Smith's Falls and the Chocolate Factory

We took a day trip down to Smith's Falls in late August. It's a historic little town of around 10000 people, made famous by its numerous locks on the Rideau Canal, and for the Hershey Chocolate Factory. We felt an urgency to visit the town, as Hershey has announced that they are closing the chocolate factory in 2008, and moving operations down to Mexico.




Left - we began the day with what we thought would be a quick lunch at a local Pizza restaraunt. It started out well enough, with orders being taken right away, and a generally busy diner atmosphere to keep us entertained. Bub was happy, and the country music playing over the sound system seemed fitting for the hard-done-by town. However, when you hear the one waitress, arguing with the one cook, about why the kitchen lost the order, and why so-and-so ain't showing up again, you have to brace yourself. Nothing will test your patience, like waiting an hour and a half for a rubber omellete, all the while dealing with a baby who doesn't think hanging out at the table is the coolest thing anymore. Needless to say, when the next song coming through the speakers was "tequila makes her clothes fall off" - I was ready to leave.



When I heard about the chocolate shop, and the free self-guided tour around the chocolate factory, I had imagined the whole thing may be a bit overblown...a tourist trap perhaps. But when we pulled around the bend, and were within a block of the company, the overwhelming smell of chocolate filled the air. We parked and entered the chocolate shop, which could only be described as a chocaholics madhouse. The place was packed, and people were lined up 5 deep trying to get at the bulk bins. I've never seen the like.


The shop sells almost the entire line of Hershey products at close to "at cost" value, and so the binging was monumental. After we left, it was easy to see how the local town is fighting so hard to keep at least the shop open for business.


Amongst the throws of people wandering around frantically, we partially succumbed to the insanity, and left with WAY more than we needed to.