I recently traveled to Myrtle Beach to take part in a class to become a certified chili judge. The class was offered by the International Chili Society as part of the World Championship Chili Cook-off. I've judged plenty of chili cook-offs in the past, and you do not need to be certified to do so. But, I enjoyed learning all about chili. According to the society, the red chili is the main category here, and it requires meat and a cumin-heavy flavor profile. The homestyle category require requires beans, and it has more leeway with the flavor. Then there is green and veggie.

Bogey's at Capitol Market opened recently, and I have made it my goal to work through the entire menu. In full disclosure, I work at Capitol Market, and any sort of true review would be a conflict of interest, and, of course, biased. So, this is less of a review and more of an informative post. I want to document my experience and share some of the tasty items they have available. Bogey's is primarily known for their barbecue, which you can also find at their original location in Tornado. But in this new location, they have really expanded and include everything from shrimp, tacos, and fish sandwiches to burgers and hotdogs. One of my favs is the pork belly burnt ends, which are sweet and smoky and covered in sauce. I like the bits that are more meat than fat. I also really enjoy the nachos, which are topped with mac & cheese, queso, corn, cilantro, jalapeños, and more. Their hotdog is known for winning the title of best in West Virginia from a local YouTuber. And for good reason! The tri-tip Philly surprised me, because it's usually not the kind of thing I go for. But it is so well balanced. I am also a big fan of the belly BLT and the shrimp tacos. The fish sandwich is good too. Can't forget the mac & cheese, the corn, the potato salad and the banana bread pudding. Do you have a favorite?

Gretel's Candy House is a giant candy store near Myrtle Beach that has just about every candy you could think of. The outside of the building looks like Candyland come to life. It's a gingerbread house with candy canes and other candy pieces. Inside, it is just cluttered with all types of sweets. Right in front, there were some past-date candies on clearance, but I moved past them to find the good stuff. My favorite finds were some treats that found fame on TikTok. Like Swedish candy - "While most shoppers in the United States likely associate Swedish candy primarily with red gummy fish, Sweden’s candy culture is vast, with Saturdays designated for lördagsgodis (“Saturday sweets”), a tradition of bringing children to pick-and-mix candy shops ... offering mouth-puckering, grapefruit gummy shrimp and foamy-feeling, raspberry gummy ovals," according to Eater. They come in discs and diamonds, skulls and squids, hearts, buttons, twists and ropes. Fruit flavors are the most common, but there’s also cola, elderflower, caramel and licorice, according to Yahoo. They do have an interesting mouthfeel - like foamy - but the flavor is mostly sweet and sour. These peelable gummy fruits are also super trendy. They have this layer of thicker gummy that peels away to reveal a softer gummy inside. I've tried the mango ones from Walgreens before, but there were tons of flavors here. I got grape and banana and orange and mango, again. Then, just a few snaps of candies that were new to me to try for next time.

Coffee & Cream Cabana, established in June 2023, is a Myrtle Beach destination offering freshly roasted coffee, espresso drinks, and homemade ice cream. Hand-crafted ice cream and locally roasted coffee sounds like a good match to me. I ordered a hot chocolate, which was lightly sweet, and an almond croissant, which was better than any croissant I've had. I think of croissants as being dry and flaky, but the sweet almond cream filling was perfection. Grade: A

Kenzie's Kakes & Coffee offers sweets of all sorts, in addition to coffee drinks and light lunch options. The large cakes are stunning for special events. But I just popped in to see what they had available in the case that day. Several things caught my eye, including the pumpkin roll, cake balls, and a strawberry pudding parfait delight. Everything was pretty tasty, but I was most excited about that parfait item. The presentation was less delicate than the other desserts, but I think that that's what drew me to it. It had a graham cracker crumble, a delicious mousse-like pudding, and then strawberry topping. It was delicious. So were the pumpkin roll and cake balls. I had to try the pepperoni roll, too, ya know, for science. It was a decent one, but more filling to absorb the air pocket would have killed it. I had been to their previous location, and I'm excited to see how they have grown. I can't wait to stop back and try even more items. Have you been? Grade: B