In Friday’s post, I mentioned heading to Dillsboro, North Carolina for their annual luminaires. Hopefully, I got the spelling correctly this time. My good blogger pal Janie Junebug who is a stickler when it comes to grammar informed me of my wrong spelling. Thanks, my friend! 
It was a gorgeous day ~ rich blue skies and moderate temps in the low 50s; by the time the sun sunk over the horizon it turned chilly fast and there was a light breeze making the air colder.
Earlier in the day, we were in Bryson City. We bought chocolates from two shops: The Chocolate Shoppe an independently owned shop by a husband and wife team. The wife makes most of the candies and the husband with the help of his nephew to run the storefront and Madison’s on Main is a small boutique who sells Maggie Lyon truffles (a chocolatier from Atlanta). In the above photo, to the left of the church is Dillsboro Chocolates. We bought chocolates from them a few years ago and decided to buy an assortment this time.
Before the lighting of the luminaires, DH and I waited in the car sampling the three chocolates. This is how the contenders stacked against each other:
- Our least favorite were the Maggie Lyon truffles from Madison’s on Main. The biggest problems the center had little flavor and the outer shell was too brittle. I think they were stale. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt and am open to trying them the next time we’re in Atlanta if it’s convenient. They were certainly beautiful.
- Next in line is Dillsboro Chocolates. Everything tasted really fresh. The truffle centers lacked flavor, the chocolate covered cherries (both white and dark) are nothing special, and the turtles didn’t have enough caramel and were too stiff. The only thing we liked there were the dark chocolate salted caramels. They changed it slightly making the bite-size caramels a lot thinner than the first time we got them. The flavor is good, but we prefer a thicker caramel. The sea salt granules garnishing the top of the caramels are a bit too coarse. A finer grind is needed in my opinion.
- Our #1 pick is The Chocolate Shoppe. The truffle was a creamy, full-bodied raspberry flavor, the turtles sweet chewy caramel cradled pecan pieces and then nestled in smooth chocolate (milk and dark), the dark chocolate salted caramel was superb in taste and size, and the dark chocolate maple nut cream was delectable. Our least favor piece was the dark chocolate raspberry cream. The raspberry was too fragrant to suit our taste.
Disclaimer: I’m offering my 100% unbiased opinion to my readers and did not receive compensation from any of these businesses. The links provided are solely for your convenience only and I will not get a single penny if you click on them.
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Thanks for joining the fun. I hope you’ll decide to visit a few of my favorite #WW shutterbugs link ups!
This certainly isn’t us, but it has gotten down into the upper 20s a few times already and it’s not even winter yet.
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Oh, dear. I’m the one in Florida. It’s 64 degrees at 8:07 p.m. Luminaires is correct, and I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings by telling you. I make mistakes all the time, but luminaires is one of those things that bugs me because people have confused luminaires with luminaries–not the same meaning at all. Thank you for making the effort and for being so nice about it.
Love,
Janie
Janie honey, you did not hurt my feelings in the least. I like being educated this way. English or grammar was not my strongest subject in school. You corrected me in a kind-hearted way. There are some individuals who go overboard as a grammar police, but you didn’t. Plus, it takes a lot to ruffle my feelings. I try to look at the intent behind the message & give the person the benefit that they are doing so for my benefit. By the way what part of Florida do you live?
Ha – I like your “taste testing” adventure. I should do one of those over the holidays. There’s a giant box at our store that has all liqueur filled chocolates; so I might not be able to write the post when I am done. LOL
Beautiful night shot. I love how all the lights are against the background, and the church steeple/star standing out in the back. very nice. I can’t wait to go around and look at all the Christmas lights. I see a lot of homes now have those projection systems set up.
Les, we didn’t set out to have a taste testing adventure. It just worked out that way in our favor. lol I’d like to see you do the same after sampling those liqueur filled chocolates. That might actually be a funny post. We have yet to drive around town looking at the lights. I want to go downtown to see the display. It’s always nice. Tomorrow evening we may go to Gatlinburg (foothills of the Smoky Mountains) to take in the decorations. We haven’t walked around Gatlinburg for the Christmas season in a long time, so I’m excited to take in this venture. I think I foresee another chocolate taste test coming on!
I wouldn’t mind some of those chocolates!
Arlee Bird
Wrote By Rote
Taste test, huh? That’s what you’re calling it? Sure…
Dah, you aren’t buying that I see. Hmm, I’ll have to be more clever next time with my wording.