Sweet Tea: A tiny place for big wishes

You know the real star of fall? The limbic system. That’s the part in our brain that processes emotions, linking delicious, warm scents to moods and memories. When you smell cinnamon brooms, a pumpkin spice latte or a pecan pie fresh from the oven, thank the limbic system for the instant cozy vibes.

Hey there, I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome to Sweet Tea by the AJC, a newsletter for refreshing, positive stories from around the South. Sit and stay awhile. We have so much to tell you.

THE STIRRING SECRET IN A LIL’ TINY CHURCH

Christ’s Chapel, The Smallest Church in America, is bursting with love.

Christ’s Chapel, known as the “Smallest Church in America,” is in Townsend, Georgia, off U.S. 17. Its spacious 190 square feet (that’s thousands in rent in New York City) boasts wood beams, shiny wood furniture and a pretty stained glass window.

The real magic, though, is in the handwritten messages tacked on the bulletin boards on the back wall. There, you’ll find prayer requests, reflections, memories and messages of gratitude in multiple languages from travelers who have passed by and found a moment of rest in this intimate little space.

SOUTH IN YOUR MOUTH: CHEERGOOGOO WINECLUSTERS

This must be the ambrosia the gods ate.

Behold, a Southern collaboration for the ages: Cheerwine Goo Goo Clusters.

• 🍒 One from North Carolina: I’m not proud to admit it, but I had never had Cheerwine until a few weeks ago, at a Biscuitville outside Durham. (Side note: Biscuitvilles are everything the name promises.) The iconic garnet-red soda is a product of Salisbury, North Carolina, where it was first sold by the Carolina Syrup Company in the 1910s. The drink’s cheery cherry syrup and extra fizzy carbonation make it, as a recent tagline goes, “Uniquely Southern.”
• 🍫 One from Tennessee: The Nashville-born Goo Goo Cluster is historic in more ways than one. It was the first commercially available “combination” candy bar to have more than one ingredient, stuffed as it is with caramel, marshmallow nougat and peanuts enrobed in chocolate. It’s also Nashville’s official candy. (It was also marketed in the 1920s as a “nutritious lunch,” but we won’t go there.)

The two companies have now collaborated to make Goo Goo Clusters with Cheerwine nougat, a truly transformative experience. If you try one, let me know about it once you come back down to earth.

PRESERVING HISTORY, PIECE BY PIECE

Don't worry. Doc's Cafe looks a mess here but is in the middle of being carefully deconstructed.

Do you ever pass an old boarded-up storefront and wonder what once was? Whose passion and work went into a business now gone, what stories the empty space could tell?

• In Roswell, Georgia, residents are keeping one of the city’s most meaningful businesses alive decades after its heyday.
• Doc’s Café was the first Black-owned business in Roswell, built in the 1950s and beloved as a haven for Black customers during the segregation era.
• It was owned and operated by Sam “Doc” Stafford until the mid-1960s; then, it was a residence for Stafford’s family until it fell into disrepair in the late 2000s.

SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH