Today we headed to the Wild West of Connecticut and visited the largest geographic town in Connecticut, New Milford. According to local legend, New Milford is at the southern edge of the Berkshires. Kimberly Farms is an active dairy farm with Guernsey cows in the adjacent fields, a farm market and an ice cream shop with incredible vistas in every direction.
The ice cream shop offers a wide variety of flavors, all made on site with the freshest ingredients you can imagine. They offer both hard packed ice cream and soft serve and all the regulars…cups, cones, sundaes, pints, cakes and ice cream sandwiches and they have a good mix of toppings. Their prices seem a bit on the high side but your paying for this farm fresh product!
I had the usual…coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate and Mighty Mo had a small mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone. Both were delish and you can taste the high butterfat content in their ice cream. One of the surprises is the large chocolate chips in the mint chip, but to be honest, both the shake and cone did have some tiny ice crystals mixed throughout.
If you are looking to drive the length of the Berkshires, or are just looking for a reason to go west, head to New Milford for a scoop at Kimberly Farm to get you underway.
After several days of rain it was nice to get out and see the sun today. On my way home from Willimantic I felt like I needed a treat to celebrate the splendid day and stopped at The Main Moose in Columbia.
The Main Moose is a charming, rustic place that serves ice cream and meals. They have a take out window and lots of outside seating. I was greeted by Ruthie, a delightful person behind the counter who made a fantastic coffee milkshake with a splash of chocolate.
Hershey’s is the ice cream product that is offered in both hard ice cream and soft serve, along with frozen yogurt. They offer cups, cones, milkshakes, sundaes in all the standard flavors as well as some exotic flavors and crazy concoctions such as buttered beer! They have lots of toppings and sprinkles for those liking mixtures. All in all, a very cool place.
If you’re driving through eastern Connecticut and looking for an interesting diversion, head to The Maine Moose! You won’t be disappointed.
On a cloudy, rainy day we took a quick trip on a Sunday afternoon north to the town of Meriden to Les’s Dairy Bar that is a classic Connecticut establishment. Les’ is a small take-out place on East Main Street that predominantly sells soft-serve products, some yogurts and slushes. In addition to cups and cones, Les’ has sundaes, boats, floats, flurries, slushes and shakes in a creative variety of flavors and wide variety of compliments. The prices are incredibly reasonable if not on the cheaper side.
The young lady working the place on a chilly Sunday was pleasant and helpful. She made a nice, small soft-serve chocolate milkshake. Maureen was excited for her kiddie cup of chocolate-vanilla twist with chocolate “shots.” My soft-serve specialist Mighty Mo thought the dairy products are from Hershey Ice Cream as the young lady behind the counter was uncertain.
Since 1952 Les’ Dairy Bar has been a staple in Meriden on East Main Street. Could this be the oldest continuously operating ice cream establishment in the State? We have not found any place older yet but 71 years is pretty impressive. Good luck Les’.
On a Sunday afternoon we drove west to New Fairfield, just east of the New York border and west of the well known Candlewood Lake. On the site of the historic “Hubbell House” sits the Candlewood Creamery that provided the perfect spot for an afternoon lunch!
The Candlewood Creamery is an intriguing place in the outskirts of New Fairfield. The shop is an interesting place with lots of bright, colorful artwork on the walls. They have a good variety of ice cream and sorbet flavors, and both hard and soft serve ice cream. They offer cups, cones, sundaes “açaí bowls.” Their prices are modest and they offer good size servings. Their ice cream is produced in Danbury and the gentleman serving us was unsure who produced it.
My chief strategist and soft serve specialist Maureen had a kiddie scoop of soft serve twist with chocolate sprinkles on a wafer cone. Unfortunately the Creamery did not have any coffee ice cream so I had a small chocolate milk shake. This is probably one of the best shakes I have had this year. The shake was thick, creamy and had a rich chocolate flavor. No doubt this was all in the preparation and execution of this shake that took more that a few minutes to make.
If your heading west, check out the Candlewood Creamery and “Eat More Ice Cream” and enjoy the countryside!
On my way home from Farmington today my good friend Lynn Jones stopped at Pralines in Plainville. I have wanted to visit this shop for a couple years and was not disappointed!
Pralines in Plainville is a family run shop. Kathleen, daughter of the former owner was our host and gave us the history of this local landmark. They have a long list of soft serve and hard ice cream flavors. They offer cups and cones, sundaes and lots and lots of cakes!
I went back to my old standard—a milkshake with coffee and chocolate ice cream, which was totally delicious…thick, creamy with a strong coffee flavor. Lynn had a waffle cone with Mint Oreo and Reece’s Nightmare that was also out of this world!
If you passing through this part of the state, stop on by and enjoy this nice family owned shop. You won’t be disappointed.
On our way home from the Goshen Fair we stopped in the city of Torrington at a classic ice cream dairy bar, Carvel. Torrington is well known in the dairy industry. It is the former home of Borden Dairy, the company that created condensed milk.
The Carvel ice cream shop in Torrington is a classic venue with a take out counter, some counter and stools and picnic tables out front. They serve a very rich, creamy soft serve according to Maureen and a variety of hard, scooped ice cream. They are well known for their cakes, sandwiches and sundaes!
Maureen had a kiddie cone with chocolate soft serve with chocolate “shots” or sprinkles for rest of us. I had a small chocolate milk shake. Both were rich, rich, rich in flavor and tasty. My shake with thick, well made and delish and Mighty Mo said this was some of the best soft serve she has had this summer!
If your heading home from the fair or just driving around the northwest, stop in at Carvel for some classic ice cream!
I have always wanted to check out the Goshen Fair in northwest Connecticut and we got our chance today. Maureen and I traveled north to the Fair and enjoyed a morning in the warm sun. The Goshen Fair is an agricultural fair that highlights the rich history of farming in the western hills of Connecticut.
There were about four or five places selling “ice cream products.” I stopped at the first place we saw, much to the chagrin of Maureen, and had a root beer float with soft vanilla ice cream. The drink was refreshing on a warm day although the vanilla soft serve was nothing special according to my “soft serve specialist.”
The Goshen Fair has been going strong since 1910. If your looking for something fun to do on Labor Day weekend go west!
On our way home from Holyoke we took a diversion through northwestern Connecticut and ended up in one my favorite places with lots of memories, the village of Riverton in the town of Barkhamsted. Riverton is situated on the headwaters of the Farmington River and is a popular spot for fly fishing. The centerpiece of this village is the historic Hitchcock Chair Factory and the local general store.
The Riverton General Store has all the basics for those living in the northwest hills and they sell Buck’s Ice Cream in cups, cones, sundaes and ice cream sandwiches. They offer about a dozen or so flavors, some standard and some unique like swamp, mud and buck tracks!
Maureen tried the exotic swamp while I stuck with basics, a coffee milk shake with a scoop of chocolate. Swamp is good, an intriguing concoction of vanilla ice cream with M&Ms, Oreo cookies, caramel, malted milk balls and chocolate chips. All combined this was pretty delish!
My milkshake lacked any pizzazz. It was thick, so thick I needed a spoon and needed to stir it for a good five mins before I could use a straw. To be honest it tasted more like a chocolate milk shake with a scoop of coffee. Buck’s is a pretty popular brand in western Connecticut and in general a very rich flavor, although has a somewhat crystalline texture.
If you’re out for a Sunday drive I heartily recommend a trip through northwest part of the State and a stop at the Riverton General Store and don’t forget to weigh your ice cream!
After golf today we went to dinner at Rocky’s Aqua, a quaint, charming place on the shore in the town of Clinton. Rocky’s has been around for years but recently they added a takeout window for their home made ice cream that is made on site.
After dinner our waiter asked about dessert and after some playful ribbing from my “brother” Jim about my ice cream obsession, we tried two flavors. I had maple pecan that has a nice sweet cream base with whole pecans and maple syrup ribbons throughout. Jim had toasted coconut which has a nice sweet cream base with crunchy coconut throughout. Both were fantastic and I suppose we will agree to disagree on which was better but both were fantastic.
If your looking for a nice seaside dinner place, check out Rocky’s Aqua in Clinton but stay for the ice cream! I think you will be pleasantly surprised with The Scoop.
On our way home from an invigorating round of golf at Mohegan Golf Course we stopped in Baltic, a village in the town of Sprague. The only place that sells any form of “ice cream” is the Baltic Convenience Store in the center of “town.”
The Store sells all the basics anyone would need and several varieties of ice cream for those needing a fix. There is an upright cooler with pints of multiple flavors of Ben & Jerry’s, a well known commercial product from southern Vermont. In addition they have drumsticks, popsicles, Good Humor bars, ice cream sandwiches, Snickers and Reese’s, and one of my all time faves, Klondike Bars.
I opted for the original Klondike bar, vanilla ice cream with a nice chocolate crunchy shell. Klondike bars have been around since 1922, and are named for the Klondike River in Yukon, Canada, site of a major gold rush in the 1890s.
Today we were celebrating our friend Conrad’s birthday with a round of golf at the Mohegan Golf Course. If you want to get away from it all and enjoy some New England golf at its finest, check out the Mohegan course. If you are driving around southeastern Connecticut and you need a drink or something sweet, check out the Baltic Convenience Store. You won’t be disappointed with either. Fore!!
After five years we are half way in our quest to sample “ice cream” in every town in Connecticut. I am referring to ice cream in quotes because as I have learned ice cream must have at least ten percent butterfat to be considered ice cream and some of these fine establishments have up to 18 percent butterfat…pure yum!!! If it has less than 10 percent this is referred to as dairy products. Soft Serve is an example of a dairy product.
At this point we have been all over the State but the only county we have completed is Middlesex, where we live. We have sampled “ice cream” in the four corners of the State and have had some real surprises.
There is quite a variety in Connecticut’s ice cream trade. For my mid-quest review I am rating the following: farms, creameries, dairy bars, commercial brands, soft serve, and milk shakes. And of course…the best of the best.
There are a number of farms that produce their own ice cream and other dairy products. We have sampled ice cream at at-least ten farms across Connecticut and the the best of the best is We-Lik-It in Pomfret up in the quiet corner on Connecticut. In addition to some rich, creamy ice cream We-Lik-It has some truly crazy flavors.
There are many creameries in Connecticut that make their own ice cream products on site and all have their unique spin on these delights. But one clearly stands out, Honeycone Cream Company on main street in the charming Connecticut River town Chester. Honeycone uses locally sourced, home grown additions that keep a certain purity to their concoctions.
Dairy bars are an interesting species of the ice cream shops. Usually just a take out window with no indoor seating but perhaps some picnic tables around the perimeter and they seem to offer both commercially available hard ice cream and soft serve. We have visited many of these dairy bars and the one that stands out to us is the Durham Dairy Serve that has a loyal following for this seasonal shop.
The best soft serve “ice cream” is found in Southington at Pat’s Main Street Ice Cream. The owner, Pat, has operated this place for years and has own delicious recipe for soft serve that clearly stands out.
Thimbleberries in the village of Stony Creek in Branford has made the best milkshake I have tried to date….and I have had a lot of milk shakes, some with hard ice cream and some with soft serve. What made Thimbleberries stand out was only in part the Gifford’s ice cream. The preparation that the owner put into these shakes was a creation in his own way. Sadly, Thimbleberries has changed hands.
There are several commercial products that are sold in shops across the State. The most consistent product we have sampled in multiple locations is Gifford’s from Skowhegan, Maine. We even visited a couple Farm Stands in Maine and enjoyed their ice cream and mini-golf at the home of Gifford’s.
The one place that stands out to us is a relatively new comer to the ice cream world in Connecticut and that is the Honeycone Craft Ice Cream Company in Chester. Owned and operated by a mother-daughter team, they bring a new level of creativity and pleasure to the ice cream scene. Each month they have five or six new novel flavors with locally grown ingredients. My favorite is pistachio with whole nuts and sea salt, followed by Garam Masala, and honey lavender. If you want to try something new and interesting head to Honeycone in Chester. You won’t be disappointed. They are clearly the Best of the Best and you might just run into me and Maureen.
We hope to get to the remaining 84 towns in the next five years. There is a good chance we may need your help as many of these remaining towns seems to be lacking not only ice cream shops but any kind of grocery or gas station that may sell any kind of dairy products. Please make suggestions and we hope to see you soon.
Honeycone Cream Company in Chester The Scoop Ice Cream Cafe in EllingtonPat’s Main Street Ice Cream in Southington
A couple goobers at Rich’s Farm in Bristol
Me and a couple Walsh boys having some ice cream in StamfordMighty Mo checking out the options for ice cream in FarmingtonMarvin enjoying some vanilla ice cream at Scoops in Essex.
With Maureen working today I headed north to a poetry reading and stopped along the way in the beautiful, rural town of Ashford at the Ashford Dairy Bar & Grill for a mid-day treat. The Dairy Bar had both hard ice cream and soft serve. They make sundaes and offer cups and cones, although they don’t have the broadest selection of flavors.
The place was hopping when I arrived with about 25 people in line or seated. I had a chocolate milkshake with Gifford’s hard ice cream that was unfortunately not mixed very well and had lumps of ice cream in a thin chocolate milky mixture. In addition to the dairy bar they have a grill with hamburgers, hot dogs, various sandwiches, salads, chowdas, and pasta!
I planned a stop at one of my oldest friend’s home (Jane and her husband Ronnie) which is just down the road from the Ashford Dairy Bar and much to my surprise three of my other home town friends (Hope, Paula and Jay) joined us as well. The ice cream was good but it couldn’t quite compare with memories and stories from yesterday and laughs from today. In many ways it was just like home.
On my way home from playing golf at Black Birch Golf Course in Moodus, I stopped at the Moodus Ice Cream Parlor. I have probably driven by this place a dozen times but wasn’t aware of it until my friend Conrad pointed it out. Apparently they have graced this shopping plaza for more than 20 years!
Moodus is a village in the town of East Haddam and best known for the “Moodus Noises” that have been attributed to a serious of shallow, micro-earthquakes in the area.
I was hot so I stuck with basics and had a nice, thick, creamy coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I also splurged and had a Del’s lemonade to wash it down and both hit the spot! The Moodus Ice Cream Parlor was packed with lots of kids and moms, probably just getting out of school. they serve a variety of hard ice cream and soft serve in cups or cones. They make shakes and floats and had a crazy list of sundaes that someone named Maureen would have loved to try,
With this stop in Moodus…ahem East Haddam, we have now completed all the towns in Middlesex County and only have seven counties to go. This is also number 84 which is one shy of the half way point in this quest. After our next visit we will do a review at the midpoint.
On the way home from a golf outing with my buddy Conrad we were forced to take a detour to the north through the town of Portland and much to our surprise there was a Dairy Queen on Connecticut Route 66. So we had to stop and check it out.
This is a new facility and not the older style Dairy Queen I recall from previous trips along Route 66. The place is very modern with a very active drive-thru, a large menu including grilled burgers and fries and of course ice cream!
In addition to a wide variety of concoctions they sell ice cream cakes and my favorite Dilly Bars, prepackaged to go. I went with a small chocolate soft serve on a wafer cone (sorry Mo) and Conrad went for the classic strawberry shortcake Blizzard that is also celebrating Major League Baseball.
Next time you are forced to take a detour, think of it as a gift and maybe you too can find an ice cream joint waiting for you!
On the recommendation of Melanie McKenna, a friend from my home town, we checked out Mitchell’s Ice Cream with our good friend Greg Watkins-Colwell. Mitchell’s is in the Mission neighborhood and quite the busy place for a cool Thursday evening.
Mitchels has been around since 1953 and a legendary place. They make all their ice cream on site and have some incredible flavors that we have never heard of but we all had to try “Ube” which is purple yam from the Philippines before we made our final selections. They offer traditional cones, cups, sundaes, ice cream sandwiches and cakes. And pints and gallons of their milky delights!
Our buddy Greg had two scoops of avocado and halo-halo in a cup while Mighty Mo had a sundae with Sticky Monkey ice cream. Since this was dinner I had an Avocado milkshake that was creamy and tasty to the last drop! No complaints from this group but it was a bit chilly standing on the sidewalk in the shade.
If you’re on a mission looking for ice cream, head no further than Mitchell’s in the Mission district. You won’t be disappointed, just bring your imagination and enjoy their creativity.
The Connecticut Ice Cream Quest 