“If life gives you limes, make margaritas” ~ Jimmy Buffett (Off to the Jelly Belly Factory)

Still at Jellystone, one of the days, Shannan and I decided to take a mini day-road-trip. The ultimate destination? Well! Keep in mind, we were travelling with 2 little boys. We didn’t tell anyone, but we headed out for the Jelly Belly Factory, which includes a train ride through the factory (warehouse).

 

It was around 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and we needed air conditioning – the kids were up to a road trip, so we headed south, with Lake Michigan to our East.

 

We went right through Racine, Wisconsin, to Kenosha. Does Racine sound familiar? You can watch “A League of Their Own” and see why that matters! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racine_Belles). It was kind of ironic, because we’d been around so many baseball movies sites and themes, this was just an extra bonus! (No pictures – just happy thought that we were there!)

 

On our way, we saw from afar a sign that said “Warning! Killer Margaritas!” Well! mix together extreme heat and vacation mode, and no particular destination (well, particular destination with no deadline – as long as we got there before it closed) with “margarita” equals “pulling over for lunch!” (extreme heat+vacation+no deadline=killer margarita)

Not ONLY did La Fogata have DELICIOUS Mexican food (which, by the way, is sadly lacking in Calgary*, and generally abundant in the States, and is an off-and-on topic throughout this particular trip), which was ALSO very picturesque (Mexican food rarely looks as delicious in pictures as it tastes in real life), BUT they also have “Killer-ritas”! (THIS, according to the menu, is a 22 oz margarita, with a Corona or Dos Equis inverted and inserted). GREAT STOP! (http://www.eatatlafogata.com/)

 

MUCH later, we continued along to…drum roll… the Jelly Belly Factory! (http://www.jellybelly.com/). Oh, were the boys (ALL of them) EVER excited!! The adult boys were trying to be all “cool” about it, but they were pretty excited to get into their factory hats! (OK, me too!)

  

Because it’s a factory, you have to wear a hat, and because they are constantly creating fascinating and delicious new tastes, there’s no pictures allowed once the tour starts… but, I did find the tour very interesting!
 

Did you know that Ronald Reagan was a lover of Jelly Bellys? not only were there Blueberry Jelly Belly’s created for his presidential inauguration in 1981, BUT during his presidency, Jelly Bellys were served in the Oval Office AND (this is my favorite part), on Air Force One, there’s a special Jelly Belly holder that was designed so that the Jelly Bellys wouldn’t spill! He’s quoted as saying ““You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by the way he eats jelly beans.” I bet that’s true – one at a time, by the handful… I just don’t know how to translate the message… (Apparently, there’s a portrait of Ronald, in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, made of 10,000 Jelly Bellys…)

 

(OH! LOOK WHAT I FOUND! YOUR OWN PICTURES IN JELLY BELLYS!!!
http://www.jellybelly.com/fun_stuff/bean_art_maker.aspx !!! )

 

After the highly informative train tour, we were greeted with a sample bag of Jelly Bellys, which I LOVE! and dropped off at the gift shop.

 

There is a sample bar in there of every flavor they’ve ever invented. They have everything!! and there are some yummy flavors! YUMMY! My all-time favorite is Buttered Popcorn, and then there’s the classics (cinnamon, very cherry, and watermelon), there’s the “icky” flavors.. (They can be found (on line) in the “BeanBoozled” section.) They include: Canned Dog Food, Pencil Shavings, Barf, Vomit, Baby Wipes, Booger, and the list goes on…

 

Now, on the tour, they specifically tell us that they spend aLOT of time making certain that their flavors are accurate… and I canNOT even imagine how they test those things with the icky flavors, but… I believed them when they said they prided themselves on accurate taste matches…

SO! When we got to go for samples… Peter decided to try – yeah – uh huh DOG FOOD!! FIVE HOURS LATER, he was still complaining about the taste of dog food!!! Nobody else could tease him tho – Shannan tried “Baby Wipes”!! I'm Serious!!

 

I, on the other had, believed the tour guide when they explained that their flavor names matched their actual tastes – and chose (and here’s where the theme of the blog comes in) MARGARITA!!! WHY would I choose “Vomit” when I could have “Margarita” and “Kiwi”!!

YAY ME! Everyone else had icky flavors stuck in their palates, and I got Margarita! woooooo hoooooo!

However, my experience was far less funny than theirs. The 10 year old boy, after trying “Booger” flavor, confessed to his mother that he had to “spit it out” cuz he “thought it would taste better than it did!” (SO FUNNY, and SO GROSS all at once!!) Oh goodness – makes me laugh even still.

The rest of the day was spent back at Jellystone Park… Wednesday, we are heading off towards St. Louis, and Rich & Shannan and crew go back towards Michigan…

*(I did just hear, today, of a Mexican restaurant in Calgary, called Paloma that is getting great reviews! I’m excited! Will be trying that out as soon as possible.)

 

The Toy Train Barn, Argyle Wisconsin

I mentioned The Toy Train Barn in my introduction (September 9, 2012). I've been waiting to write about it ever since I started the blog. It was the first thing I researched after I started planning the actual Big Ball of String Tour. I found it on roadsideamerica.com - http://www.roadsideamerica.com/search/tip.

Now that it's time to write about it, I'm a little at a loss at what exactly to say.

I mean - the place pretty much speaks for itself. Well, not exactly - you HAVE to meet Buck and Jan, the owners, and their very pleasant and friendly dog - because THEY have stories!

 

But, we didn't know that when we decided to go there. We just went because - IT'S A TOY TRAIN BARN!! Who wouldn't want to go!? I convinced everyone else to go by using the "we are on a roadside-attraction-biggest-ball-of-string" trip, and we have no time schedule, but really - we were travelling with 2 little boys and 4 children-at-heart who all wanted to see the "choo choo trains".

That being said...we got lost on the way. We took the wrong road (thank you, Jennifer, the GPS voice, who decided that the shortest distance in miles was the shortest distance in time.) To be fair, she couldn't possibly have known that THAT particular road had a speed limit of 20 mph, and hay wagons occupied the road. (NOT just hay-moving vehicles, but also horse drawn wagons!)

We had 2 hours to get there, and after the back road (worth it if you have time) route, finally made it to the turn off. At that point, we re-evaluated. We have 15 minutes to get to the Toy Train Barn before it closed and 10 miles (according to Jennifer and Google maps) of driving - and NOT on a Freeway.

In a tearful-arms crossed-foot stamping-pouting "discussion" (me vs. the other adults), I said, "We have to have to have to have to go! We've come this far! We HAVE TO GO! This is the entire reason we came this way!" we decided to make a run for it.

 

We took that turn off, and I was so anxious to make it to the Toy Train Barn before it closed, I completely was unprepared to take a picture of little Swiss Miss that we passed, out in the field, in her big "Little House on the Prairie" blue dress, and wearing her milk maid bonnet! And, not in costume! just out in the field!! (She goes on my "pictures I've missed but committed indelibly to my memory" list.)

 

We pulled in to the Toy Train Barn driveway, and it was quiet. I could see the two husbands make eye contact, which involved eye-rolling. I resisted reacting, and went to the Barn door. It was dark. It was closed. I knocked anyway.

THEN! the door opened and out came Buck! the owner, and my hero of the day! I quickly spewed out my story about getting lost, the bumpy roads, the hay wagon. He said, "Well! we can't have you coming this far and not let you in! Come in! everyone come in!"

 

YAY! The second Jack (the youngest of us - I think he was 3) came in, he was shrieking - so excited! and he wasn't alone! you should see all there is to see!

There are so many little worlds of trains, and all different scales, too! Buck has it set up to run the whole thing with a touch of a button. (The face of what used to be Jan's microwave - that's what happens when she goes to town and doesn't leave her stuff under lock and key).

I forget everything they've done, but what I do remember is that Jan's chicken rotisserie mechanism is now flying the airplane in circles around one of the train scenes, and the springs from her toaster are now bouncing little figurines of children on pogo-sticks. She also mentioned that she only buys towels that have bright colors and stripes because her green towels became "grass" and the blue is covering ... something.. I want to say "mountain tops".

 

Buck's a genius. Every single thing works. Even the little house on "fire" has a little fire engine spraying water into it, while the train circles around. 

Jan is brilliant too - she is responsible for the little tiny figures - the people, the boxes of fruit, etc., that she has sculpted to scale. I told her she was a genius, too, and she said that she's "supportive".

 

They have little steps for little children to stand on to see better and buttons to push to start some of the trains. They have an "eye spy" game, too, with a list of things to find in the little tiny train worlds. And, they have a larger little train that you can actually ride around the property. (Well, double check that when you go - we were so late, we didn't want to ask about it.)

You'll LOVE The Toy Train Barn
(https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/toytrainbarn?fref=ts) ,
but you'll love it even more when you get to visit

with Buck and Jan.

 

We arrived late, and we stayed late. We overstayed our welcome, but Buck and Jan never let on.

The nicest people ever.

Don't miss this! You must go! It was a real highlight, for sure.

  (Sunday, we'll be enroute to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park.)