On my way home from a tour at the Wilton Historical Society I took the opportunity to drop into Scoops, a long standing ice cream shop in town. Scoops is under new ownership but doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. They are open year round and are located in the heart of Wilton.
They have a modest number of flavors of Buck’s hard ice cream along with a number of toppings and offer cups, cones, shakes and floats. Their servings are moderately priced. Along with the ice cream is a wall of candy that made me very itchy to try several treats but I somehow managed to pass.
I had my usual, a coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate and Bucks ice cream did not disappoint. The shake was rich in flavor, creamy, and so thick, thick, thick it was hard to appreciate with a narrow, paper straw. Any yes it was tasty!
If you are passing through the southwest part of the state stop in at this hidden gem but remember to bring a spoon if your having a shake! 😉
In the sleepy town in Lisbon is Wildowsky Dairy farm that has been around for four generations. The farm is an active dairy with a farm store that sells various products including milk, chocolate milk and ice cream (of course 😁), which is all priced very reasonably. The store operated on an honor system, although the ice cream was guarded by a friendly doggie that seemed to enjoy his place next to the warmth from the freezers. And their ice cream is offered nearby at Meyer’s Crazy Hollow Creamery
I was joined by my good buddy Jim from Buffalo who was my designated driver on this quest today as we drove through three or four small Connecticut towns before we settled on Lisbon. After a fair bit of exploration on this rainy Friday we settled on Wildowskys.
We were limited to the offerings in the store which were not small in number or creativity. We split a pint of mint chocolate crunch which has a light, creamy delicious taste. They offer about 16 unique flavors including blackberry, pistachio, coffee, and strawberry to name a few. Their ice cream is all made on the farm and has a nice 16% butterfat, which is amazing considering how light and creamy their flavors are.
If your looking for a break from the rain, head east to Wildowsky Dairy in Lisbon. You won’t be disappointed!
I spent another afternoon in eastern Connecticut and on my way home we passed through the town of Hebron which is a charming, rustic country town. As we were heading south we passed Scooter Bug Ice Cream that is in a strip mall on route 85.
Scooter Bug’s is a smaller takeout place that serves Gifford’s hard ice cream and an unknown soft serve. They have a good variety of flavors of hard ice cream and more than 30 flavors of soft serve! They offer cups, cones, shakes, sundaes and banana splits. I had the usual…a small coffee milk shake with a scoop of chocolate that was very well made. It was thick, creamy, well mixed with a strong coffee flavor.
If you are taking a trip over the river and through the hills in Hebron stop at Scooter Bug’s and enjoy being pleasantly surprised.
The Fish Family Farm is an active, working dairy farm in the beautiful, rural town of Bolton in eastern Connecticut. The farm has a store that serves a variety of dairy products, including milk, coffee milk, ice cream, and even maple syrup. They make all of their products on site as is viewable from the store. Their ice cream is made fresh daily and they had about a dozen flavors on hand today.
I was joined today by two of The Connecticut Ice Cream Quests’ top fans, and two of my closest friends from my hometown of Stafford, Connecticut that joined me on my “Knights of the Round Table” quest for another ice cream venue.
Fish Farm offers cups and cones in a number of flavors and also a number of toppings. Today I had a small scoop of chocolate chip in a cup. My friend Jae had a scoop of blueberry and maple Oreo in a cup while Jerry had chocolate chip on a wafer cone. As an active dairy farm, it is safe to say the ice cream was fresh, creamy, light and simply delicious. While we sat at the farm and reminisced for a couple of hours, it was astonishing how many people were coming and going to pick up milk and other dairy products, while we enjoyed the beautiful scenic views, sounds and aromas of the farm.
Regardless of whether or not you are retired old men looking for ice cream or are just looking for a fun place to spend an afternoon this fall, check out the ice cream on this active dairy farm in Bolton. You won’t be disappointed.
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.
The Connecticut Ice Cream Quest 