Uncanny Valley

This is the world where beans are made. Jelly beans that is. You know, beans, dreams, get it?

Oh well. The tour consists of surveying the floor from a carpeted walkway and watching videos at each stop that explain what is happening below. There are special windows for kids to look through which I thought was kinda cute. When you enter the factory it smells like scented candles, which may be because of the beeswax glaze. Later on it smells more candy-like. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed on the tour. You also have to wear a paper hat on the tour, so if you need to look extra fancy afterwards you might want to bring a comb.

The gift shop is fairly large. They sell all of the company’s candy as well as shirts and the usual tchotchkes. The also have rejects, called Belly Flops, that are misshapen beans that couldn’t make it through the labeling machine.

There is also a java bar and a cafe that serves bean-shaped pizzas, burgers, and hot dogs. They also have salads and fries. There is a special area for parties here as well, which one can reserve in advance.

After leaving the factory, we went around the corner to an unrelated olive oil tasting place called SePaY [sic] Groves. A little weird after all the candy, but still good.

It’s like a no-kill shelter for abused, abandoned, or otherwise rescued farm animals. The farm doesn’t just try to rescue every animal that was supposed to be dinner (though they’ll take anything they have room for), they try to give priority to the cases that even factory farmers would think were pretty cruel. The rehabilitated animals are very cute despite any mutilations or injuries, and most are pretty friendly. I liked the turkeys and chickens the best, but maybe that’s because they liked me the best. The pot-bellied pigs were also sweet.

Despite the cuteness trips here are bittersweet. If you’re not vegan, you will (or should) be feeling guilty, and if you are vegan, you’ll probably feel bad for how these animals were treated. Either way you’ll probably see a few things that will change your concepts on how animals are raised for food (why are the chickens missing beaks?).

I would bring children here. But then I’m vegan. I don’t think it’s right to proselytize, but I feel if you’re going to go to a farm, this is perhaps more honest. You’d probably have to gloss over some questions though.

Laguna Creek Trail is a private, one-lane, unpaved road. Four our tour, we parked on Cherry Glen Road where it bends by the island, and hay-rid up. Note that the island is the second right-angle turn in Cherry Glen Road from I-80.