Care. Compassion. Cookies. A new Kissimmee attraction aims to make you happier than you were when you woke up.
"Your Happy Place" is a bakehouse priding itself on custom sodas and floats. It’s in a building that used to be a fast food drive-thru chain, but has been transformed into refreshing pastels with a mom ‘n’ pop energy.
Tyra McCarl owns it, along with her husband, Matt, and their six kids. Their “one stop treat shop” exists because of Breck, their special needs kiddo who had open heart surgery at just one week. After spending so much time in the hospital, Tyra started baking for the nursing staff.
“They kept coming in and saying, Tyra, you need to sell these cookies!”
So she did, opening Breck’s Gourmet Cookies in Kissimmee. After three years, they had to sell.
“My sweet little special needs daughter was starting to walk, and I had six children. It was just a lot there,” she said.
Since then, the McCarl squad had been toying with the idea of doing a cookie store again, as a family. Then they asked, What if it was a drive-thru? That was a no-brainer for Tyra.
“As moms … when you have a little one and you don’t want to get out [of the car]. And it just made sense,” she said.
Tyra, who was born and raised in Kissimmee, says her favorite part about what she does is greeting her guests. She’ll ask your kids all about their day at school, and even your plans for the day and the upcoming weekend. Also, they don’t take tips. If you insist, the extra dollars will go to the Russell Home, a nonprofit charitable organization for atypical kiddoes. Your Happy Place is located at 280 E. Vine St., in Kissimmee.