Fake Trader Joe's, Mt. Pleasant, SC Trader Joe's, and Salty Honey Toffee Milk Chocolate Covered Crackers

Guys, WE WERE PUNKED!

We are on vacation.  Of course, that means VISITING NEW (to us) TRADER JOE'S stores, so I searched on my phone to see where the local Trader Joe’s are near Charleston, SC and 2 came up – one in Charleston proper and one near Mt. Pleasant.  We were in Charleston at the time, so I put the address of that one in the GPS and off we went.

Only, it was a FAKER JOE’S!!!!

Trader Joe's my a** - this is a THRIFT SHOP!

Look!  It was a junky old thrift store!!   And it is so  junky that even as a thrift store it gets some lousy reviews on Yelp!  (Note:  I love thrift stores.  But this one looked particularly sketchy, plus it punked me…)  Doesn’t the font even look like the real TJ’s font???  I think they are walking on thin ice here…  If anyone from Trader Joe’s corporate reads this – check these people out, man!  They are trading on your good name!

Look - they even sell used furniture for college.  (Why do the last THREE items have "and"s before them?
Did they just keep thinking of more amazing products they sell and write them on the truck?

The AirBnb we are staying at is in Mt. Pleasant, so off we went toward that Trader Joe’s address (with me taking a bit more care this time to make sure it was an honest to goodness TJ’s and not another fakey fakerton!).  Found it- REAL STORE.  I think it was our 29th TJ's visited in the 14th state, and it was very nice!!

Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina Trader Joe's!!

First off – look what they have for pooches!

Awwww - isn't that sweet??  A DOGGY DOCK!

I am not a dog person, but even I think it is awesome that they treat their 4 legged friends so nicely!

Secondly, the employees were great!!  They were so friendly and helpful!  The sample area is adorable – it is set up like a light house and very welcoming.  And the employees working the floor were so sweet!!  They helped me hunt for local South Carolina stuff (scored some local brew 😊 ).  And one of them even gave me a Trader Joe’s reusable shopping bag!  Isn’t that so sweet??  (ATTENTION TRADER JOE’S CORPORATE, IT IS ME AGAIN WITH A MESSAGE FOR YOU:  SOUTH CAROLINA NEEDS STATE SPECIFIC BAGS, MAN!  If the other states can have ‘em, good old South Carolina needs them, too!  They are getting ripped off by having to sell the generic bags.  Pony up!  They are totally worth it.)

Even the bathrooms in Mt. Pleasant are awesome!!!!
Gender neutral - if you are a mermaid or a fisherdude, here is where you pee!

I really liked the layout, lighting, cleanliness, and artwork at this location.  Here is my favorite sign:

GREAT SIGN!!!  Whoever paints the signs in Mt. Pleasant deserves a raise

Isn’t it great?? 

I love this sign.  And not just because I am a mermaid and sea shell fan.  It has great info!!  Look - they will open
 anything for you and let you taste it (except alcohol).  And NO QUESTIONS ASKED for returns.  Trader Joe's rocks.

I liked everything about this store.  As we were leaving we saw this sign:

Mt. Pleasant shoppers - find TJ the Turtle!

Their mascot at this location is TJ the Turtle.  I wish we had been hunting for him while we were there!  I didn’t think of it til we saw this sign.  If we pop in again we will see if we can find TJ.

OK, now onto a review!  ,Let’s talk about Salty Honey Toffee Milk Chocolate Covered Crackers.  (We did not get these at the Mt. Pleasant, SC store, these were from our “home store” in Virginia.)

The box says CRACKERS - but are they really CRACKERS?

David’s take on this one:  “These are very nice.  There are all different kinds of sweet and chocolate-y and toffee-ish – the chocolate is very good which is nice.  The big surprise is that in the middle, where you would expect a shortbread cookie or something, it turns out to be something like a SALTINE CRACKER!  It is a little bit more substantial, but a cracker none the less.  And you think, “Well that doesn’t belong in here!!” but then, after you chew it awhile, you go, “You know what??  It is good that it is bringing a different kind of flavor to the experience!”  particularly it is bringing a blank palette – against which the chocolate and the toffee can play – and it brings the SALT, the grains of salt, which makes it so nice and tasty.  I would have to subtract .25 points though, because it doesn’t ADD cookie-ness to it, it just provides a blank canvas against the rest of the cookie can play.  I am gonna give this a 4.75.”

"I wonder what these are like!!  They have CHOCOLATE, I bet I will like them!"

This photo was the SECOND time we got them - he looks happy to be getting them again .

My take:  I also was surprised by the cracker.  Sure, the box says CRACKER, but I thought, “Certainly that can’t mean an honest to goodness cracker….”  I was certainly wrong on that.   I think this whole thing would be better if it were not so THICK.  It is just too HARD.  It is difficult to bite through it or to break it – it is super hard.  I think if they made it half as thick it would be twice as good. 

Aren't they pretty?  (This is on a tiny plate.)

The package says there is a hint of coffee but neither of us could pick up on that.  This product is quite MESSY.  I broke mine in half and then ate them and little bits flew everywhere. 

I do not dislike these, but I wouldn’t say they are amazing or anything.  The box says serving size is 2 crackers – I ate 1.5 and that was plenty for me.  I would give these a 3.5.

Price: $3.99

Rating: 4.25

Day 362 - Gluhwein (and in store artists!)

Ahhh, gluhwein...

This gluhwein is the only product that I remember reviewing this year that I wanted to get and use not to just see what it tastes like, but for the experience.  I packed this bottle of mulled wine and brought it to Florida with us knowing that I wanted to sneak away to the beach and drink it with my love by candlelight.

NOT planned was the fact that when we finally decided to drink said gluhwein, there would be a bit too much wind at the beach and the candles would not stay lit…  J  However, the moon was most cooperative and shone brightly to light up the night even sans candles.

(Note - I captioned that video via YouTube, but I think it automatically made the captions BLACK and I cannot figure out how to change them...  Given the setting the video was shot in, perhaps black lettering was not the best choice...)

I liked the gluhwein from Trader Joe's but fully admit my bias:  sitting in the dark night by the ocean with my love, I think I could enjoy drinking mulled anything really. 

This is the perfect setting for drinking anything really

But as far as this gluhwein from Trader Joe’s goes, I liked it.  It reminded me of being at Christmas Markets in Germany and drinking gluhwein out of blue ceramic mugs.  This particular bottle was spicy and tasty.  It is a good holiday drink. 

My opinion is that every family should buy one bottle of this gluhwein to heat up and drink around the holidays.  It is a nice way to celebrate the season.  I give this Trader Joe’s bottle a 4.5. 

David says, “I think this gluhwein is nice.  Really, it is designed to be drunk in a cold temperature, like Susan said.  Like in a cold German Christmas Market where you have been walking around all day.  You have stayed out longer than you should – your hands and feet are cold – but you are having such a good time.  Then you come upon a stand selling HOT GLUHWEIN and the warmth and the spices (and alcohol/wine) all make it fabulous.

As I drank this Trader Joe’s gluhwein, we were in a lovvvvely location, but even though it was close to midnight it was pretty darn warm out, probably around 78 degrees…  So it was a nice experience, but a bit warm for this particular drink.

Technically the spices in the gluhwein were very nice. The flavor was good but not quite as full and rich are you might like.  It had kind of a slight hint of ALCOHOL in the kind of HOSPITAL sense.  Tangy, rather than rich, full bodied wine.  It might be better if they used a more rich wine, but, ya know…  the point is the spices and the warmth and it certainly delivers on that account.  I would give this a 4.25.”

Let’s take a peek at PRICING of gluhwein, too.  Though this Trader Joe’s version is cheaper than if you picked a bottle up at, say, World Market, I found the SAME BOTTLE for EVEN LESS at Aldi (remember Aldi – I talked about it here).  Finding it at TJ’s and Aldi was hit or miss for both stores – as you know Aldi only carries things a limited time and we learned that some TJ’s locations never got gluhwein (even though they sold wine).  So if you want some you may need to shop around a bit to find it.

Pricing at Trader Joe's

Pricing at Aldi - a buck cheaper

The bottle at Aldi's was a bit different,
but I think it is basically the same wine, don't you?

Done with the review, but here is a bit more news.  Remember when I told you that we recently checked out a new (for us) Trader Joe’s in Jacksonville Beach, FL?  Well, I had the great good fortune there to actually MEET 2 of their sign artists - Ryan Paule and Brook Page!!! 

  

LOOK - I got to meet and talk to two real live sign artists!!!

I have explained this earlier in the blog, but let me recap it here for those who didn’t see it:  each TJ’s location has their own in-store artists who make allllll the signage – the beautiful artwork you probably see when you enter, then pieces all around the high up areas of the store, and even the PRICING signs.  All of it is done in-house!  I love TJ’s signage, and I think it is one aspect of the stores that really make each one unique.  I have really enjoyed looking at all of the artwork as we travelled around and visited different stores, but I had never MET any of the sign makers.  Until last week, that is!  J

Look at this awesome sign above their sampling station!!  Each TJ's has a different name for this area.
 I think this one is adorable, don't you?

So Ryan and Brook are two of the people who make the amazing signs in the Jacksonville Beach, Florida store.  Aren’t the signs great??  We even got to meet a 3^rd sign maker when we checked out – he was giving us some of the ins and outs of making signs (for example – I had never thought about how tough it would be to fit more than ONE product on a sign for an end cap…).  He had recently made a bunch of signs for the wine department.  He explained that the store is moving towards the plain white and black pricing signs – I for one would vote against that, they look too much like other boring stores to me.  I prefer the more creative ones!  J   (I cannot remember the name of the sweet artist at the check out, but our receipt says "B. Greg" - shout out to you!)

This is a pretty sign right at the entrance to the Jacksonville Beach store.
We learned that it was made by an artist who came to this location to help open it up.  

I would think drawing and writing those signs would be a full-time job – there are soooo many signs in each store!  But the sign makers explained that they don’t “only” do the artwork, they are out on the floor, too.  Cool, eh??  It was an honor to meet them and hear about their work.

This Jacksonville Beach sign made us giggle!  Yikes - they are EVERYWHERE!!!  :)

Be sure to check out the signs in your local Trader Joe’s the next time you stop in.  And take time to compliment the artists if you can!  They sure deserve it. 

And now a general life note:  be sure to take time to do whatever brings YOU peace and relaxation:  sitting on a beach, reading a book, running a marathon, taking a nap…  Whatever it is that is special to you – do it!  Yes, it sometimes seems impossible to “make time” for what you want to do – work is busy, the house is a mess, maybe you have kids that need driven somewhere.  But if you do not take care of YOU, you are no good to the rest of the world.  J  So every once in a while at least – leave the house dirty, ask a neighbor to chauffeur a kid, and actually clock out of work at 5 PM.   Make time to do what is special to you.  I for one am glad that, after over ten days of putting off heating up the gluhwein and walking to the beach at night in lieu of sitting on the couch and watching television, I finally decided to bust out the mulled wine last night.

Make time.  Cuz you are worth it.

And just like that, the gluhwein review in the books.  J

Price – $5.99

Rating – 4.25

Day 327 - Benefactor Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (2014)

David and I ENJOY grocery shopping.  I know that many people dislike it.  I don’t really “get” that because from my vantage point it is fun!  David and I like it so much that we went grocery shopping on our very first date some 27 years ago!  (Note:  we did NOT shop at a Trader Joe’s on that first date, we went to a Wegman’s in Rochester, NY J ).

Anyway, one fun thing about grocery shopping is that sometimes the store becomes a disco!  Here you see David cutting loose on the “dance floor” at Trader Joe’s (that’s one benefit of having most of the carts out of the cart coral – it becomes a dance floor!).  

I guess the moral of this "we love grocery shopping" story is this:  life is what you make of it.  ENJOY yourself.

  

Go David!  Bust a move!!!  (Clarendon, VA store)

Ok, we haven’t had a wine review since Friday, so let’s fix that!  :)

This is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Southeastern Austrialia.  Well, I mean, WE didn’t go to Southeastern Australia to buy it, but that is where it originated…  Boy I WISH we could go to Australia to pick up a bottle of wine!!  This was our first time tasting this one and I really like it!

This wine is good!  It is fruity.  It is complex without being headache inducingly complex (like the SAT test).  We are reviewing this without looking at the price tag, and David is guessing it is a $9 or $10 bottle of wine.  If it is less than that it is a good bargain!

Isn't this artwork GREAT??

Here's a more "regular" price sign

The label states that this wine is a “celebration of reciprocity”.  Well that sounds pretty high fallutin’. 

David says, “It is rich, full bodied, but not too oaky.  It still has a bit of lightness to it.”

This is a good bottle to keep in the wine rack for just an “after work glass of wine”. And hey, we allowed ourselves sto look at the price tag now - it's only FIVE BUCKS!  That's half of what David anticipated.  It's a good one folks, get a bottle.

Price - $4.99

Rating – 4