Anthony Thomas Easter factory tour

I've been going to this tour (you could say) for a long time. See, when my (big 12 year old) nephew was a tiny babe, I took him, and subsequently his brothers, to the tour.

When you work up in Dublin, as I did, you can't help to see the GIANT pink Easter bunny atop the Anthony Thomas chocolate factory building, just off of Roberts Rd. I can't remember how old he was, maybe 2, or 3, when I just HAD to take him.

Year after year, we'd make a day out of going to Waffle house, (for breakfast BEFORE the candy) and to the factory, Easter bunny, etc. THIS year--even though the nephews have long since grown too cool for the tour, we got to take Amara.

As I did, she spotted the bunny from the freeway. As we snaked along Wilson Rd, we kept peeking through the trees, hoping for glance of the bunny again. When we got there, we parked RIGHT IN FRONT of the giant rabbit, and of course Amara wanted to "touch him" as she frequently does birds, planes, and various other very high-up items.

I think, one of the neatest things about this event is that A.T. is providing a HUGE service to their community--giving away all the free stuff, all those people to man the event, etc. so I'm glad we can support them. In addition to that, they really touch all ages. They have costumed bunnies, but the factory tour itself is fun for any age, and of course the samples and wonderful factor store, all for FREE!

As we made our way into the glass doors, we were welcomed and headed right in. After peeking at a few Easter baskets for raffle (which of COURSE we registered for) we peeked around the corner to see TWO EASTER BUNNIES! I hesitated b/c we've never visited an Easter bunny before (like at the malls) and it's not like you just have occasion to 'bump into any' but she wanted to "see him" and we headed over.

We chatted a little (not really the E.B.), she high 5'd him-- and he handed her TWO filled eggs, and we were on our way--but wait, ANOTHER ONE--so she walked right up and high 5'd him too, got TWO MORE eggs, and we were going. Up, up the 3 flights of stairs to the observation area--and we breezed through. She had some interest in the chocolate she could make out--and especially the strawberry dipping/ covering area, with racks of berries, and a nifty conveyor belt (ala Lucille Ball).

At the end, she got to see MASSIVE Buckeye production, which she recognized, as well as decorated baskets being assembled--and even some Buckeye baskets too! The sweet ladies there were so cute, and looked up and waved at her, as she pounded on the glass (though I'm PRETTY sure they couldn't hear us).

Down the stairs and to the beginning of the end, so to speak--they were ready with trays of samples of the things we'd just watched being made...Eric took a Buckeye while Amara and I had the dark chocolate butter creams--I was hesitant about giving her the dark chocolate, but since I'm on a bit of a kick myself, I figured why not, and she shoved the ENTIRE thing in her mouth! Now, understand, we're in a bit of a "too big bite" food phase, so this happens a lot, usually followed by her spitting it right back out. She NEVER ONCE offered to take that candy out of her mouth. To my chagrin, the chocolate slobber dripped out of her mouth, and I could do nothing to stop it, it happened so fast and kept coming, we just laughed it off.

Next, into the hallway leading to the candy store--THIS is like Willy Wonka stuff. A HUGE room filled with giant everything, so I just put her down and let her go. They had beautiful foil-wrapped candies of every shape and size, bagged things, the berries, and on and on. It was SO packed though, and we wanted to keep moving, so we did. No surprise, she found suckers, so we grabbed a few and headed for the checkout.

As we walked back to the car--she remarked that the sucker was "good, daddy" so I was happy that she had non-chocolate alternative for the moment. We did however, check one of the eggs from the E.B. in the car, and found that A) their jelly beans are VERY fresh and yummy, and that B) she liked them! I guess I just thought that most kids didn't really care for jelly beans, but hey, that makes my egg filling for Easter easy!

What a great morning, so much fun--and can't wait for next year, though I'm PRETTY SURE dad is going to have to make one more run over there before Easter :)