Sugar High

I have always had a huge sweet tooth and candy is my number one way to get a good sugar high.  While growing up in South Florida my favorite candy store was a place near the Ft. Lauderdale Airport called Jaxson’s.  Jaxson’s is an old-fashioned ice cream parlor with outrageous homemade sundaes and a candy store that could make a fat kid cry (and I'm sure I did once or twice).  I remember my brother and I spending all of our allowance money on War Heads, Cry Baby Tears, Now and Laters…you name it and they had it. But, the best thing about Jackson's was that everything was sold for merely pennies which meant my brother and I got a long of bang for our buck!  

 (photos courtesy of Jaxson's, www.jaxsonsicecream.com)

Even as a kid I was in search of cheap eats.

When I moved to NY I discovered Dylan’s Candy Bar and although Dylan’s also has every candy imaginable it is certainly not the place to go on a budget, if you know what I mean…

Last weekend a couple of girlfriends and I decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge for brunch and then walk back across.  Now, I don’t really enjoy exercise but I figured that the walk across the bridge and back would burn enough calories to allow myself an extra treat for the day. 
  

We stopped for brunch (at a restaurant that isn’t even worth mentioning) and after brunch we walked around to check out some of the cute little shops in DUMBO.  It was then that I discovered DEWEY’S CANDY!!!

Dewey’s is everything that I want in a candy store.  The bright colors caught my eye immediately and once I was inside I realized that they have every candy on the face of the planet.  (YES! They even have Cry Baby Tears!!!).  I chatted with Dewey, the owner, and she was so warm and friendly that she made me want to buy everything in sight, which can be quite dangerous.  After about 15 minutes of giddiness I walked up to the register with my selection of loose candy (Swedish fish, gummy bears, sour patch watermelons, jelly beans, chocolate covered pretzels, etc), a box of Cry Baby Tears, 5 pomegranate flavored Tootsie Pops (which are very rare and hard to find), a few War Heads, some Now and Laters, and a fear that my total would come to $100.
   

To my surprise everything was around $8 and I walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge with a huge smile across my face, liquorice hanging out of my mouth, and the knowledge that I was working off the candy calories while I ate them!