01. Jun, 2010
P.P. Cobb General Store
Sour cream and onion flavored crickets. Soda that comes with a warning that you’ll poop blue after drinking it. Stacks and stacks of exotic beers and ciders floor to ceiling. And all of it jam-packed into a historic wrapper, a general store in downtown Fort Pierce. It’s weird, wild, wonderful and whimsically unexpected. Don’t miss it! They serve deli and bakery items, but you’ll have a hard time finding it behind all the beer and candy. Good luck! Open Mon-Sat 8:30-6:00 @ 100 Avenue A, Fort Pierce.
With family ties to the Greek Isles over the past several decades, I’ve always been drawn to Tarpon Springs as a source of gifts for those I hold dear. It’s the one place I know I can find authentic imports from Greece, be it the latest pop CD from Anna Vizzi or a new alphabet primer for the little ones. I was delighted, of course, to stop in at Gift World and find exactly what I was looking for … worry beads for my brother, and a nice set of flash cards for a niece who’s just young enough to pick up Greek as a second language. Peek in the back room, of course, for the cool Greek imports, which include a variety of books, primers, CDs, Disney movies in Greek, and Greek language toys.
Hernando’s got a rim of chocolate around its mouth, and it’s all Denny Lynn’s fault. This candy factory has been a fixture at the junction of SR 200 and US 41 as long as I can remember. When they moved from the strip mall to their own little building under the oaks, things just got better and better. Now, with room to move, they’re moving out creative candy like never before. I was barely off a fudge mix direct from Mackinac Island when I stopped here with my friend Phyllis to savor the possibilities, among them seafoam – a crunchy chocolate-dipped candy – and yummy maple walnut fudge. They offer so many creations, you just can’t go wrong!
It’s not often I’m up in the upper tier of the state, pressed against the Georgia border, but a recent visit to Charleston, SC set up the conditions for us to meander through Macclenny and a few other backroads communities. Along US 90 and the railroad tracks, this is a quiet Florida town, the county seat of Baker County, with a small historic district, a genealogical library, and a historic courthouse that now serves as an education center: the public library.