WW Homestead Dairy

Two northeast Iowa families started this creamery in 2011, and the operation has stayed true to its roots: milk comes from family farms, and nearly everything sold in the retail store is made on site. The curds are produced in small batches several days a week, which is why they have that fresh squeak that refrigerated grocery-store curds can't replicate. The dairy calls itself the "Cheese Curd Capital of Iowa," and that claim has some weight behind it — the curds have taken first-place honors at the American Cheese Society judging and at the Iowa State Fair.

The retail store covers more ground than you might expect from a rural creamery on a county road outside Waukon. There's an ice cream parlor drawing from the dairy's own cream-line milk, a coffee bar with locally roasted beans, and a drive-up window if you want soft serve or deep-fried curds without dismounting for long. The back hallway has viewing windows so you can see the processing floor while you wait. Farm tours are also available, though they require a call ahead.

For a byway ride through the Iowa Driftless Area, this stop makes practical sense as well as a good one: it's a genuine working dairy, not a theme attraction, and the rural road leading in fits the character of the surrounding bluff country.