who you callin' a jelly belly?

even though it took us about an hour out of the way, we headed out to fairfield so that we could share something with the bean that we'd done with her sister about ten years ago:

the very sight of the place brought back some fun memories.

the bean had fallen asleep in the car, but perked up a bit when she saw where we were taking her.

 predictably, i was pretty excited myself.

but then...wah waaaaah.

despite the modified tour, it was pretty busy in there.  we stood in line for about 20ish minutes before we finally got to head up the stairs and start the tour.

even though the factory was in the midst of their annual shutdown, we were instructed not to take photos or video inside.  my finger might have slipped a time or two and accidentally snapped a few.  they weren't any good anyway, but there you go.

probably the most interesting thing we learned during the tour was that all of the product that is dropped on the floor doesn't get swept up and thrown away.  instead, they bag 'em all up and ship them off to local farms for feeding the pigs.  sweet & sour pork, anyone?  har har har.

we were handed samples of jellybeans in various stages of production.  this is the center of the bean, where most of the flavor is concentrated:

and then it looks like this before it gets its shiny coating and polish.

at the end of the tour, we were handed little bags of samples.

downstairs, we found ourselves in the middle of jelly belly heaven.  i didn't take as many pictures as i probably should have, but you get the point.

since the old lady was at home with the dog, i wanted to make sure we brought her some presents.  and because she was going through a pancakes phase at the time, i bought her a bag of the newest jelly belly flavor:

(they're actually really tasty, in case you wondered)

several machines during production filter out imperfect jellybeans - maybe they're misshapen, aren't the right size, whatever.  and if they don't fall on the floor to be sent to hungry piggies, they're bagged up and sold as "belly flops."

we were equally grossed out and fascinated by the harry potter-inspired "bertie bott's" line of jellybeans.  these look identical to their regular flavors, but if you get (un)lucky, you'll end up with a mouthful of these disgusting flavors:

back in the clearance section, we found out where valentine's and easter candy comes to die.

there's even a whole section of belly flops here.  i'm sure they're probably there because they're not as fresh as the others, but it's kind of funny to think of how bad those belly flops had to be to land in the clearance aisle.

even hello kitty was there.

and if you were so inclined, there was a jelly belly-shaped coin bank to be had for cheap.

thanks for a fun time, jelly belly!  till next time...although i have no idea when that might be.