The wind rushed around us. Snow covered our icy feet. There was no smell of chocolate in the air. There was no warm, delicious chocolate waiting for us when we got out of the car. Instead, we were handed a giant map of Downtown Naperville. Saturday, Feb. 9, we stumbled around in the treacherous 17-degree weather for several long minutes, looking desperately for the big production that was supposed to be the Chocolate Walk.

Then it hit us. We were merely supposed to walk from store to store, showing them our ticket and getting a single piece of free chocolate. I was heartbroken. We had paid $30 a ticket for a couple pieces of chocolate and an ugly blue tin to collect them in. At Walmart you can purchase a three-pack of large Hershey’s chocolate bars for $5.49. That means for the price I paid for the admissions ticket I could have gotten 16 large Hershey’s chocolate bars, which would probably have been better than the awful chocolate some off the stops dared to hand out.

As we staggered on through the brutal weather, my friends and I could not help but notice the lack of attendance at the “event.” Throughout our three hours collecting miniscule chocolates we only ran into four other people participating in the Chocolate Walk. Yet despite the unsurprisingly low attendance, we found ourselves continually met with slow service.

This confirmed the thought already running through my mind. This is a waste of time and money.    

A single bright spot of the dark day was David’s Tea. When we trudged in, snow on our feet and anger in our hearts, they kindly gave us samples of their chocolate covered almond black tea. It was both warm and delicious, effortlessly combining tea and chocolate. However, that alone was not enough to compensate for the abismel Chocolate Walk. You can buy 2 ounces of this tea for $9.98 which would have been four times the amount we got for $30.

Reninued with hope, we lumbered over from David’s Tea to Anderson’s Bookshop. Once again, we were met with disaster. A mere piece of what look like plastic was handed to us after waiting and waiting for service. The only way we could have been more disappointed was if we were handed nothing at all. Actually, that might have been better.

Overall, the fourth annual Chocolate Walk was an absolute balk. From the mediocre chocolate to the abominable weather to the staggering prices, not even David’s Tea could have saved this tragedy.