I have a confession to make. I have occasionally been driving all the way out to Cracker Barrel in Troutville to feed a nostalgic but mildly addictive desire to possess and consume boxes of Double Bubble gum wrapped in comics, Maple Sugar candy and ZOTZ. I easily breeze past the boxes of sugar coated fruit slices, Teaberry Gum and candy sticks in 50 flavors. I just want ZOTZ – hard candies with fizzy powder inside that is soooo sour and soooo good!
I have no interest in the silly T-shirts, sale displays of the month, birdhouses, candles, soap and lotions, tic-tac-toe on a cloth game board, and the hundreds of other whimsical, colorful Cracker Barrel fare designed to hook patrons of all ages into lining up at the cash register. I don’t care to take time to relax in the many inviting trademark rocking chairs out front or to eat a big plate of breakfast food at midday. Save all that for a REAL road trip. I am going to get my brown bag full of ZOTZ!!
As much as I love crunching on Zotz candies, I am wondering if there is another motive for the clandestine trips to Cracker Barrel — the nostalgia runs deep. As 12 – 14 yr. olds, my best friend Margitt and I used to trick the younger sibs and their friends concerning our constant stash of awesome candy. We always had whatever we wanted even though our parents rarely took us out just to get candy. We told the kids we had a “secret supplier.” Back in those days, that was still an innocent concept … today if one of my offspring said that, they’d be on lockdown for a very long duration.
Of course there was no supplier; just us gals hopping on 70s bikes, (mine a purple Schwinn), taking shortcuts and riding into the center of town (McLean VA) a few miles away. We were not allowed to go there so we had to come up with another story for the neighborhood tykes — hence the
secret supplier.
Our trips became routine adventures, zig-zagging through neighborhoods previously seen only through school bus and car windows, neighborhoods we now “owned.” We got to see so much more – where some of our school friends lived that we hadn’t realized until we saw them outside – who had a dog, and then there was the great joy of being free in a much bigger world even though we were just a short hop from home.
Once the journey neared its end … it was time to get down to business. The final destination: the town’s 7-11 of course. I can still see the “wall” of candy staring back at me the first time we went. With wads of money collected from the kids, and a list of our own, we had work to do. Oh, to have just one foot long stick of “Hawaiian” flavored Big Buddy gum once again. That stuff is pineappley-heavenly!
I’m not positive that 7-11 even had ZOTZ back then but they remain lodged in long-ago candy-laden memories.
So imagine my horror when I walked into Fresh Market (only an 8 minute drive) the other day, sunglasses fashionably perched atop my head, acting appropriately genteel, carefully pouring my Dixie cup sized sample of gourmet coffee, and cruising around the corner – only to run smack into a HUGE display of candy which included ZOTZ! This wasn’t your ordinary cherry, watermelon or apple flavor choices like at Cracker Barrel – there are also lemon, orange and grape flavored ZOTZ at Fresh Market!
I was a bit paralyzed at the overwhelming supply staring back at me so I did what had to be done – I grabbed handfuls of the flavors I hadn’t had in years and bought them, and ATE them all! They were very tasty and I enjoyed them (except for the bloat and stomach ache that came later from being full of fizzy powder), but somehow, they seemed . . . well, ordinary. The excitement was gone. I HATE when that empty feeling takes over – especially when there doesn’t seem to be a reason for it.
But of course I knew – there had been no “journey” — no special going out of my way to get the goodies. A grown up like me can rationalize around this fairly easily but it probably won’t help in this case. So next time I share my prized supply of Zotz, it is highly probable I got them from somewhere … well, hopefully from somewhere … far away.
Author’s Note: The Zotz company of course has a website: www.zotzpower.com. For a local dentist, consult your yellow pages!
By Cheryl Hodges [email protected]