For winter break, my parents and I will be spending a few days in Vegas and a few days in California (San Francisco, maybe LA, claims my father). I’ve already made a huge list of places I want to visit. It’s impossible to hit them all, but the Jelly Belly Factory must happen. I was in San Francisco with friends last spring break, and no one would go with me then, but I’m sure Mom and Dad will be happy to go along.
- Jelly Belly Factory tour
- Scharffen Berger tour
- Vosges chocolates
- Charles Chocolates
- LA Farmer’s Market
- Joseph Schmidt
- Cocoa Bella
- Citizen Cake
- Lotta’s Bakery
- Munchies
- Chocolates a la Carte
- Chuao Chocolatiers
I think my parents underestimated how long it takes to drive from place to place. LA to San Francisco should be a day-long drive on its own, and we’re only going to be away for a week total.
Oh well. I’ll be happy if we manage to hit just a few of the places on my list. Hopefully Mom and Dad will never realize that their idea of a nice family vacation will actually become “Rosa tries to get Mom and Dad to buy her lots of expensive candy”.
List of places gleaned from David Lebovitz and Cybele from Candy Blog.
hi. i read your blog regularly and thought i’d throw in my 2 cents. i grew up in southern california and lived in san francisco after i graduated from college. depending on how long you stop and the amount of traffic…it should take 7-9 hours to drive from los angeles to san francisco. i went to college at the university of california, so i’m familiar with the jelly belly factory :). it is kind of on the way to sacramento from the bay about an hour (maybe a little less). it really is fun and they give out lots of samples and you can purchase jelly beans for super cheap (good gifts for roommates and friends!). sharffen berger is in south san francisco and it’s kind of an industrial area. while the tour may be fun (i haven’t been), the area itself is kind of blah. i always felt a little scared being there. do try and spend a lot of time in san francisco. it is such a fabulous city (there’s a reason why it’s the most popular vacation city in the world). the ferry to alcatraz island prison only takes about 15 minutes and it’s pretty cool. and alioto’s for seafood down by the pier (you can’t miss it. joseph alioto was the mayor of san francisco many years ago). and the view is great. i could go on and on about my favorite city. have fun. 🙂
I make the drive from LA to SF a half a dozen times a year. It’s about 6 hours from my house to the Oakland Bay Bridge if I take I5 and time it properly (no rush hour). Taking the 5 is completely boring. There is absolutely nothing of interest along the way (maybe a couple of nut stands). Take the 101 and things are definitely more scenic but you’ll add 2 hours to the trip with reduced speeds & traffic.
Try the Ferry Terminal in SF for lunch during the week (I wouldn’t go on the weekend though). Recchiuti, a Scharffen Berger store & Miette are there.
(Scharffen Berger is now in Emeryville in the East Bay and not far from Charles Chocolates.)
Here’s my map from my last trip to SF (still haven’t hit all the places yet.)
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111835366952865243723.00043b278032695c6a88b&ll=38.552461,-121.591187&spn=2.001835,3.735352&z=8&om=1
As someone who has been on the Jelly Belly Factory tour (many years ago) and the Scharffen Berger tour (recently), I highly recommend both.
As I recall, the former is somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the way to Napa or the Sierra Nevadas or something. And Scharffen Berger is not too far from SF in Emeryville (?). You could probably get very close to it by taking public transportation… (BART!)
Will was talking about a great chocolate place in the Bay Area. I’ll ask him about it again and let you know what he was raving about!
you’re coming to LA!? farmers market is awesome. there’s also a santa monica farmers market if you’re going to be in town on a wednesday or weekend, though those are mostly organic produce (delicious anyways). let me know if you’re going to be around!
you clearly were with the wrong friends on spring break. who would not take a factory tour if given the chance??? of anything!