Lately there’s been three things in the top case on my Vespa — extra gloves, a Rev’It rain suit and a box of chocolates. Just a half mile down the street from my home is a new gourmet candy store named Chocolates by Leopold. No discussion is forthcoming regarding to my long and tortured addiction to chocolate but an explanation is in order regarding the significance of the the candy in the top case.
For the past eleven days I’ll been recovering from a flare up of an old back injury — one severe enough to keep me in bed for a few days, off work for a few more, and periodically cursing, gasping or wincing in pain should my movements or actions cross a difficult to see line. Riding was out of the question until I attempted a ride on Friday morning with the chocolate store in mind. The chocolates are exceptional and have become a part of my daily tea ritual. The ride has been and continues to be torture — especially getting the scooter on the centerstand.
Woe is me.
But there is chocolate.
The store is a quiet, elegant place offering a selection of chocolates that fits even the most robust imagination. As I write Kim is enjoying a chili truffle. A hot cup of Earl Grey with some dark chocolate covered graham crackers await me. If this post is short and devoid of spirit — you know why. The candy is made at their headquarters in northeast Pennsylvania.
Ali presents my current chocolate obsession. The dark chocolate is different than any I’ve had before — not bitter but not sweet — an exceptional match to the cracker inside. I can’t write much longer with some waiting in the kitchen.
The most unusual part of today’s visit was not the chocolate though but rather something Ali brought up with the question, “How far do you ride?”
Confessing the half-mile trip from home to the store I did share some of the expanded capabilities of the Vespa. And then I discovered she is a motorcycle rider herself and from the brief conversation not your typical rider at all. She rides a 1977 Honda CB550K that’s been transformed by herself, her brother and her dad into a cafe racer. She described the modifications that were done including a recent change out of the kick starter. The project bike was built up from a barely running mess that her brother found “in some dude’s garage”.
Riders are everywhere.
So if you are riding or driving through the area and crave chocolate like I do, or know someone you want to impress with your excellent taste, stop by and see what they have to offer. You can find them at:
Address: 107 W Main St, Boalsburg, PA 16827
Phone:(814) 769-9398
And now I’m on my way to put the kettle on and ready myself for afternoon tea.
If I can’t ride the Vespa at least I can enjoy chocolate.
Pretty nice looking shop! And nice to have a good reason to get out for a ride, even a short one.
Well, while it’s a nice local destination I’m looking forward to more distant rides…
It never ceases to amaze that there are so many 1970s Hondas out there. Seventies Japanese bikes were the aluminum can of the era. Use it, empty it, throw it away. They cost less to buy than to fix at shop rates. If you were a devoted rider they were the bargain of the Century. My 1979 Kawasaki, with a little fiddling and maintenance, lasted 125,000 miles before I sold it. I live on a State Road and at least once a day during the Riding Season I’ll see a different old Honda pass by in company with much newer models. You go Ali! My forthcoming bike is a 1983 Kawasaki 750. Old aluminum cans are cool.
There are still a lot of 70s Hondas for sale around here and many in good shape, or at least good enough for a project bike. Every now and again I think of having a project bike but I quickly put it out of my head…
Back in the day I bought a brand new Honda CB500 Four – a 1975 as I recall. That was one sweet ride, super smooth and a big step up from my former Harley-Davidson (Amerecchi) Sprint SS350 – a bike I wish I had never bought, and quickly forgot as I piled the miles on that Honda.
Oh that Honda. . . one more bike from my past I wish that I had kept. But it quickly faded in my rear view mirrors when I replaced it with a brand new BMW R90/6 — another bike I wish I had kept.
Oh well, live and learn.
Now I’m waiting (hoping?) for my Elio to be made, so I can ride off into the sunset in it.
I have a few things I wish I still had but nothing I couldn’t get again if I really wanted it.
You really getting an Elio?
I came very close to picking up 1980 Yamaha 450 (with a matching. complete parts bike) about a month ago, but I was reminded of the realities of putting our son through PSU (even with the tuition discount) and decided discretion is the better part of valor. Still keeping my eyes open for something of that ilk. Reusing old cans is cool!
Don’t you hate reality. Would be cool to live in a dream world….
If you need a little longer of a ride I can suggest a visit to these ladies in Santa Barbara. http://www.chocolatemaya.com
Looks like a place I’ll have to visit should I ever make it to California again.
This sounds delightful, and a true coping tonic. Can’t do withoug a fresh pot of Earl Grey most mornings myself.
And, among other things, your newfound chocolate connection makes that topbox all the more valuable – they wouldn’t last too long in the pet carrier. 😉
BWB
Only once have I made the terrible mistake of putting chocolate in the pet carrier. What a sad, sad day…
Brothers from different mothers….unrepentent chocoholics, love of scooter riding and chronic back problems. Our DNA must cross somewhere between here and Ethiopia.
Tom
I bet if a little research was done we would find there are far more of us out there, at least in terms of chocolate and back problems. The scooter riding is the part that moves us into an elite group!
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth anymore, probably from the regular sugar overdoses I had growing up in my parents’ supermarket. Condensed milk sandwiches, raw sugar cane slices, and sugar pastries.
Did you calculate how many boxes of chocolate would fit in a URAL’s sidecar?
I think what the tub on the URAL would be really good for is making fudge or salt water taffy. Park it over an open fire and go to work!
Enquire as to from where they “source” their chocloate. Not the wholesaler, rather the country of origin ie France, Germany, Netherlands etc.
Having had friends in the bakery/chocolate trade have found France has perhaps the nicest bulk chocoloate, supplied in slabs for lack of a better term.
The slabs are usually one inch thick by maybe 12 to 18 inches square.
Basically in this form the chocolate can be scraped off to fall into a hopper on very low heat, Sometimes the chocolate can be also scraped in very thin pieces to cover say the top of a cake, which has been previously iced in chocolate or white chocolate.
These slabs are either dark chocolate w/o sweetener and light chocolate with and without sweetener.
Chocolate as supplied from the wholesaler is often quite bitter, probably as bitter as sucking on a lemon or similar.
Chocolate as a food substance has many variances; often “we” the purchaser never see the process and work which goes into producing the items prepared forretail sale.
Perhaps when you’ve recovered from your ordeal Steve, request a quick tour, behind the scenes so to speak. You’d be amazed at what goes into preparing the product.
Now what you should do is take some form of ice cream produced at The Penn State Creamery and introduce it to thick chocolate syrup, warm, and fresh from the kettle.
Mmm good!
Your cardiologist will have a fit; however just once in a while indulge yourself and Kim.
You’ve earned it, just do it. Oh, and take photographs of the “happening” and let us all observe the ritual.
The shop may have molds which may be filled with warm chocolate, allowed to cool and filled again many times. I believe there is a commercial mold, in fact many different molds
of motorcycels and scooters. Ditto vehicles, animals etc. The depth of the chocolate in the object is dependent how many times the mold is filled with liquid chocolate and then allowed to drain out, and partially dry, then repeat as many times as needed to fill the cavity inside the mold. Yes, have worked in the hsop at Christmas, and easter, doing choloate related chores; after a while you become mexmerized by the smells and flavours drifting inthe air. Strangely, after my shift is finished I don’t want to even contemplate a taste of chocolate.
Biting into such an object can be most delightful. One alternative is to alternate the types of cholate used in the mold, dark on the outside then perhaps white or maybe milk chocolate. It can be most interesting.
Sadly my friends sold their shop two years ago. Their property was far too valuable to to house a chocolate and pastry shop. These days the location is a very deep excavation, the start of yet a multiple story condo tower.
They have both semi-retired, having made their money. Sadly no other outlet locally has the quality of their chocolate though there are other similar shops ’round.
It is similar to locating and keeping a good mechanic for your wheels; good reliable honest mechanics are not common; best keep those you know. And remember them at Christmas, not with a bottle, rather something manufactured from chocolate.
Trust your anatomy is healing; getting old is not for sissies!
In order to not have my cardiologist worry, especially if he happens to be reading these posts, I keep my candy consumption to a minimum. As much as I would like to binge and have unfettered consumption of chocolate my experience and body is suggesting otherwise. As you say, getting old is not for sissies.
My back is almost healed and I will probably start riding again this weekend. This latest injury is another reminder of aging and the change in rebound time from things. Chocolate was a diversion from reality.
I will inquire about the source of the chocolate next time I’m in. Not sure how closely the store is connected to the manufacturing facility a few hours away. And regardless of where the original source is — it does taste great!
I’ll take your advice about the local Vespa mechanic and chocolate! Especially as the scooter gets older. Who knows what it will need…