Fairfield with the Freeman's

William has been friends with Ben Freeman since they were born and have remained friends ever since. They are both computer scientists and now are back together in the Bay Area. Another common bond in their friendship is that they both LOVE Chick-fil-a. However, the closest one in the Bay area is up in Fairfield so we made a Saturday trip up there- and to see the Jelly Belly Factory. William missed out when I went to the Jelly Belly Factory last time since he was super sick so he was happy to go again and how could I pass up a trip for free Jelly Bellies :-)
The trick to going to the Jelly Belly Factory is to go in the morning. We didn't have to wait in line, but by the time we had left, there was already a line.

Here's William, Ben, and his adorable wife Beverly ready to go on the tour- complete with their stylish hats.

And then William and I before heading out on the tour.

The factory manufacturing is closed on Saturdays so we didn't get to see live production, but they have some great videos that demonstrate the process along the way. And they had SO MANY more colors out drying- it was amazing to see. They were mostly pastel spring ones. The one thing unique to the Saturday tours is the ROBOTICS show. Yes, they have some of their loading machinery do a special dance to music. It kind of reminded me of that scene in the movie "Dave" where he moves that machinery, but it was just machinery dancing. It totally cracked me up.

After the tour, we spent some time trying out some of the flavors and checking out the sales. So, we bought a big box of Jelly Bellies in Valentine colors for only $10! Don't worry- they aren't all for us but many for the Sunday School class that we teach. I loved the the lobbies of the factory were in Spring time decor, and with Jelly Bellies hanging from the ceiling.

And I just thought that the 2 giant Jelly Bellies were too cute to miss out on a photo op for each of us- 2 thumbs up for a great time!

And see that big box in between us? That's where all the $10 Jelly Belly goodness is

After all of that sugar, it was time to counteract it with some Chick-fil-a. Ben is such a fan that they actually have a calendar that has monthly coupons. I have to admit that its pretty tasty, especially their waffle fries. This one was as just as good as it looks.

So, at this mall that has the Chick-fil-a, they also had a Gloria Jean's Coffee. So, William and I do not drink coffee but we discovered this place on our honeymoon to Australia because they have the BEST blended frozen white chocolate drinks. I haven't found one here in the US until now and so William and I were so excited. We went and asked if they had the blended white chocolate drinks and she said yes but that it had cookies in it. We said to hold the cookies and so we got a large. It has said on their sign outside that they had drinks in them without coffee and so we thought it was one of them. Well, she gave us our drink and it had a brown tint to it. I was like, oh no- it has coffee in it. It isn't the same as the one in Australia. When she brought it to us, I asked her if it had coffee in it and she said "Yes, is that a problem?" And I replied that it was and so she was super nice and said that she would make it for us without the coffee in it, but that it wouldn't have white chocolate. We said that was fine and we were so relieved that it didn't have coffee in it and that she was so nice about it. We felt so bad and so it just goes to show that I need to explicitly ask if drinks have coffee in them when I stop at a "coffee" establishment. The drink was good, but no where near as good as the one in Australia. I guess we'll just have to go back then . . .

Ben is truly a Chick-fil-a lover because he went and bought some so that he could eat them the next day. Hey, why not stock up if its an hour and a half drive. We then went and played the Wii and some DDR so the Freeman's were able to tolerate a full day with us!! That's the sign of true friendship right there. We will be definitely planning another get together with them soon!