# WTF is the deal with touristy spots and fudge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [June 19, 2023, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759 "2023-06-19T04:34:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/41 "2023-06-20T02:49:55Z")
Probably more expensive to make than salt water taffy too. Youda thunk they woulda disappeared when bread plates did. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/42 "2023-06-20T03:05:11Z")
Touristy spots and fudge? It’s all a successful marketing campaign by the Fudge Packers Consortium. People like fudge. FPC says, ‘Well, you have to try _our_ fudge, which is unique to this tourist location!’ And people are going to buy fudge anyway. Because they like it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/43 "2023-06-20T03:08:48Z")
There is a fudge store a mile from here. It’s not a tourist area. I’m not a fan so I don’t even think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/44 "2023-06-20T03:20:34Z")
> [@solost](#): > > There’s also a performative aspect to it that goes well with touristy areas. In the fudge shops we’ve been in when the kids were young, most shops have big granite tables in clear view where the fudge makers spread out the hot fudge goop and fold it over and over with big spatula thingies until it hardens into a slab that they then cut into small blocks. This is (or used to be) called “loafing” the fudge. I still remember my first childhood trip to a fudge shop where the candymaker demonstrated this process and remarked of her co-worker, who was taking care of packaging and selling the end product, “So you see, she works all day and I just loaf.” I thought that was the. Funniest. Thing. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Blindmellowjelly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindmellowjelly/32/13920_2.png) [@Blindmellowjelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blindmellowjelly)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/45 "2023-06-20T03:58:08Z")
I remember the used to cook and candy their fudge to temp in giant jacketed copper kettles, and then pour it out onto a marble tableu. Then they would work the fudge with three or four people with long, copper headed, wooden handled, Spatulators on the marble table mixing in ingredients ( nuts, marshmallows, etc) and loafing it in quite spectacular fashion with show and panache’. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/46 "2023-06-20T10:37:06Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > No matter where you go, Disneyland, Wisconsin Dells, **Rapid City** , etc. It seems at every tourist attraction there are a zillion stores and stands screaming that hey have…gasp…FUDGE! Bolding mine. Since when is Rapid City a tourist spot? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/47 "2023-06-20T14:03:36Z")
On a vacation trip to North Carolina a few years ago, TSA confiscated the 5 pounds of fudge we brought, claimed it was a ‘banned mystery substance’. As we looked back over our shoulder down the concourse, the guards were grinning ear to ear. It’s guaranteed the breakroom was going to be snacking on fudge for the next few days. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/48 "2023-06-20T20:23:02Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > No matter where you go, Disneyland, Wisconsin Dells, **Rapid City** , etc. It seems at every tourist attraction there are a zillion stores and stands screaming that hey have…gasp…FUDGE! > > Bolding mine. Since when is Rapid City a tourist spot? Probably since they discovered a rock formation that kind of sort of resembles former Presidents. You were kidding, right? About 15 million tourists go there every year. That’s not bad for a city of under 80K. And every other resident sells fudge, apparently, [rapid city fudge shops - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:9&tbm=lcl&q=rapid+city+fudge+shops&rflfq=1&num=10&ved=2ahUKEwikntSv1tL_AhUHg4kEHSuUDuYQtgN6BAgdEAc#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:%5B%5B44.1165039,-103.1306207%5D,%5B43.940140899999996,-103.5341237%5D)];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1!1m4!1u22!2m2!21m1!1e1!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf\_ui:9 ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2023, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/49 "2023-06-21T07:20:44Z")
Every other store in Central London sells ‘American Candy’ . Apparently it’s some sort of money-laundering dodge by the drugs cartels. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/50 "2023-06-21T13:25:23Z")
My sister lives in Rapid City but it’s been over 30 years since I’ve been there. I’d say the real tourist sites are Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, the Black Hills, and (once a year) Sturgis. Rapid City is just the place you stay in or pass through to get to the real tourist sites and not a destination in and of itself. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/51 "2023-06-21T14:51:06Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Every other store in Central London sells ‘American Candy’ . Apparently it’s some sort of money-laundering dodge by the drugs cartels. ‘American Candy’ certainly sounds like it could be a Brit euphemism for drugs (wink wink, nudge nudge). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/52 "2023-06-21T15:13:24Z")
> [@Blindmellowjelly](#): > > Velveeta Fudge is really good. Yep. Both of us are diabetic so that’s the fudge I make, typically with sucralose instead of powdered sugar. That stuff _must_ be kept in the freezer because it won’t set properly and is quite messy otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/53 "2023-06-22T00:02:45Z")
If you remove Mackinac Island from the equation, is there really that much tourist fudge? I once went to [Mackinac Island](https://www.mackinacisland.org/blog/how-mackinac-island-became-fudge-capital-of-the-world/#:~:text=Today%2C%20there%20are%2013%20fudge,although%20when%20President%20Gerald%20R.) and it was hard to believe how many fudge shops there were. Apparently there are currently 13 of them. If you google “Mackinac Island how . . .” it fills in “many fudge shops”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/54 "2023-06-22T01:29:56Z")
> [@Blindmellowjelly](#): > > Velveeta Fudge is really good. I had never heard of this until this thread, so guess what I’ve just mixed up and put in the fridge to set? Tasting the fudge leftover in the bowl, it is sure to be a hit. The kids both gave a thumbs up to the lickins in the bowl, too. Why have I not heard of this before? The instant I heard “Velveeta fudge” and then learned it was actually “Velveeta chocolate fudge” (or is there a chocolate-less version? Fudge is not necessarily chocolate to me.) I thought there was no way this could go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/55 "2023-06-22T02:38:12Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Mackinac Island how . . .” it fills in “many fudge shops”. I tried, and got How to get there How to pronounce How to get around How big … A full page that didn’t mention fudge. Maybe you’d been asking Google other things about fudge? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/56 "2023-06-22T02:41:09Z")
Or I had this thread open. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/57 "2023-06-22T06:08:28Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > My sister lives in Rapid City but it’s been over 30 years since I’ve been there. Which is why you don’t know what the heck you are talking about. I have been there close to a dozen times in the past 30 years (my wife has a brother in eastern Wyoming and we go out to see him every couple of years). I was just out there last summer. > [@kferr](#): > > I’d say the real tourist sites are Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, the Black Hills. Those are all in the same vicinity of Rapid City. It’s basically the same area. > [@kferr](#): > > Rapid City is just the place you stay in or pass through to get to the real tourist sites and not a destination in and of itself. Yeah, it’s loaded with tourists but it’s not a touristy area. Except it is. A lot of the bus tours begin in Rapid City. Then there is Dinosaur Park, Reptile Gardens, Storybook Island, the helicopter rides, waterparks, museums, etc… Rapid City couldn’t be more touristy if Mickey Mouse was walking around. By your standard Orlando is not a tourist area because people only go there to go to Disneyworld. Just because it’s not the main objective doesn’t mean it’s not a tourist trap in and of itself. But thanks for fudging up my whimsical thread on my observation! (Pun intended! 😜 ) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/58 "2023-06-22T06:14:20Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > If you remove Mackinac Island from the equation, is there really that much tourist fudge? I once went to [Mackinac Island](https://www.mackinacisland.org/blog/how-mackinac-island-became-fudge-capital-of-the-world/#:~:text=Today%2C%20there%20are%2013%20fudge,although%20when%20President%20Gerald%20R.) and it was hard to believe how many fudge shops there were. Apparently there are currently 13 of them. If you google “Mackinac Island how . . .” it fills in “many fudge shops”. Yes, there is. I have been to all 50 states (goal completed November, 2008) and just about every touristy area is inundated with fudge shops. **However** , if Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City aren’t the fudge shop capital of the world, I don’t want to know what is! They’re ridiculous. The only thing more ridiculous are the ABC Stores in Hawaii. When I was in Honolulu there were 36 of them in a 6 block radius! When we walked out of our hotel there was an ABC Store on the left side, and a separate ABC Store on the right side, and another, separate ABC Store across the street! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/59 "2023-06-22T08:16:55Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > By your standard Orlando is not a tourist area because people only go there to go to Disneyworld. I don’t think of Orlando as “a tourist area”. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759/60 "2023-06-22T11:01:27Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I don’t think of Orlando as “a tourist area”. Lifelong Florida resident here. While it’s not technically ‘Orlando’, the area south of the Turnpike on either side of I-4 is the quintessential tourist trap. In addition to Disney, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld, you’ve got: - Dinner&show joints (Medieval Times and the like - although they seem to be dying out, thank Og) - tons of go-cart tracks, bungee rides, drop towers, etc. - myriad little museums/novelty places (Ripley’s, etc.) - many sad little "zoo"s - and endless other ways to separate the ~~marks~~ tourists from their money But, let’s face it, to get there, you fly into the Orlando airport or drive the interstate(s) following the signs for Orlando, so it’s not unreasonable that most people just say Orlando rather than the more accurate Lake Buena Vista. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-deal-with-touristy-spots-and-fudge/985759.md?page=4)