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| - Ok, while $40 for less than 20 pieces of chocolate is a bit steep (and all the other things we bought were similarly priced), it was so very nice to be able to go to ONE place and get truly local NC gifts for everyone on our list.
One of the things that made our shopping difficult is that we had some "group gifts" we needed to procure for teams of people. That means we couldn't just get a cute shirt, silly mug, or artsy food map. And no sports paraphernalia. We had to get group-edible food. This place was perfect for that. We bought three large boxes of the ridiculously painted chocolates mentioned above, popcorn from Ashville, toffee from something-Hill, beef jerky in multiple flavors also from somewhere in the state, and peanut butter chocolate fudge (which I really wanted to keep for myself but couldn't since it was the last one in that flavor...).
I really felt good about the purchases because they were all clearly labeled as being totally made here, NC-centric. So it wasn't a cop out (which, shopping at literally the 11th hour, I was getting pretty nervous it would have to end up being). And it was a great diversity for such a tiny little place. It was packed to the gills with different options, flavors, and crafts. If we hadn't wanted to avoid having to check a bag on the plane, there were some pretty cool honey, jam, and sauce jars as well.
It was well over $100 (the chocolates alone hit that...), but worth it for a one-and-done deal. This is absolutely going to be my go-to place for omiyage (like souvenirs but better because it's Asian-style).
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