Sweet Success

 

I decided to go out after I finished "Doubleheader" tonight.

Oh, it was nothing fancy. I decided to walk around Marshalls in Port Chester, NY, and grab a frozen pizza at the adjacent Stop & Shop.

As excitement goes, it doesn't get much better.

But, overall, it's a fairly peaceful walk around. With the weather changing, I'm assessing what I have for fall, especially given I have a trip to San Francisco coming up later in the month.

No, I'm not packed yet, but I do think about such things.

But Marshalls has a decent cross-section of stuff, even for me. I thought, for one thing, I'd look for comfortable pants to travel in, especially if I don't have to deal with a belt for TSA purposes.

The same goes for shoes and I nosed around that stuff also.

Alas, my purchases were small and inconsequential.

To be honest, the worst thing about it is the aisles are small, thus crowded if multiple people are there. Oh, and the line to check out is often long.

But, I was out the door with ease and saw ideas in case I decided to go back.

Then it was across the street to grab a frozen pizza.

Stop & Shop was our grocery store of choice back in Mahopac but we're Wegmans boys in Greenwich. Or we've started using the ShopRite in Stamford. We do, however, have a small Stop & Shop and a small Acme that we can walk to.

But the Stop & Shop in Port Chester is a little bigger. Thus, a bigger selection. I grabbed an old favorite of ours -- the store-brand buffalo chicken pizza -- and carried on.

For some reason, the candy aisle called my name.

And there, on a hook, sat packages of an old friend.

Root Beet barrels.

Vin Scully kept Jolly Ranchers handy during broadcasts as a way to keep his mouth lubricated and I love root beer barrels.

My father got me hooked on Life Savers cryst-o-mint hard candies when I was little because he always had them in his car. But good luck finding those anywhere.

But root beer barrels also take me back to being a kid. It always felt like candy to be found in places where "classic" candy is sold.

For some reason, it immediately reminds me of The Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown where I feel like they were available in the shop there.

I became so known for them at HAN that AJ would buy me a bag as a birthday/gag gift. Or maybe it was just a pick-me-up gift when times weren't so great.

But then they disappeared from Stop & Shop and I hadn't seen them for several years.

However, perhaps Stop & Shop found a new candy provider, and the root beer barrels are back!

And, yes, I bought two packs.

With two games tomorrow, I'll either be needing them or honey lemon throat drops.

Greenwich and Danbury start the day at 3 p.m. Dan and I will have the pregame show at 2:50. You can listen on WGCH (1490), wgch.com, and robcasting.mixlr.com. We'll carry you for the game though it's possible Dan might finish up on play-by-play depending on how the Homecoming broadcast goes.

I'll need to run out and head across town to Cosby Field for a 6 p.m. kickoff between Brunswick and Avon Old Farms. Watch that game on LocalLive or listen on Robcasting.

Then I'll get home and watch what I can of the Yankees as the wild times begin.