We spent an afternoon exploring Sharon, PA, because why not?

• Philadelphia Candies: (Technically, this is right over the Sharon “border” into the adjacent town of Hermitage, but I’m going to count it.) This is a big candy store, with everything from chocolate-covered potato chips to chocolate bars in the shape of cows or fancy truffles. I enjoyed the hazelnut truffle and pumpkin spice candy; B liked a bunch of nut-related chocolates.
• Daffin’s Candies: Because our first chocolate factory store didn’t offer white chocolate and because chocolate is excellent, we came here too. I didn’t enjoy these truffles as much, nor did I get much of a kick out of the creme-filled candies. However, the nut chocolates were good, and I already know I like Daffin’s plain chocolate bars. They also sell “Oh No!” bags of the less-than-aesthetically-perfect chocolates they produce; those are fun. They have a Chocolate Kingdom room in the back, full of giant chocolate animals like turtles. I expected it to be more than it was, but on the plus side, they give you a free sample back there.
• The Winner: “Four floors, 90,000 sq ft, of savings,” says the description of this giant department store. It claims to be the largest off-price fashion emporium in the US. I’m not sure which way they meant “off-price,” but probably not as a synonym for “low,” since they offered $1,700 fur coats. (Then again, I’ve never tried to buy a fur coat, so maybe this is super cheap?) The bottom floor featured special occasion dresses, most of which were so long that B wondered at the height of women that could wear them – even with heels. The store is on the river though, and there are some nice benches over there.
• Reyers: The sign above the door says that it’s the largest shoe store in the country, which is quite a claim. (Superlative size claims about garments seems to be a theme in this town.) The store layout didn’t seem particularly vast, so I have to believe they’re referring to the inventory. The patent leather pimp-style men’s shoes were my favorite, but somehow, I couldn’t get B to agree to try them on. Alas.
• East State Street: There were some interesting buildings and sculptures on this main drag through town. B liked posing with an Egyptian pharaoh carved out of wood, and I liked a colorful guitar store with stained glass windows.
• Buhl Park: This was a nice park that B said reminded him of some European ones. There’s a country club and free golf course inside, though the people strolling around the pond with us didn’t seem at all prissy. If it had been a smidge warmer, I would have liked it a lot more. But, lots of swans.