Hammond's Candy Factory Tour

 Denver, CO

More Free Candy!

This morning, after walking Francis, we drove to the Hammond's Candy Factory for a free tour.  You might recall our Chocolate Factory Tour in St. Louis.  The tour started in the giftshop and exited in the gift shop so there was plenty of time to shop for candy.

Francis found a playmate this morning.

Donna found the factory seconds (the discounted oops room) quickly.

They also sold things they don't make in the shop.

The tour started with a video talking about the history of Hammond's Candy.  It's the largest all hand made candy factory in the US and ships all over the US.

We could watch the process through giant windows.

Loading the candy on the stretching / cooling machine.

Hand pulling lollypops

The temp alarm went off so it was time to pour and cool.

They put broken bits in with the hot candy so it would melt in and be recycled.

Action shot of the pulling and cutting to make lollypops.

They also had closed circuit TV monitors for us to watch. 

They get a lot of their machines from factories that have upgraded to more modern processes.  This one is from Jolly Rancher.

Our guide gave us a lot of info that we couldn't keep track of while watching the show in front of us.

On the way out we got a free factory defect.

I waited until people weren't watching to take this violent photo of me destroying the Hammond's mascot with my signature Hadouken energy attack.

LOL! ipop.

This was the free candy I got.

We also purchased candy on the way out.  All of it was discounted.  The taffy was 10 for $1!

It was a fun tour but the one in St. Louis was better and the discounted candy selection was more suited to our tastes.  I prefer chocolate and truffles over hard candy.

Laster in the evening we drove to Arvada to visit our friends that live there.  We had a great time catching up, made plans, and then walked to dinner just down the road.

That's it for today.  If you missed Korean Fried Chicken and Pinball, check it out.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate and Tacos

 St. Louis, MO

The hat says, "Chocolatier for a day".  It was more like 30 minutes which was way better.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate and Bissinger's Chocolate

Today we too the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate chocolate factory tour.  It was free and you got to try chocolate so it gets a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating from us.  We arrived just before our 11am tour (you have to call them because they live in another time).  You can walk around the chocolate store deciding what you want to buy while waiting for the tour.  They also have a sample of the day that you can sample.  Today's sample was Dulce De Leche and it was very good.  It's the day after Easter so all of their Easter Candy is half off.  What to get?  What to get?  

The tour was short and sweet (see what I did there?).  They talked about the history of Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate and the history of Bissinger's Chocolate (started in 17th Century France) since they bought it 2019.  Both companies were making chocolate in St. Louis and Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate continues to make their own chocolate as well as Bissinger's using the original Bissinger's recipes.  

What up B?

Tempting

I wanted to arrange the letters to spell POOP but I restrained.

$4 for chocolate that didn't quite break correctly.  Count us in!

Some people do a fancy Prom Invitation but others do a Solid Chocolate Breakup

This is Donna's "I'm Excited" look and it is fantastic.

We spent a bit over 7 minutes in Chocolate Heaven.

This is a 100 lb slab of caramel or caramel if you pronounce it that way.

Caramel cubes getting coated in chocolate.  

All of the designs on top that indicate the flavor are done by hand.

We ended up buying 3 bags of the Oops chocolate.  We couldn't pass up the amazing deal.  It was so much cheaper than the other stuff and still the same chocolate.

Terror Tacos

After the tour we ran a few errands and then dropped off the van and walked to Terror Tacos.  It's a top 100 restaurant according to the St. Louis Dispatch.  I would link it but there is a paywall.  Terror Tacos serve amazing vegan Tacos in a horror themed taqueria.  The tacos were AMAZING and they had a great beer selection.  I also liked their t-shirts.  I don't have a St. Louis t-shirt yet so I think we will go back for more tacos and a t-shirt.

The aforementioned t-shirts

A They Live Lamp

We split a Taco Flight so we could try a few

I also took a few photos whilst running our errands which included a grocery store.

Cheap Sweet Potatoes!

Dr. Pepper beans?

That's it for today.  If you missed How About Another Post With Pinball In It? check it out.  We played pinball.