Spotting a shaded bench in the garden, Tammie hurried over to it and quickly sat down before anyone else had the same idea. Slipping off one of her shoes, I noticed a spot on her foot where her shoe had rubbed the skin raw. She sighed with resignation, “Here we go again! The shoes I’m wearing today are rubbing and making my feet hurt, and I didn’t pack any band aids.”

This was our first full day in Seattle, Washington. The day before, my sister Agnes, daughter Tammie and I had done a lot of walking in the airports. Today, we were touring the Chihuly blown glass display and garden next to the Space Needle Center.

After thoroughly searching through her purse, Agnes handed a band aid to Tammie, proudly announcing, “I knew I had one in there somewhere!”

I sat down next to Tammie to apply the band aid for her. Slipping her shoe on again, she stood up, saying with relief, “Now it feels much better! We’re going to stop at a pharmacy to buy a box of band aids before returning to our bungalow for the night.” 

Later that day when we visited a pharmacy near our Airbnb, where Agnes and I visited the candy aisle.  I exclaimed, “Look at these interesting Seattle Chocolate Company candy bars. I can’t believe all the yummy-sounding flavors they have. They’re called truffle bars. I thought truffles were round, not flat.”

Having found what she was looking for, Tammie joined us to look at the candy. She excitedly explained, “This Seattle Chocolate Company is the place I told you we were going to tour this week!” 

Selecting a few of the bars to buy, I pointed out with a giggle, “We need to check out if this chocolate factory is worthy of a visit from us!”

The day we visited the chocolate factory, we followed GPS instructions which had us take a six-lane highway for several miles. Tammie charged me with the responsibility of holding her phone and reading the GPS as she drove. I have never read a GPS screen in my life, and I hadn’t been given a crash (an unfortunate word choice) course on what to look for. To say I felt stressed, would be an understatement. All the highways, off and on ramps displayed on Tammie’s phone looked like noodle soup. I wished I could eat a large, soothing dark chocolate bar instead.

The Seattle Chocolate Company was founded in 1991 and is a business owned by a woman and run by women. In 2001, the Nisqually Earthquake destroyed the first factory. That was when Jean Thompson stepped in as the CEO and moved the factory to its present location 12 miles south of downtown Seattle. Originally from New England, Thompson, who is a chocolate-loving entrepreneur, mother and business visionary turned the company into a colorful, thriving place. The one thing she didn’t change was the smooth, creamy truffles that people in the Pacific Northwest have loved for the past thirty years.

Our tour of the factory started out in a conference room. At each seat, a shot glass of liquid chocolate and a flight of chocolates to sample was laid out for each visitor to sample. As we slowly worked our way through the chocolate array, the tour guide had people guess the percentage of chocolate in each candy and explained what all had to be done to produce them.

Finally, after everyone donned hairnets, we were led into the factory. Being well behaved, none of us were turned into Willy Wonka blueberries. All the workers worked at a steady pace, and the conveyer belts moved slowly enough that no one had to resort to eating the candies like Lucy Recardo. Our tour guide joked about these preconceived mind-pictures given to us by the entertainment industry. The final part of our tour was an opportunity to shop in the factory store to take advantage of the 10% tour discount we were given.                    

Scientists have proven that eating dark chocolate relieves stress. The dark and creamy treat is also packed with fiber and antioxidants. It improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure, and all these results can be observed within half an hour of eating the chocolate. J.K. Rowling took advantage of this information by making a bar of chocolate be the antidote for Dementors in the Harry Potter series.

The drive back to downtown Seattle wasn’t nearly as stressful as our drive to get to the factory. I entirely credit the 70% chocolate I had eaten at the factory for this.