Punta Clara Kitchen: Point Clear, Alabama

Four generations of the Pacey family have run this tiny sweetshop. Dorothy Brodbeck Pacey started it in her backyard, selling just fig preserves and pralines, and now the spot sells sponge candy and bourbon balls too. puntaclara.com

The Alaskan Fudge Company: Juneau, Alaska

The fudge recipe used at this shop dates back to the 1800s: It was meant to be fondue, but a happy accident turned it into the best-seller it is today. alaskanfudge.com

Dulceria La Bonita: Multiple Locations, Arizona

This wholesaler is open to the public and sells more than 500 kinds of candy from Mexico. Plus, the Phoenix location has a roomful of piñatas to hold your stash. labonitadulceria.com

Martin Greer's Candies: Garfield, Arkansas

All the candy at this family-run business is handmade following recipes from Rigby's Reliable Candy Teacher, which dates from the late 1800's. martingreerscandies.com

Fog City News: San Francisco, California

This shop's chocolate section (200 varieties) is rivaled only by its magazine collection: You'll find more than 2,000 titles on the racks. fogcitynews.com

Enstrom Candies: Multiple Locations, Colorado

Chef Enstrom's friends convinced him to sell his famous toffee in 1960. Now, his family runs five locations. enstrom.com

Fascia's Chocolates: Waterbury, Connecticut

The best part of a visit to Fascia's is the chocolate tour: Visitors get to pour, spread and decorate their own candy bars with toppings like Fruity Pebbles or toasted coconut. fasciaschocolates.com

Cocova: DC

This spot is for serious chocolate lovers: It sells more than 300 kinds of chocolate from far-flung spots like Madagascar and Italy. cocova.com

Govatos Chocolates: Wilmington, Delaware

Mention chocolate in Wilmington and most people will point you to Govatos, the century-old family business known for its almond butter crunch. govatoschocolates.com

Honeydukes: Orlando, Florida

Harry Potter fans know Honeydukes, and this is the storybook spot come to life. You'll find all the wacky sweets - like Fizzing Whizbees and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans - that Hogwarts students love. universalorlando.com

Paul Thomas Chocolates: Dahlonega, Georgia

You can watch chocolatiers work the conveyor assembly - often called the "Lucy Machine," based on the iconic candy-making episode of I Love Lucy. paulthomaschocolates.com

Nisshodo Candy Store: Honolulu, Hawaii

The shop's Japanese treats are made from recipes that founder Asataro Hirao brought over from Hiroshima in 1916. nisshodomochicandy.com

Idaho Candy Company: Boise, Idaho

Idaho Candy Company's factory is more than 100 years old, and the Idaho Spud - a coconut-marshmallow bar - has been a fan favorite for almost as long. idahospud.com

Candyality: Chicago, Illinois

Ask the cashiers to tell you your "candy personality": Crunchy-candy lovers tend to be negotiators, and fans of sour candy are risk takers. candyality.com

Albanese Confectionery: Merrillville, Indiana

This is gummy candy mecca: It churns out 72 million gummies a day in 50 shapes and flavors. albanesecandy.com

Popcorn Shoppe: North Liberty, Iowa

Fill a 6 1/2-gallon bag with your choice of more than 60 flavors of popcorn, like cotton candy and strawberry cheesecake. popcornshoppecr.com

Cero's Candies: Wichita, Kansas

Cero's Candies has been a Kansas staple since 1885, making it one of the state's oldest continuously running candy shops. ceroscandy.com

Art Eatables: Louisville, Kentucky

Kentucky is known for bourbon, and this chocolate shop adds the liquor to all of its truffles. arteatables.com

Roman Candy Company: New Orleans, Louisiana

This candy outfit sells its famous 14-inch taffy sticks from the same mule-drawn wagon that was used when it opened in 1915. romancandy.com

Dean's Sweets: Portland, Maine

Dean's Sweets has a rotating menu of fun truffle flavors, like lemon-apricot-chevre, tequila-lime and cayenne. deanssweets.com

Mouth Party Caramels: Baltimore, Maryland

The caramel recipe at this family-owned shop dates back four generations. Try some sprinkled with Maryland's famous Old Bay Seasoning. mouthpartycaramel.com

Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie: Salem, Massachusetts

America's first commercially available candies, Salem Gibralters, have been sold here for more than 200 years. peppercandy.net

Doc Sweets' Candy Company: Clawson, Michigan

This 5,000-square-foot outpost draws customers from all over, for classics (Abba-Zaba) and not-so-classics (candy-covered-crickets). docsweets.com

Minnesota's Largest Candy Store: Jordan, Minnesota

This sweetshop is bigger than a football field and packed with more than 3,000 kinds of candy. Visit on Facebook.

Margarete's Fine Chocolates: Tupelo, Mississippi

Many of the chocolates in this shop are made with Tupelo honey, a Mississippi treasure and one of the sweetest varieties. margaretesfinechocolates.com

How Sweet Is This: Clayton, Missouri

This shop's nickname is The Itsy Bitsy Candy Store: It's only 300 square feet, but the owners have packed it with old-school treats like Big League Chew and a wall full of gummies. howsweetisthis.com

The Parrot Confectionary: Helena, Montana

Regulars often enter through the shop's back door and peek at the candy makers in the kitchen. You can usually spot someone whipping up the namesake candy, the Parrot, made with pecans and chocolate. parrotchocolate.com

Licorice International: Lincoln, Nebraska

Licorice can be much more interesting than the average red or black varieties, and this shop proves it with a selection of nearly 160 kinds from a dozen countries, including toffee licorice from Ireland and anise hard candies from France. licoriceinternational.com

Barrels O Candy: Virginia City, Nevada

The name here is no joke: The store has more than 200 barrels of candy, and 72 of them are filled with taffy. 775-847-9500

Chutters: Multiple Locations, New Hampshire

You're certain to find something you want here: The 112-foot candy counter at the Littleton shop is the world's longest. chutters.com

Black River Candy Shoppe: Chester, New Jersey

The owners of Black River Candy Shoppe have been collecting PEZ dispensers for almost 17 years, and they've covered the walls with 400 of them (and counting). blackrivercandyshoppe.com

The Candy Lady: Albuquerque, New Mexico

This shop has Hollywood ties: The prop stylists for Breaking Bad tapped the store's owner to make blue rock candy that they used as Walter White's meth. thecandylady.com

Papabubble: New York, New York

The back wall at Papabubble looks more like a science lab than a candy store: It's stocked with beakers of flavoring used to make the shop's hard candies. papabubbleny.com

The Candy Factory: Lexington, North Carolina

Customers loved the antique decorations here so much that the owner started selling them as well as candy. lexingtoncandyfactory.com

The Little Sweet Shop: Grand Forks, North Dakota

The confectioners regularly stock new flavors of fudge - and they take recommendations from customers too. 701-885-2551

Spangler Candy: Bryan, Ohio

Spangler Candy has been making Dum Dums lollipops for more than 60 years; you can take a trolley tour to see the production. spanglercandy.com

Pinkitzel Cupcakes and Candy: Multiple Locations, Oklahoma

Kitzel is Yiddish for "tickle," and the owners want you to be tickled pink when you shop this store. They even have pink-clad knights standing guard. pinkitzel.com

Quin: Oregon

This is a locavore's candy store: Local ingredients, like Portland-brewed coffee and hazelnuts from Monmouth, go into confections. quincandy.com

Shane Confectionery: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Walking into Shane Confectionary is like stepping back in time - more than 150 years. When brothers Eric and Ryan Berley bought the Old City candy shop form the Shane family in 2010, they closed it immediatly for 18 months to restore it to its 19th-century glory. The two history buffs tracked down display jars from the 1800s and early 1900s, retrofitted antique sugar boxes to hide computerized registers and curated an old-fashioned candy collection. "We wanted the whole experience to be like it was when this opened in 1863," Eric says. All the staffers look the part: When you enter, you're greeted by smiling shopkeepers wearing hats and bow ties or floor-length dresses and hairnets, and when you make your way upstairs, you find a workshop where candy makers crank out treats by hand, including crystal candy figurines (called clear-toy candy), fudge and the brothers' signature Whirly Berley Bars. 

Hauser Chocolatier: Westerly, Rhode Island

This shop is known for its chocolate lace: chocolate-covered caramel in delicate patterns. It's home to the only machine in the U.S. that makes the stuff. hauserchocolates.com

I Love Sugar: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The decor here alone could give you a sugar high. There are gummy bear chandeliers - made from 10,000 bears - and a 55-foot candy wall stocked with 88 kinds of treats. ilovesugar.com

Custer County Candy Company: Custer, South Dakota

Many folks swing by this shop on their way to Mount Rushmore for a box of handmade truffles - they come in 20 flavors. custercountycandycompany.com

The Bang Candy Comapny: Nashville, Tennessee

Marshmallows are the main attraction here: There's a case full of them when you enter, with flavors like rose-cardamom and chocolate-chile. bangcandycompany.com

The Candy Jar: Austin, Texas

This spot makes sure customers get their candy fix: When you sign up for the Sugar Rush Club, you get a curated box of goodies in the mail every month. thecandyjartx.com

Chocolate Covered Wagon: Multiple Locations, Utah

This train station-turned-candy store in West Jordan is famous for its saltwater taffy, made on a 1950s machine. chocolatecoveredwagon.com

Maple City Candy: Swanton, Vermont

This shop sells maple candy in many shapes, but a favorite is the "Champ," inspired by the monster reputedly living in Lake Champlain. maplecandyvt.com

The Sugar Cube: Alexandria, Virginia

The owners regularly host candy-making classes based on seasonal favorites, like conversation hearts and Irish potatoes. sugarcubesweets.com

Sweet Mickey's: Seattle, Washington

This Ballard neighborhood sweetshop is famous for its licorice selection, a nod to the area's Scandinavian ties. sweetmickeys.com

Cool Confectionaries: Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

A former market researcher opened this store, selling historic sweets like horehound hard candy and old-fashioned gum. coolconfectionaries.com

Goody Goody Gum Drop: Multiple Locations, Wisconsin

This place brings the self-serve fro-yo treatment to cotton candy: A machine delivers a cone at the press of a button. goodygumdrop.com

Meeteetse Chocolatier: Meeteetse, Wyoming

Former rodeo cowboy Tim Kellogg first sold chocolates to pay for a new saddle, but eager customers (and a rodeo injury) led him to open up a storefront. meeteetsechocolatier.com