Have you seen the episode of The Simpsons called The Land of Chocolate? It’s the one where Homer skips with reckless abandon through a place made entirely of candy, all the while chomping on buildings and creatures along the way.
The scene’s a metaphor for the unparalleled joy people with a sweet tooth experience when they chomp on their favourite chocolate bar.
It’s also a warning. Have too much of a good thing, submit to temptation, indulge in too many sugar rushes, and you can kiss your health goodbye.
So what should sugar junkies do if they need a fix, but can’t afford to let sweets pass their lips? Making a visit to a place dedicated to their favourite confectionery might work. Take a look at these “cathedrals of candy”, starting with M&M’s World (as in our technicolour image by Westside Shooter)…
M&M’s World – Las Vegas, Nevada
It seems somehow appropriate that M&M’s located their 28,000 square-foot, four-level showroom in Sin City. With a prime location right on the Strip (where else?), this great monument to gluttony sits between two palaces of that other deadly sin, greed. The variety of M&Ms branded merchandise is mind boggling – kitchenware, clothing, bedding, jewellery, you name it. If you can’t eat it, you might as well wear it.
(We couldn’t include M&M’s World without mentioning its newest outlet – in Leicester Square, London. Selling the same range of M&M-branded goods as the Las Vegas outlet, if you don’t want to wear it or sleep on it, you can create your own M&M’s selection from more than 100 choices.)
Jelly Belly factory – Fairfield, California
A 40-minute tour of this working jellybean-making factory halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento, lets visitors in on the “secrets” of why it takes more than a week to make a bean. Much more importantly though, you get to breathe in the delicious aroma of chocolate, peach, cinnamon, pineapple, or whatever is being cooked up that day.
Hersheypark – Hershey, Pennsylvania
Rollercoasters, water rides, restaurants, hotels and a zoo. Nope, not Disney. This is Hersheypark in Pennsylvania. When it opened more than 100 years ago, the park served as a place for Hershey’s employees to relax, but now it has some 65 rides and 12 roller coasters that help keep sugar-obsessed minds off chocolate for at least a few hours. That is until they hear about the Chocolate Spa.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
