A Visit to the Candy Barrel

Other than the snow and the mountains, one of my favorite things about visiting Boone is getting to go to the Candy Barrel! Ever since I was a little girl this has been a memorable part of every trip. We hadn’t taken Ava since the last time we were in Boone she was only 5 months old- she wouldn’t have appreciated it. This time we were determined to take her. The child and her Daddy share a special bond over their candy- that’s probably true for just about any Daddy-Child relationship! Haha!

Step inside the Mast General Store/Candy Barrel and you are transported back into a different era. Dozens of wooden barrels line the store and are filled with every kind of candy you can think of. We told Ava to grab a basket and that is all we had to say, the girl knew exactly what to do!

There are 2 Master General Store locations (actually 3, but two of them are less than a 1/2 mile from each other…) There is one in downtown Boone, but it isn’t quite as authentic as the one in Valle Crucis. Adam was adamant that he wanted to take her to the more authentic one. The one with the larger Candy Barrel store in it is actually the Annex and the Original Mast General store is less than a 1/2 mile down the road. Adam hadn’t ever been to the original one, so we took him down there to show him around.

I should have taken a picture of the candy we bought, but I didn’t- shame on me! Ava thought she was something else being able to walk through and pick out the candy she wanted. I think she picked up mostly Smarties and a Candy Necklace and few other pieces here and there. I’m glad we don’t live close, we would spend way too much money on candy and I’m sure my waistline would suffer as well ;)

Besides candy, the mast general stores sells a little of everything, clothing, shoes, vintage toys. Adam wanted a bolo paddle…random, I know! and I bought Ava a couple of presents that she doesn’t know about (they’ve been hidden!). Grammy also bought her a coloring pad with a magic pen. She was so excited about it and couldn’t wait to get back to Grammy’s house to open it up!

I have a feeling this will become a place we must stop at every time we visit!