Magnolia Plantation in Tifton, Georgia

There are always so many great foodie finds to discover when on a road trip.  Quite often there are billboards along the highways announcing various food stops of interest or as my husband calls them tourist traps.  It is often better to get off the main highway to find some of the more unique shops but that isn't always possible.   It is surprising just how many great foodie places can be found just off the highway exits!

Magnolia Plantation is located at 35 Omega Elderado Rd, Tifton, Georgia just off of I-75 on exit 55.  They specialize in pecans, peanuts, Vidalia® onions and other southern treats like salt water taffy, pralines, poppy cock and so much more.  There is also a gas station.  The building's facade is that of an old two story plantation style house complete with large pillars and porches.  As tourist traps go this one really is less touristy and more foodie!  Practically everything in the store was either food or pertaining to food (eg. cookbooks).  That in itself made for a lovely spot to just wander through the store to see all the goodies and believe me there was a lot to see.

Pecans were the main feature but peanuts were close as well.  There was a large display of home canned style goodies mainly jams, jellies, and condiments.  Most of the displays were counterstyle and bins although there were a few racks and shelves.  There was a cute open top pop cooler hold glass bottles of CocaCola® on ice.  An abundance of warm wood tones gave the bright, airy store a touch of warmth.  I really enjoyed shopping here.

I will warn you this foodie stop is not cheap though.  A 3 lb bag of pecans in the shell was $11.19 and 12 oz bags of shelled pecans were $6.97.  Jams and jellies were priced around the $6 per pint with condiments in the $4 range which is fairly normal pricing for home canned style products.

My foodie purchases at Magnolia's Plantation  included fresh roasted peanuts in the shell , shelled pecans, powdered peanut butter, Vidalia® onion relish, Ma's Cookin' by Sis and Jake (1986), and Gerorgia Hometown Cookbook by Sheila Simmons and Kent Whitaker (2008).  The grand total came to $51.11 so a bit more on the higher end for foodie purchases.  In fairness though we basically bought what we wanting not really paying attention to the price.  The pecans are a treat for a couple of our kids because we know the grandkids love nuts.  I already have a couple of ideas for ways to use the powdered peanut butter.  If we like the Vidalia® onion relish then you can be sure I will be coming up with a clone recipe to home can as well.  All in all I enjoyed our stop here and it is a foodie place we will stop at again.