Sugary Bliss in Minnesota

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Our return flight to Prague dropped us right at the beginning of the school year. Meetings, curriculum planning, staff development, etc., make me want to crawl right back into summer. So sometimes I just look up from lesson objectives and administrative e-mails and shut my eyes and go to my happy place, where we'd been just a week prior...


It's literally brimming, no... stuffed, no... ERUPTING with sweets!

Yessir - this whole yellow... airplane hangar? machine shed? ...is corner-to-corner sugary goodness.

Much of it is hard-to-find nostalgia, so be prepared for a trip down memory lane. Remember Slo Pokes, Necco Wafers and Lemon Heads?

Or candy cigarettes?

(Don't even think about shoplifting; there's a warrior watching.)

The owner also travels to Europe to buy treats - like Milka, Haribo and Kinder. I also noticed European puzzles lining the ceiling; see the Czech Mucha one in the middle?

The fun isn't limited to solids; there are 155 kinds of root beer and countless more sodas, like these...

...and "Leninade." Ha!

But my favorite thing about the place is the pie counter, i.e. "Hippy's Pies." The owner's father, nicknamed Hippy, bakes and sells pies and chats up customers - like BW and his grandpa. BW's grandpa knows everyone in the whole place.

These looked tantalizing, but we went for Hippy's apple strudel.

Other offerings include a caramel corn ferris wheel,

honey with a bear that sings when you walk by,

and pickled eggs. Don't knock 'em 'til you've tried 'em.

Sure, you can try avoiding Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, but...

Get a little glee in your boring, sugar-free adult life and head there! It's along MN Hwy 169 between Jordan and Belle Plaine, MN. It's open seven days a week from July through November, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday linkup, presented by Camila, Amy, Jessi and Bonnie.

18 comments

  1. Yum! This place is a sweet tooth's mothership. Everything looks delicious... except the bacon soda haha

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  2. That is amazing! I think I might have to restrain myself if I ever went there - like I'd be creating needs for myself and spending waaaay too much money that is even appropriate to spend on candy when you're past the age of 5! (even though at 5 you don't really have money ha!)

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  3. Haha, looks intense! But also very fun!

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  4. Oh that looks so delicious! I think I have a sugar high just looking at the pictures.

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  5. I'm gonna go ahead and make this my happy place too. thanks for making room for me ;)

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  6. Going to a store of just candy is like my dream come true. I'd probably ask if I could just live there.

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  7. That candy shop looks amazing :) send me some next time ;)

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  8. Ahhh candy cigarettes. They used to be all the rage back in the day ;)

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  9. Wow, I used to love candy cigarettes. I would buy them now for the nostalgia!

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  10. This looks like the kind of place where you just have to smile when you walk in! Who couldn't be happy surrounded by insane amounts of candy?

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  11. Agreed. I'm glad I don't live close to it! My pants wouldn't fit.

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  12. Cheers, Annie :) I'm happy to share!

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  13. Wouldn't that be awesome?! A pillow of cotton candy!

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  14. Ha! I'll need to take orders for the next trip ;)

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  15. I seriously thought they were illegal. It should be noted the word "cigarettes" was nowhere on the boxes... but we all know what they are!

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  16. The Marlboro Man may have disappeared in the 90s, but he's still on the candy cigarettes box!

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  17. Good point - an instant mood-lifter. More people should visit this place :)

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  18. Oh my-I might have to get lost in there for days. I'm still on the search for the 7-up candy bar.

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