During my semi-annual sojourn to Florida I have two places to hit or my visit is not complete. The first is, of course, my beloved Waffle House. The second is a grocery store where I can get my supply of Walker Farms Honey.

I have a simple game plan, in accordance with my simple mind: I go to the store. I buy lots of honey. I mail it back priority mail to myself so I don’t have to lug it on the plane. I give it to my friends. I eat a lot of it myself.

Simplicity is nice. This time I upped the ante and purchased more than ever before. I took my unopened cases of honey to the post office where I ripped open the boxes and shoved the bottles in the priority mail packages. I mailed them home.

And there they were when I got home. I took them out of the boxes and… 12 of them, exactly one box, were cloudy. They’d started to crystallize. Not much, just a bit. They had probably gotten cold or been sitting in a corner of the store’s warehouse for a bit too long. And since honey doesn’t “go bad” it didn’t really matter. But I wanted my gifts to look nice for people. I emailed Walker Farms and then called them (I’m anxious by nature.)

I spoke to Joan – one of the owners. I explained my dilemma and she proposed a solution: she’d ship me a new box on the house. I asked how she wanted the “old” bottles shipped back. “No need, just enjoy them. Heat them in a pan of water and they’ll clear up.”

And the new batch arrived just a few days later.

If you haven’t had orange blossom, saw palmetto, tupelo, or black mangrove honey you need to change that right away. The stuff that comes in a bear and has a generic flavor is nice, but bland. I have been trying honey from all over the place for years and when it comes to a nice clean flavor nothing tops the stuff the Walker’s sell. I love the orange blossom on anything at all. The saw palmetto is best in spiced tea. The black mangrove is truly a delight on dark toast, and the tupelo – well, I haven’t even plumbed the depths with that yet. But on a spoon it hits the spot.

I didn’t tell Joan that I’d be writing this blog. She offered this right out of the gate without prompting. She valued me as a customer. She was fun to talk to on the phone. And she followed through that day.

I have been buying Walker Farms Honey for a long time and this has strengthened my belief in them and their business practices. I will buy Walker Farms Honey for many years to come. I hope you will as well. Now if you’ll ‘scuse me I have some honey to deliver to a friend.

What company has provided you with “above-and-beyond” service lately? Have you told your friends?

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Today’s keyword bingo is: F-22. I hope that silly, ronery man in North Korea is paying attention. I hear it gets really warm at night when the boys come to visit.