The Bog Beans Mine?

Actually, it's Glen Sonnabend standing in front of his "work" truck. It is the world's largest haul truck used in open pit mining, in northern Nevada. Loaded it weighs 875,000 pounds, and costs 3.1 million dollars ($3,100,000)without the moonroof. This is a picture taken at work at Cortez / Barrick Gold Strike Mine, the largest gold producer in the world, near Crescent Valley, Nevada, where he is employed. Look closely, Glen is holding a bit of chocolate 'gold': a package of Bog Beans which was purchased on a visit to Cape Cod, Mass last Fall.

Free Bog Beans at Foxboro?

Or better yet, free Patriot's tickets with every box of Bog Beans? Which of course begs the question, 'do Bog Beans and Beer go well together'? The truth is that Bog Beans go well with everything because, at least by today's scientific standards, both dark chocolate and cranberries are good for you. Tom Brady swears by them.. not 'the' Tom Brady, but Tom Brady of Biloxi, Mississippi. In any case, as you can see from the picture, Bog Beans were at Gillette Stadium, as the Patriots beat the Chicago Bears, 17-13.

The Bog and the Bean, In Ireland

While we don't have any 'green beans', we do have Bog Beans lovers across the globe. In this case it was one of our American consumers, who traveled to Ireland recently, and paused for a moment to contemplate the scenery and the sad fact that she was a few thousand miles from home and quickly running out of her favorite chocolate covered cranberry. Remember to bring your Bog Beans with you, on your travels, and to send us a digital image. If you do, you qualify for our ongoing contest, the winner of which will enjoy a weekend at a Cape Cod Bed & Breakfast, plus (details on this blog site).

And the winner is..

Our first winner that is... As part of our ongoing promotion - Bog Beans Across America, we asked customers to guess how many miles Leah put on her car, as she drove from our cafe in Sagamore (On Cape Cod) Massachusetts, to San Francisco, spreading the word (and the taste) of Bog Beans across America. Some of you clearly didn't do too well in Geography Class, guessing 4, 5, even 6000 miles. Luckily, not everyone needs a GPS unit to get to the grocery store: four contest participants came within 50 miles of the actual mileage - 3505 miles. In fourth place, just 44 miles off (guessing 3461 miles), was Lynn Hover of Lee, Massachusetts. Tied for second, just 26 miles off, were Paula Ann Fobert-Gately of Harwich, Massachusetts, and David Toolan of Whitestone, New York (both guessed 3479 miles.) And the closest, awarding winning guess (winner of a $50 ChocoLatte Gift Card) was Mike Mahoney, who lives just across the Canal from our cafe, in Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts, and who came within 23.5 miles with his guess of 3528.5 miles. That's Mike in the picture to the left, posing in front of our Cape Cod Cafe - ChocoLatte'.

The Arc de Bog Beans

The Bog Beans of Notre Dame!

Blasphemy! Joan of Bog Beans

Colbogbeans College

There were many other Bog Beans sightings from this trip submitted, but we'll end with this one, where it seems that the new Bog Beans package is being used to prop up the landmark library building -once the tallest building in Maine, at Colby College. By the way, if you're a member of Colby's alpine club, we encourage you to take a box of the Bog Beans with you on your next climbing trip, and send us a picture with you, the 'Beans' and some fabulous alpine vista... if necessary, we'll airbrush out some of the less native species..

Entering Maine

The next bridge, with the sign that says entering 'Maine', is the Bridge that connects Portsmouth, NH, with Kittery, Maine, crossing the Piscataqua River.

Zakim-Bunker-Bog Beans Bridge

The next image is on the Lenny Zakim/Bunker Hill Bridge, which locals call the LZBHB, and which is now officially the Zakim-Bunker-Bog Beans Bridge (ZBBBB

Dig Big Into Bog Beans

A family headed up to Maine, for family weekend at their son's college - Colby College in Waterville, and surprise, surprise, Bog Beans were everywhere! The first encounter was at the entrance to the Big Dig, under Boston: someone suggested we call this picture, 'Dig Big into Bog Beans! So you see, it's safe to both eat Bog Beans and drive under the city (must be those anti-oxidants in the dark chocolate.

The Big Bean Speaks!

Remember - the best guess as to how many miles Leah put on her blue Acura - traveling from the front door of ChocoLatte (Home of Bog Beans), to San Francisco, will win the guessee a $50 Chocolate Gift Basket. Of course, Leah did not make what you might call a Bean-Line, to the Golden Gates -but clues to her side trips and such, and the Google estimate of the direct route's total mileage, are all available on this site. So look it over, and make a guess. If you're from off Cape, send the guess by email to Dogd@Aol.com. If you're nearby, drop it off at ChocoLatte, 11 Cranberry Highway, Sagamore Massachusetts. -additional details about this, and related Bog Beans contests may be found within the first posting on this blog (see links to past postings on the right)

The Gigantic Midwest

Leah wrote: "Nebraska is cool too. It has a lot of fields but we finally found a road-side diner: Penny's rocked. Then we came across the Buffalo Bill Museum: it may have been closed but that didn't stop me from making sure their 'chuck wagon' was fully stocked with Bog Beans."

Lots of clues here, for figuring out the mileage. Was the really the Buffalo Bill Museum, or were they in North Platte, at Fort Cody?

Iowa (pronounced O-HI-O?)

Leah wrote: "Iowa has lots of farms. They appreciate their cows, which is why this cow fountain probably has some special meaning. I just thought it looked like it needed some chocolate-covered cranberries to keep it company."

It seems likely that this cow fountain can be found on a map, or reference to it found somewhere on the Internet.

Carhenge, in Alliance, Nebraska

Look closely: you're not looking at the famous stones of southern England. The picture to the left is from Carhenge, a unique outdoor art museum of a sort, centered around a tribute to Stonehenge - but with cars. I'll place a link to the official Carhenge website in the section on the right. It proved a bit too far off the path, for Leah and the Bog Beans crew to visit (probably about an hour off the highway) but if anyone else is headed that way, it sounds a like cool place to stop.

Driving Directions from Sagamore, MA to Carhenge at 2141 County Road 59, Alliance, NE

And they're off: Day 1, Sagamore to..

Leah stopped by the store this morning, to stock up on Bog Beans, get a few final instructions, say goodbye to friends... oh, and get one last Latte before heading west. The picture above is her blue Acura, clean and shiny and rarin' to go. She's trying to make Cleveland by tonight, and late word was that she had reached the far western edge of New York state and given out her first Bog Beans (to another group of rolling marketers giving out samples of Red Bull). Actually, I think it was an even exchange, Bog Beans for Bull. An auspicious beginning. And yes, word has just come in from somewhere near Cleveland (a place called Buck's Grill & Bar) that Leah is now officially in the Midwest, and spreading the Bog Beans amongst the locals. Tomorrow (Sept. 2) they'll be deep in the Midwest, and may come across the 'Flying Saucer Gas Station" in Ashtabula, Ohio.

The trail began here, at ChocoLatte

ChocoLatte' (shown to the left) is our Cape Cod retail store - where we make the Bog Beans, take online orders, and offer locals forced to leave the Cape -if even for only a few hours, a last taste of the Cape before crossing the bridge in to normal. This is where Leah worked, until just recently, and where her trip officially began. We can't tell you what specific route she took to get to San Francisco, but you can she drove in a westerly direction. On this blog you'll find pictures and brief accounts of her adventures,and these can be considered clues which could help you win a nice prize (See contest rules below). Afterall, that's what this is all about: good old fasioned, bold-faced, shameless, we're only in it for the money marketing. It just so happens that Bog Beans are especially delicious, and that we feel it is our patriotic duty to let the folks who live in 'Middle' America taste what they've been missing...

CONTEST RULES: Where is Leah going, and why does she have a trunk-full of Bog Beans?

First, I suppose, the question to answer is, what are Bog Beans? For Cape Cod residents, or regular visitors to the area, the answer is simply 'delicious'. For those from the outer regions of America, more detail is required. Bog Beans are the original, chocolate covered cranberry. Created in a Cape Cod Kitchen, they are still made the original, authentic way, using premium chocolate, whole Ocean Spray cranberries (from New England bogs) and a hint of flavoring (raspberry for the dark chocolate, orange for the milk chocolate varieties). Bog Beans are one of Cape Cod Specialty Foods original offerings, and Leah has been with the company since the beginning (or close to it). But now -sad to say, Leah has headed west, with dreams of professional dancing in her head, and a trunk full of Bog Beans. As she traveled across the country Leah did a kind of 'Jonny Appleseed' tribute, by giving out Bog Beans to everyone she met on the way, and posing for pictures with a large Bog Beans banner.