We were excited to go on the Harley Davidson factory tour today. Tours are offered every hour on the hour on a first-come first-served basis
and are free. Unfortunately when we got there, we were told that there was no
assembly since they are converting the assembly line for the 2014 models,
however we still decided to go on the tour and see everything else. After
spending a little bit of time in the museum sitting on different hogs and
reading plaques about the manufacturing process, we went into the factory with
about a dozen other people. First was a movie that gave the history of Harley
Davidson and an overview of the manufacturing process. Then it was into the
factory(no cameras allowed, unfortunately) - we saw the machines that stamps
out the fenders and gas tanks, the framing area where the machines weld the
frames together, the area where the paint is applied, and the assembly area entrance.
We enjoyed ourselves – the tour guide and the tour itself
was educational and well-done, even without a visit to the assembly line. In fact, we may consider going back when the
assembly line is in production. At the end of the tour everyone was given a
Harley Davidson postcard that they stamp and put in the mail for you.
Our second tour of the day was to the Utz Plant - a potato
chip factory - can you say YUM! Although
this was a self-guided tour (M-F, 9-4, free) it was really quite interesting. We
saw the potatoes being brought in, peeled, sliced, a quick cleansing to get rid of the starch, the frying processed, and the salting process.
Some potato chips then continued onto a different area so the flavoring could
be added, such as barbecue or sour cream and onion. Finally, we saw the chips
being bagged and the bags put into boxes. At the end - we were given complementary
bags of a potato chips.
The final tour of the day – Snyder’s of Hanover
(pretzels). This was one where reservations were required – tours are offered
Tuesday – Thursday, 10am, 11am, and 1pm. There were probably 30 people in our
group and we walked with a guide who talked about the pretzel-making plant.
This tour was just okay - we really did not get to see a whole lot of processing
– mostly just boxes of ingredients and boxes of pretzels. We did see some
pretzels coming out of the oven, but that was about it as far as production. What
surprised us, was that we learned that the brown color on pretzels is not from
the baking; it’s actually that they dip the pretzel dough in a caustic solution
that makes the outside of the pretzel brown. We left the store with two
bags of pretzels each.
The final tour of the day – Snyder’s of Hanover
(pretzels). This was one where reservations were required – tours are offered
Tuesday – Thursday, 10am, 11am, and 1pm. There were probably 30 people in our
group and we walked with a guide who talked about the pretzel-making plant.
This tour was just okay - we really did not get to see a whole lot of processing
– mostly just boxes of ingredients and boxes of pretzels. We did see some
pretzels coming out of the oven, but that was about it as far as production. What
surprised us, was that we learned that the brown color on pretzels is not from
the baking; it’s actually that they dip the pretzel dough in a caustic solution
that makes the outside of the pretzel brown. We left the store with two
bags of pretzels each.
So all in all a fun day and some freebies ~ unfortunately no
free Harley for us.
Easy and affordable - no matter where you are!
