Thumper Thinks Out Loud

It took us long enough, but we finally toured the Jelly Belly Factory. For someone who loves Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and no other jelly bean on earth, it’s Nirvana.

Sadly, there was glass and about twenty feet in height between us and the candy-in-progress. So there was no touching of the Confectionary Holy Grail, no wabbit prints on any of the Very Cherry or Berry Blue flats of almost-finished beans. No diving head first into a giant vat of Lemon and Tangerine and Dr. Pepper flavored tasty treats.

But it was still fun. I got to see my favorite candy in the process of being made, and there were free samples at the end.

And if you’re hungry, there’s a Jelly Belly Café, where one can munch upon a jelly bean shaped burger or pizza, or suck down an oddly shaped hot dog and some fairly bland french fries (ok, I liked the tour, was not impressed with the Café and it’s mediocre high priced foods…)

My back was not as impressed with the 40 minute walking tour as the rest of me was, but it was worth the pain. I’ll make myself feel better with a few of the 3 pounds of jelly beans we felt obliged to purchase on the way out…