To The Candy Shop

Ah, Savannah. We had a lovely vacation, and I sit here typing a pound and a half heavier from mass amounts of seafood and candy. At least I'm two shades darker from our afternoon at the beach on Tybee Island. I'm nursing a hurt foot from jamming it into a two inch ceramic step leading up to our hotel bathroom. There was no sign indicating a step up and I was barefoot and it hurt SO badly. I spent most of the long weekend limping around.

It was a blast...no really...a wonderful time. My favorite vacation ever.

And my favorite thing to eat...candy! There was the best candy shop in the entire universe at the end of River Street called The Savannah Candy Kitchen. Check out their web site (although you'll gain a pound just by looking) at http://www.savannahcandy.com. It is the shop straight out of the first "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" where all the kids go to get candy at the beginning. You walk in and the smell is intoxicating. In the first section, there are handmade waffle cones and tons of gelato. Then, in the middle room is a small taffy factory. I'm not a big taffy fan, but the tangerine taffy was delicious. There were tins lining the walls and you could buy one for about $11 and fill it with all the taffy or barrel candy you could fit. What barrel candy, you ask? Well, in the last room, there were tons of barrels filled with everything you could imagine...Hershey's Kisses, Starbursts, giant Lemon Heads, Jolly Ranchers, Blow Pops, etc. etc. There were kids filling up these tins, happy as could be.

Well, one girl had a complaint. There were two siblings filling up their tins, and the older couldn't get her tin to close.

"Well, I've got more candy than you do," said the younger girl. "You just don't know how to organize," she continued, trying to sound very grown-up.

When did candy get so complicated?

Anyway, I even had my first Pop Rocks experience here. I know, I know...how could a child of the 80's have never had Pop Rocks? I was more of a Chiclets girl.

Anyway, in the third room is where I thought I was in absolute heaven. Pralines, homemade cookies, fudge, chocolate bark, s'mores, homemade peanut butter cups...OMG...I was almost on the floor from the scent alone. We went there at least once a day just to look at the store in all its splendor. The best thing I ate was the peanut butter cup...a layer of sweet peanut butter in between layers of chocolate...I swear that's where I gained the pound and a half. I felt horribly guilty while I ate it, and yet euphoric all at the same time. It was wonderful.

Bert and I walked through the store, feeling like kids. It looked like a rainbow in there...delectable treats of every variety...the smell of freshly made desserts...oh, it was wonderful.

We left the candy shop and walked down River Street. We were feeling like kids with our candy until we saw actual kids of today. Paris Hilton-length short skirts adorned most 12 years olds. Tiny tank tops and too much make-up abounded. They were stuck to their cell phones like they were their life source.

This brings me to a story that makes me question cell phone usage among children.

There were two sisters out at the hotel pool, the eldest being about 10 and the youngest about 7. Apparently, the family brought one cell phone on the trip that the girls had to share. There was another girl in the room, and the 10-year old was really ticked off at her.

Age 10 girl said, "It's my turn to use the damn phone."
Age 7 girl nodded her head in agreement.
Age 10 girl said (with lots of attitude, complete with head moving from side the side), "I'm not putting my life on hold for her bullsh*t."

WHAT?

I am glad for the fun that we had, as well as for our childhoods. Candy was a treat and family vacations required we speak to one another. There were no cell phones to make it easy for us to ignore our parents and siblings. Cursing would've gotten me in big trouble. We wore t-shirts and shorts when we were kids, not trying to impress anyone.

I can't wait 'til my next visit to the candy shop. It takes me back to a time...a fairy tale of what we all wished our childhoods were like. Most of us didn't grow up with giant candy shops in our hometowns. But for some reason, I can still clearly remember my mom buying me orange Tic Tacs and Chiclets at Wal-Mart. And that was magical enough for me.