Recently we were planning to get together with someone from the Bay Area. We were trying to figure out where to meet for lunch, and what to do that was kid friendly. Jelly Belly Factory to the rescue! We decided to take the factory tour, then head up to the Nut Tree area, to have lunch at Fenton's. Both places are very kid friendly, and can be done in a morning or afternoon outing. From our area, it's only about 60 miles away to the Jelly Belly Factory (and Fenton's is even closer).
When you first walk up, and you see this enormous blow-up Jelly Belly, you definitely know you're at the right place. The day we went it was very busy because it was during winter break from school. The line to get in the tour was very long, but I asked at the information booth (to make sure we were in the right line), and he said it would go fast because they let so many people in at once, and he was right. With so much to look at, it went really quick, and the kids didn't even mind.
Right before we went in, we were given Jelly Belly hats, and were told we had to wear them the entire tour. The kids loved them. As you go through, you get to see the process that is gone through to make the Jelly Belly's and it's nothing short of amazing. There are bins and tubs of colorful Jelly Belly's all over. They make over 100 kinds of Jelly Belly jelly beans, and many other candy confections in this factory. It's amazing how automated it is. Even the boxes are put together by machines, but even with the automation, hundreds of people work in the factory.
The kids liked the places where you could "guess the flavor by the smell". We all tried it, and while the smell is pretty strong, we still had a hard time figuring out what some of them were. I liked all the artwork made out of Jelly Belly's. Besides the art you could hang on the walls, there were sculptures. They also had a game of some sort, but the kids didn't have the patience to wait in the line that day to try it out. Of course everyones favorite part was when we got the bag of Jelly Belly's!
They also have a sampling area in the front sales area where you can choose 3 flavors to try. With so many flavors, it was hard to choose. One thing I didn't try was the BeanBoozled flavors. They look like normal flavors, but they are anything but normal. Flavors like Canned Dog Food, Booger and Sticky Socks aren't something I want to try, but they would be fun to try out on an unsuspecting friend.
Had I known there was a place to eat at the factory, we might have eaten there, but we already made plans to go to Fenton's at the Nut Tree area, so we drove back towards Vacaville to eat and play. With the train ride, carousel, teeter totter and other play equipment, the kids were able to burn off some energy before we got back in the car for the ride home. If you wanted to make it an all day trip, you could add Scandia Family Center in Fairfield with batting cages, miniature golf, laser tag, water bumper boats, a raceway and arcade, to the days itinerary. The kids are a little young for that right now, but I'm looking forward to going back and doing this again when they are a little older so we can make it a full day of fun.
For more info:
Jelly Belly Factory
Scandia Family Center
Nut Tree
