The weather has been humid and dreary here. No school and a summer schedule that involves 2 hours of structured activity is great, if the sun is shining. However one these chilly days we need to find some sort of entertainment to keep everyone from killing each other..
So we packed up and took a field trip to The Wilbur Chocolate Factory.
I wasn't sure what to expect but certainly not what we found. lol
Two ladies working behind the wall was the only interesting aspect of the tour.
The place was packed and not at all handicapped accessible.
So funny story: We had been wandering around trying to see everything. I noticed this chocolate lotion off to the side, I thought oh, cool the kids will like this!!
I announced, GUYS CHECK THIS OUT, YOU CAN TRY IT! Immediately David jumped in, "me,me I want to try it." I was trying to keep tabs on everyone and absently mindedly said "It's whip cream" (meaning its a whipped lotion) and squirted it into David's hand. He immediately LICKED IT OFF HIS HAND!! I grabbed his hand from his mouth and hissed "DON"T EAT THAT, IT'S LOTION!" I was horrified... we were already drawing attention with our not so little entourage.
The other kids all jumped to his defense. Apparently if you say "Try it" in a chocolate factory it is very likely your child will eat lotion! We burst into giggles which drew more attention to us, much to the horror of my boys.
So we quickly paid for our gold coins and headed out the door. That was one field trip we won't repeat! lol
This is the outdoor elevator, and the only access to the chocolate factory. I was not impressed. They had a call button that we could push for assistance while we we were outside. No one came to answer the bell, I didn't trust leaving the kids outside alone while I went inside for assistance. So the boys and I hauled the wheelchair and the stroller up the stairs. We did use it when we left. I think it is sad that some of these places are not more accessible. The stress of accessing the building took all the fun out if for us.
There was all kinds of old cooking items...
Nesiah did enjoy the video on how chocolate is made.
There was chocolates of every kind and style...
This town has some rich history. We had fun touring an old caboose and the old train station. My kids are into living history right now. Laura Ingalls Wilder books etc... so this little history tour was a fun surprise for us. We saw the old train station and a hotel across the street. We talked about how these little towns were an important part of our early American History.
This was the ticket window, where one might purchase tickets for their train ride.
A replica of an old cabin...
The old fashioned water fountain outside the train station.
The water fountain area in front of the station, alongside the railroad tracks.
Since we were bummed out with our visit to the chocolate factory and this town is rich with history and fun touristy things to do, we continued our tour at the pretzel factory. Check back later for that blog post!