Three guesses as to where I just went! That’s right, it’s The Lititz Chocolate Walk. It’s a walk for charity AND you get chocolate. This was the 12th year for the Lititz Chocolate Walk, held in the beautiful town of Lititz, PA, and the proceeds from the Chocolate Walk are distributed to local organizations that assist children. The first thing was at the train station to pick up tickets and a button. 
Once we (my friend Chris was with me) had our tickets and button, we headed to our first stop.
- Stop #1 — Wilbur Chocolate Company
- Treat #1 — Wilbur Buds and a raspberry chocolate creation (Note: many places had several options, I am putting in the ones that I chose as there were too many to remember for all of the places).
Wilbur Chocolate Company! If you have never heard of the Wilbur Chocolate company, that’s ok, but did you know that Wilbur made the Wilbur Bud, before Hershey made the Hershey Kiss? At our first stop we got a cup with a couple of Wilbur Buds and a piece of a chocolate raspberry bar. 
Quite tasty! Then we were able to tour the Wilbur Chocolate Store and Museum.
The Artists at the Wilbur Chocolate Company
A little taste of the craftsmanship
While there we also met Kathy Blankenbiller, who regardless of saying she is not a professional chocolatier, created an absolutely gorgeous, not to mention edible, scene containing 13 nursery rhymes. The pictures don’t do it justice, but here are a few – from what I hear the scene will be part of the Christmas display at Wilbur Chocolate. If you have a chance to see it, I definitely recommend it.
A fun addition – can you see what Humpty Dumpty has next to him? It’s Super Glue!
Even the note on the Nursery Rhymes book is edible!
The Old Woman in the Shoe knows what to do now – she has a satellite dish on the side of her shoe!
- Stop #2 — Pork and Wally’s
- Treat #2 — Chili (guess what the secret ingredient is)
Who would have guessed chocolate is good in chili?
- Stop #3 — Lititz House Bed and Breakfast
- Treat #3 — a Chocolate Treat from Spence Candies
- Stop #4 — Encounter
- Treat #4 — from Evans Candy
- Stop #5 — Greco’s Italian Ices and Homemade Ice Cream
- Treat #5 — A sample of Italian Ice or Homemade Ice Cream – the options range from Chocolate Italian Ice, chocolate marshmallow ice cream, chocolate peanut butter ice cream and their newest ice cream flavor “Taste of Lititz”.
- Stop #6 — Freeze and Frizz
- Treat #6 — a mini-Lititz Chocolate Sundae, featuring Sturgis pretzels and a Wilbur Bud, drizzled with amazing hot fudge and topped with whipped cream.
- Stop #7 — Tomato Pie Cafe
- Treat #7 — Chocolate coconut macaroon from the Bakery at the Cupboard
At this point, my friend Chris and I took a short break and looked at the map and decided to cross Main Street and head up past Juniper Lane to reach #31 – from here we worked our way backwards.
My friend Chris
- Stop #31 — Dosie Dough
- Treat #31 — Scrumptious triple chocolate brownie – a bar with a brownie bottom, a chocolate chip center and chocolate fudge topping.
- Stop #30 — Olio Olive Oils & Balsamics
- Treat #30 — Bittersweet Chocolate Orange Balsamic on a strawberry
While at Olio’s I was able to try quite a few olive oils and basalmics, they have a wonderful “try before you buy” setup which was awesome. If I hadn’t known that I had a lot more walking to do I would have purchased several different kinds. As it is, I have plans to go back or order online – go online and you too can get Bittersweet Chocolate Orange Balsamic.
- Stop #29 — General Sutter Inn and Bulls Head Public House
- Treat #29 — Chocolate Stout Truffles (a chocolate walk first!)
- Stop #28 — Think Silk / Zum Anker Alley Shoppes
- Treat #28 — A wonderfully tasting and adorable Chocolate mouse from Portage Florals
- Stop #27 — Main Street Peddler
- Treat #27 — A dark chocolate treat from Lily’s Sweets
- Stop #26 — Waltz Vineyards Estate Winery
- Treat #26 — from Miesse Candies
- Stop #25 — Cafe Chocolate
- Treat #25 — Dark Chocolate brownie bite featuring dark chocolate chunks, drizzled in dark chocolate
Almost 1/2 way – my feet are happy – my taste buds are sad.
- Stop #24 — The Moravian House Antiques
- Treat #24 — from Anstine’s Homemade Candy
One thing was a bit confusing about the Moravian House Antiques though. While they claim to be pet friendly – there was a sign restricting one type of animal . . .
See – claims to be “pet friendly”
But apparently has something against Puffins – I wonder if they allow Penguins?
Of course, I am kidding about that. I think it is nice and saw signs at several of the local businesses in Lititz that allow animals.
- Stop #23 — Lititz Moravian Church Fellowship Hall
- Treat #23 — An amazing demonstration by Chef Frederic Loraschi who was creating a Chocolate Show Piece
- Stop #22 — Linden Hall School for Girls
- Treat #22 — Cupcake from Lancaster Cupcake – Lancaster Cupcake was a finalist on “Cupcake Wars” and has the only Cupcake Truck in town making stops around Lancaster County. How cool is that?
- Stop #21 — Pots by de Perrot Studio and Gallery
- Treat #21 — Stroopies from Lancaster County Stroopies — what is a Stroopie? Chris and I were wondering as well. Well, let me tell you, they are good. Stroopies are a Dutch tradition that originated in the Netherlands, but are now made locally with all natural ingredients. Stroopies are cinnamon wafers with a chewy homemade caramel on the inside. Made to be a companion to a favorite hot beverage as you can set your Stroopie on top of your cup to help keep your beverage warm and to heat up the caramel in the Stroopie.
- Stop #20 — Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery
- Treat #20 — Tom Sturgis Little Ones Pretzels layered in Peanut butter or vanilla caramel and dipped in Wilbur milk or dark chocolate
- Stop #19 — Whiff Roasters & Lititz Coffee Company
- Treat #19 — Chocolate Coffee and a piece of Mocha Java Crunch Bar — While I don’t personally like coffee, Chris said it was really good and even though I don’t like coffee I did enjoy the Mocha Java Crunch Bar.
- Stop #18 — Appalachian Brewing Company of Lititz
- Treat #18 — Mouth watering black-bottom cupcakes from Zig’s Bakery and Deli
- Stop #17 — Pop’s coffee Shoppe (new to the Chocolate Walk this year)
- Treat #17 — Dark Chocolate Raspberry Fudge from Legendary Fudge
- Stop #16 — Lititz Historical Foundation
- Treat #16 — Special Treat from Sugar Whipped Bakery
- Stop #15 — Candy*ology
- Treat #15 — Sweet Treat from Forever Sweet
- Stop #14 — Morton Fine Furniture
- Treat #14 — Achenbach’s Pastries
Morton Fine Furniture has some beautiful pieces. I would love to go back sometime and spend some time looking at all of the fine woodwork. As for Achenbach’s Long Johns – quite yummy.
- Stop #13 — EcoLoco
- Treat #13 — Chocolate from Divine Chocolate
- Stop #12 — Paw Print Gifts
- Treat #12 — A fun treat for puppies or kitties from Two Pups Pastries
- Stop #11 — Teddy Bear Emporium
- Treat #11 — Sandy’s Cake and Pastry Shoppe
Stop #11 originally was The Curiosity Shop, but was moved to the Teddy Bear Emporium. The Teddy Bear Emporium has way more than just Teddy Bears, it was hard to focus on the goal of the tour — the Chocolate Chip cookie from Sandy’s!
- Stop #10 — Aaron’s Books
- Treat #10 — Luther Acres presents their Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Crunch Brownies
- Stop #9 — Clemintine’s
- Treat #9 — Lancashire Terrace Retirement Village’s classically trained chef, John Benjamin, prepared his signature dessert — cream puffs dipped in Wilbur’s dark chocolate
- Stop #8 — Cherry Acres
- Treat #8 — Chef Tim Whitmyer of Scooter’s Restaurant and Bar grilled up his famous decadent chocolate sandwiches.
And with that last stop, we reached the end of the 2013 Lititz Chocolate Walk. I am pleased to say that we reached ever stop and that we walked over 3 miles in all and collected all sorts of chocolate goodies to eat along the way, or to bring home and share and saw all sorts of great shops.
So – who wants to come next year? Start making plans now! What kinds of fun ways can you think of to raise money for charity?
Mark your calendar for the 13th Annual Chocolate Walk on October 11, 2014!!!
