Welcome to your guide to factory tours!

When August beckons, the fresh coasts and forests of Maine make the "Vacationland" state a popular getaway destination. A number of manufacturing tours, including those of some iconic Maine brands, exist in the easily accessible southern region of Maine.

On your way north, you may want to stop at Stonewall Kitchen in York on the south coast to see its manufacture of homemade-style jam and other kinds of specialty food (and stock up for the trip). Not far away, in Sanford, the famous brand Tom's of Maine makes its toothpaste and other personal-care products in a facility that was carefully built to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Moving along, on the shores of the mighty Sebago Lake is the home of Sabre Yachts in South Casco. Here you can see the intricate process of building yachts, which must assemble the complex infrastructure of an entire house within the confines of a 42-foot sea-worthy sailing vessel. (Be sure you call ahead to arrange a time to tour, and be aware that you may be regarded as a potential customer!)

Farther north still, you can visit the original deep-woods water source of Poland Spring, perhaps Maine's most famous company, at the Poland Spring Museum and Spring House. It is open free from May through October. You can learn about the history of the company and Maine's vaunted spring-water industry. Lastly, all the way up in Auburn, the woodworking tour of Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers reveals the entire traditional process of building exquisite heirloom furniture. During the summer, the company runs its shop tours at 10 a.m. on Thursdays.

This would be quite a trip. We're excited already. For more factory-tour ideas in New England or anywhere else in the United States, be sure to pick up a copy of our book Watch It Made in the U.S.A.

The scintillating island of Puerto Rico is a U.S. possession to be treasured. If you are planning a warm getaway there this winter, soak up some local flavors at the Casa Bacardi Visitor Center in the town of Cataño. Glowing with palm trees, other tropical flora, and well-manicured grounds, this lush 127-acre estate is the home of the Bacardi rum empire. Tour the visitor center with a headset and audio guide to learn about the company's colorful history and the intricate process of making rum. Afterwards, chill in the lounge for a cocktail demonstration and samples. Want more details? See our full writeup of the Bacardi tour in the pages of Watch It Made in the U.S.A.

If the fall nights are turning chilly where you live, you may be thinking about new energy-saving windows to keep in your heat and keep out the cold this winter. While researching the latest edition of Watch It Made, we learned all about Andersen Windows and its factory tour in Bayport, Minnesota. The company produces many types of windows and doors, including energy-saving varieties. That makes the tour interesting enough. However, for factory-tour buffs like us, it's also fascinating just to see how the Andersen workers spend their days.

Windows have long symbolized clear understanding, so it is fitting that Andersen gives visitors an unusually close look at its manufacturing operation. The tour brings you right to the heart of the process. From the lumberyard, pine wood arrives from various timber sources and enters the cutting and milling area. As you stand nearby, inhaling the wholesome smell of fresh pine, computer-controlled machinery cuts the lumber into planks in a continuous flow that handles 100 million board feet (or square feet) of wood a year.

Next you see (and hear) the noisy area of the ripsaw. This huge cutting machine sections planks of lumber into usable pieces that are then sorted by size and quality (or "grade"). From the ripsaw and automatic sorters, the wood travels at 400 feet a minute to the staging areas. Stacked and tallied, the pieces await processing. In the milling area, you meet the Mattison and Weinig molders. These machines shape the wood into stiles, the vertical parts of a window sash, and rails, the horizontal parts. The last stop on the tour is the final assembly line where Andersen's workers put together windows and patio doors. Each shift in the 24-hour working day produces between 800 and 1,000 units. As you stand among the workers, you can sense the amiable solidarity that defines the company culture of Andersen Windows.

While you're in Minnesota, enjoying the fall colors, bring a copy of Watch It Made in the U.S.A. to find other factory tours you can take in the region.