I've written about my love for factory tours. The sights, the sounds, the smells are all so interesting, especially when touring a food factory.

Earlier this year, my family had the chance to tour the Endangered Species Chocolate Factory near Indianapolis. They make a variety of chocolate bars, many of which are certified vegan, gluten-free, organic and kosher. Each bar is made with ethically traded cacao and named after an endangered species. Information about the species is included on the inner wrapper, which turns each bar into an educational experience (am I stretching it a bit?).

Unfortunately, we showed up an hour late for our tour because we were unaware of the time change from Chicago to Indianapolis and we missed the excitement of watching the bars get formed, wrapped and zipped down the line for packaging, but our tour guide was knowledgeable and answered our (read, my husband's) many questions.

Going from a tour that I missed to one I've never been on- Hammond's Candies in the Denver area offers a free inside peek at how the make their sugary sweets. I saw the finished products this year at the All Candy Expo and though I'm not really a hard candy kind of gal, I was stunned by the beauty of their candy canes, ribbons and lollipops. Their sweets had an old-fashioned hand-crafted look to them. I'm salivating just thinking about them.

Next up on our factory tour agenda: the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. I'm sure it will be educational, but nowhere near as tasty.

Kim also blogs at Hormone-colored Days.