This past weekend, we took a mini trip to a local grits mill. The mill dates back to the 18th century, and up until a few decades ago, still ran. Time and neglect took its toll, but within the past few years, it was bought, salvaged, and rebuilt. It is now a fully-functioning mill once again, completely run by water power. Amazing! G was, of course, most intrigued by the humongous wheel and the stilted water channel running to it.

We even went into the basement of the mill to see the underworkings of all of the pulleys, gears, and belts. Anything with pulleys and gears has G’s attention held tight. As we climbed down the nearly-straight-down ladder, we felt as if we were stepping down into the 1700s.

We were able to learn (and see) how yellow corn was separated from the chaff (suitable for feeding animals) and ground into grits…and some ground even finer into cornmeal.

The kids enjoyed our afternoon and asked to come back and visit again soon. It was all I could do not to go home and immediately cook up a huge pot of grits. Stone-ground, coarse grits are the absolute best.

This is just one of many factory-type tours we hope to do as a family this fall. It is one of the best ways for the kids to experience hands-on learning! And of course, we adults always learn something, too. And what better way to explore the treasures buried within the wonderful area which you call home!

Here are a couple of sites that list available factory tours by state:

Factory Tours USA

TGRW

Watch It Made In the U.S.A. (a book — might be available at your local library)