I made a little visit to Russian Gulch State Park on California’s north coast. Among its highlights is something called “the Devil’s Punchbowl,” which is my Halloween tie-in of the day. It seems there’s a natural tunnel that runs under the park from the ocean side, and it somehow found an outlet through a vertical shaft up to the surface. Ocean water boils up through this opening at high tide. Sadly, the tide was out when I visited. But here’s a photo ripped from the California State Parks website:

With a name like Devil’s Punchbowl, this place is naturally said to be haunted. You can find a number of ghost stories online, but be aware there are many places called the Devil’s Punchbowl, both in California and beyond. As an aside, the name “Devil’s Punchbowl” reminds me of the Devil’s Gate Dam in southern California, which I reviewed four years ago.

As is typical for me, attention was drawn from the Punchbowl to something a little less sinister: The Frederick W. Panhorst Bridge, which carries CA Route 1 traffic 100 feet above the surface of the ocean near the Devil’s Punchbowl. Built in 1940, this bridge is made of poured concrete and is over 500 feet long. The bridge looks completely boring and nondescript when viewed through your car window as you drive over it. But if you get down under the bridge, as I did, you can appreciate its classic beauty.

My research found that this bridge was constructed as a WPA project. As with most WPA projects, I appreciate that the designers combined functionality with aesthetics. The latter consideration seems to be lacking in so much modern transportation infrastructure.

But let’s get back to Halloween. The day ended up getting away from me, so I’ve enlisted loyal reader Victor R. to provide our Halloween treat review. You may recall his review of a Halloween cookie during our October 2020 treat review suite. He now offers something especially disgusting interesting. Enjoy!

VICTOR R’S GUEST REVIEW:

I visited the Nibblers Popcorn Company store in the Town Center shopping center in El Dorado Hills today.  Nibblers has been open since 2018 and is operated by the Sweeney family, specializing in gourmet popcorns (fancy popcorns like cheddar cheese, parmesan garlic or buffalo wing), and a wide variety of candies (such as classic candy bars, gummy fruits and bubble gum).  My wife Peg suggested that, since I was hunting for a great seasonal treat, I should check out Nibblers and I’m happy to say that, after a less-than-satisfying pumpkin ice cream “treat” at Handel’s Ice Cream Parlor in Folsom, I took her advice and visited it.
First off, kudos to Nibblers for really getting into the Halloween spirit (see the decorations below).  You really feel like it’s Halloween when you walk into the store.  The decorations, tons of candy, and the model train that runs laps around the inside of the store make you feel like a kid again.  The only difference is now you don’t have to ask your parents if you can buy a bunch of candy…you just pull out the old plastic pass to poverty (a.k.a., your credit card), cross your fingers that your purchase won’t be declined, and voila—off you go with your pile of sugary treats!!

While at the store, I looked over any number of treats, some of which were seasonally focused, and settled on Herbert’s Best “Gummi Eyez” which, according to the box, are spooky and have an “oozing sour center”.  We all know how appealing it is to eat eyeballs, and if they have oozing sour centers, well…who wouldn’t want to try that?  So, I bought a pair and took them home for a test run. 

Conceptual Soundness:  I think combining jack-o’-lanterns, spooky eyes and gummy bears is a great idea.  The jack-o’-lantern is very seasonal of course, but what would make you think more of Halloween than eating a couple of Eyez?   And this is a perfect time to tip our hats to Herbert Mederer, who, since 1984, has specialized in making all kinds of gummies.  Thanks to his leadership, gummies have become extremely popular in this country, even among folks who don’t insist that their gummies include hemp. It’s a good concept to tie Gummi’s to Halloween, so I’ll give it the full 4 points.   

Appearance of the Treat:  First off, using a jack-o’-lantern as the packaging for the Eyez is the perfect presentation for the season.  Each eye looks very realistic, with a white sclera and a green eyeball.  While only a small portion of people have green eyes, the green creates a perfect look for Halloween. I do think they could have made the eyes bloodshot, so I’m going to give it 3.5 points for appearance.

Taste:  As you saw, the packaging makes a point of saying that the Eyez have “oozing sour centers”.  Well, they do have sour centers which are cherry flavor, but they don’t ooze (which would lend more authenticity to it since I’m guessing the red center, along with being cherry, is supposed to represent blood).  And the centers are only a little sour, which was a surprise and a little bit disappointing.  Since it’s a Gummi, it does have the spongy feel of what you imagine a real eyeball would feel like, so thumbs up for that.  As a Gummi treat, it was pretty tasty. I’m going to give it 3 points for taste.

Value:  One package of two Gummi Eyez is only $2.95, which I think is a heck of a deal!  When you think about how expensive it is to buy…well, anything anymore, $2.95 for a scary Halloween treat has to rank as one of the better values you’ll find anywhere.  I’m going to give it 4 points for value.

Total Treat Score: 14.5 points/16 points.  I suggest that, if you’re anywhere near El Dorado Hills, visit Nibblers and pick up your own set of Gummi Eyez.  (You can also buy Herbert’s Best treats on Amazon, but that’s way too easy)!