, do. They have a website that’ll help you with hours or operation and such.
Last modified on: July 20th 2023.