On this Valentine’s Day, one of my blog inspiration books, Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From A Little Golden Book, says it so well, “love lives in our memories of simple, happy times.” When I found Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop in the Pittsburgh's Strip District, the candies of my childhood brought back some memories of those simple happy times.
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| Grandpa Joe's -Strip District, Pgh |
Reflection
In Day 87, I enjoyed Chicago like a child when I found Dylan's Candy Bar but I did not know that Pittsburgh had one!There is nothing like being a kid (now an older, bigger kid) in a candy store. This place had floor to
ceiling candy! I found the penny candy that I enjoyed during my childhood weekly Saturday matinee movies. I remember how at eight years of age, we were
just dropped off for the day at the theater. We would go to the candy store next to it
and get “sugared up,” filling our brown paper bag with our favorites for ten cents.
I also had a flashback to my weekly
grandparent Sunday visits when I found the candy that frequented the bowl on their coffee table!
I have to admit that I was excited when I found my
childhood loves (now called vintage candy): flying saucers that we pretended were communion wafers with jimmies inside;
wax bottles with super sugar flavored juice; candy dots that lined a white
strip of paper and more. Everyone has their
favorite candy but I think it's not really the candy but the memory attached to it that makes it so enjoyable.
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| Flying saucers |
If you’re not as sappy as me and just have a sweet tooth, this place has every kind of sweet that you can imagine. It also has
homemade fudge, root beer from the tap and boast of over 300 types of
bottled soda (that’s called pop to us natives from Pittsburgh). I left Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop with my penny
candy bag (now costing much more than a penny) filled. Latter, I enjoyed my flying saucers and remembered my Saturday matinee adventures with my childhood gang.
Get some "vintage candy" from your childhood and Have a Happy Valentine’s Day filled with the love of that
special memory of a simple, happy time, whatever it might be.
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| My son --love this memory |
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