On the Border…

Today we drove to the southeast corner of Connecticut in search of ice cream and we started today’s quest in the small town of North Stonington. Extensive research couldn’t produce an ice cream shop or creamery so we ended up at the popular discount variety store, Dollar General.

Among the many items sold at Dollar General is a variety of single serve ice cream products. Maureen passed on this opportunity to relive her childhood but I chose an Outrageous Orange Pushup from Nestle. The push-up ice cream was smooth and rich in orange flavor, and pleasantly delightful.

If you are heading to the Rhode Island beaches this summer or just heading out for a drive check out the ice cream options at Dollar General.

Come on in!

On our way home from the northwest corner of the state we stopped in the small town of Colebrook and discovered the Colebrook Store. As we were walking in an employee met us at the entrance and led us in. The store is a small general store with some basics and a deli counter.

There was a lot of activity behind the deli counter with some good smelling sandwiches being prepared. Behind the counter, they have a number of flavors of the well-known product, Buck Ice Cream. I had a small cup of blackberry ice cream that was tasty and hit the spot.

If you are looking for an enjoyable afternoon drive, head to Colebrook and stop at the store.

Ski jumping anyone?

Spent a bright and beautiful Sunday morning driving to the town of Salisbury in northwest Connecticut in search of ice cream. Although Salisbury has no creameries or ice cream shops we did find LaBonnes Market in the center of town.

Salisbury is a quaint Norman Rockwell kind of town with a few shops, two private schools—the Hotchkiss School and the Salisbury School, Line Rock speedway and the highest spot in the state. Each February, the Salisbury Winter Sports Association hosts the Eastern USA Ski Jumping Championships on Satre Hill.

LaBonnes Market is a local grocery that has all the needs for the locals with a bakery, butcher and all the produce you can imagine. Nestled on one side of the store is the frozen food section with a wide variety of ice cream. I chose a small cup of Jeni’s bramble berry crisp that was delightful and tasty. Jeni’s offers a variety of flavors that all sound delicious.

On Main Street is a charming place called Sweet Williams Coffee Shop & Bakery that Maureen enjoyed a nice strong cup of cappuccino. If your looking for a road trip this winter head to the northwest part of Connecticut. You won’t be dissappointed.

Stroke, stroke, stroke…

For many people the town of Ledyard brings back memories from Foxwood’s Casino, poker, keno, good restaurants, and Tanger Outlets. But for others, nestled on the western side of town on the banks of the Thames River is the village of Gales Ferry, home to one of Yale University’s Crew houses which annually hosts the Yale-Harvard Regatta.

Today I was driving back home after a trip in the eastern part of the state and I stopped at Pop’s Ice Cream in Ledyard. My timing was great as Pop’s is closing for good at the end of this season and this is the only ice cream place in the town, other than at Foxwoods.

Pop’s offers a mix of soft serve and Praline’s hard ice cream. They have a variety of flavors and all the toppings you can imagine. if you are looking for a nice Sunday ride try heading to Ledyard and Pop’s while you can. You won’t be disappointed!

What would you do for a Klondike Bar?

There are some towns in Connecticut, to the best of my knowledge and searching, do not have an ice cream establishment and are relying on their neighbors for these tasty treats. And I’m not sure some of these towns even have a grocery or gas station which makes this “Knights of the Round Table” quest exceedingly challenging.

The town of Lyme is one of those places and despite my best efforts I could not find an ice cream parlor, but I did find this charming, quaint general store called the Hadlyme Country Market in the section of Hadlyme. It reminds me of the general store I grew up next too.

As you can see from the pics this is an old school general store with basic provisions, canned goods, a deli counter with cold cuts and baked goods and some coolers with milk and drinks.

Tucked in the back of one of these coolers is some pints of Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a couple half gallons of Friendly’s ice cream and a box with a random assortment of single flavors. With these as the options how could I pass up the chocolate covered vanilla known as the Klondike Bar!

This is a beautiful part of our state and if you get a chance don’t pass up a drive through Lyme and enjoy Gillette’s Castle, Fox Hopyard State Park. views of the Connecticut River and the HadLyme Country Market. But ask yourself…what would you do for a Klondike Bar?

Red Sox Country

Spent another gray, cloudy Sunday afternoon exploring the Connecticut country side. Today we headed to the northwest hills but got sidetracked with some showers so we altered our course and ended up in the village of Winsted in the town of Winchester. Winsted is the “downtown” section of Winchester and we found a nice ice cream and mini-golf place called R&B Sports World that has a challenging 18 hole mini-golf course, batting cages, go-cart track and an arcade. When we arrived the place was hopping with many, many kids running around but we had the mini-golf course to ourselves.

After we completed our 18-hole odyssey, we stopped inside for a treat. As the sign says they offer 24 different soft serve flavors and a dozen Gifford hard ice cream options. I went for a kiddie cup of Gifford’s mint, chocolate chip and with 24 soft serve flavors Mighty Mo had…yes, chocolate soft serve with chocolate sprinkles on a wafer cone. Both were delicious and hit the spot after a damp 18 holes.

I never would have guessed this would be Red Sox country but more power to R&B Sports World. This is a nice place for a Sunday drive rain or shine!

Take me back…

On our way home from Stafford we drove west and past through the beautiful north central town of Suffield. On the west banks of the Connecticut River, Suffield is in interesting mix of farm land, dotted with old tobacco barns, and nice residential neighborhoods. Just off Main Street in an unassuming strip mall is Wilma’s Scoops Du Jour.

Nestled behind the private school Suffield Academy, Scoops has a take out window and inside ordering. They sell Hershey’s hard ice cream and soft serve products. They sell cones, shakes, floats and have all the fixings. Their prices are very reasonable and portions are very generous. Their flavor options are interesting and not at all standard, although they do sell chocolate and vanilla.

I had raspberry swirl on a sugar cone and Mighty Mo had….wait for it…chocolate soft serve with chocolate sprinkles on a wafer cone. Both were creamy and delicious and a welcome diversion on our drive.

Suffield was a rival of our high school sports teams and a town I have a lot of fond memories from. I only wish Scoops was around then…we may have snuck out of a track meet for a treat.

Bon Appétit!

Shhhhh….

Took another Sunday drive and ended up in Putnam, a former industrial town in the “Quiet Corner” of Connecticut. We stopped at Riverview Ice cream and Mini-Golf, a place I have wanted to check out for some time.

An interesting place with home made ice cream, mini-golf and a landscaping company all open and staffed by one nice, young man.

I had my old fave, a coffee-chocolate milkshake, and Mighty Mo had her fave, chocolate soft-serve with chocolate sprinkles on a wafer cone. The milk shake was a perfect treat after 18 holes of riveting mini-golf. The hard ice cream was creamy, tasty and delicious. Mo’s soft-serve was home made as well and extra-special good.

They have a number of flavors, common and specialty, and lots of toppings to boot. If you are looking for a nice Sunday drive and some fun this fall, check out Riverview Ice Cream in the Quiet Corner.

Once upon a time…

Continuing on our quest in the north part of the Connecticut Valley, we traveled to East Windsor to a classic Connecticut ice cream establishment. Dari Delite has been operating for almost 60 years in this location and is closing their doors for good at the end of this season.

Dari Delite sold a variety of Hershey products, both hard ice cream and soft serve. Maureen was our sampler this time and had vanilla soft serve with chocolate sprinkles. Like her mother the girl just can’t live without her chocolate. The ice cream was tasty and the staff was pleasant and accommodating. They have a nice set of picnic tables out back that are in the shade that made for an enjoyable stop.

If you want to enjoy some Connecticut Valley history head to East Windsor and enjoy some ice cream at a well-known local establishment!

Fore!!

Seeing it was such a nice cool day, Maureen and I headed north on her 169 town quest and headed to South Windsor for a tour of the town. Along the way we stopped at Fairway Mini-Golf & Ice Cream. An older establishment with a nice, challenging mini-golf layout along with ice cream and snacks.

I had a scoop of Gifford’s maple walnut which was just as good as ever. Maureen passed as she was waiting for our next stop. They had a variety of Gifford’s hard ice cream, Hood soft serve and lots and lots of toppings.

The mini-golf was fun and not too busy. If you are in the area check it out before the season closes. You won’t be disappointed.

All the marbles…

After a nice drive up to Stafford to visit my aunt in a nursing home, we drove to Somers to check out Sonny’s Place…a local establishment with lots of fun for every one. In addition to a well-oiled ice cream window, there is an arcade, go-cart racing, climbing walls and a nice looking mini-golf course. Unfortunately the temperature was in the mid-90s so we passed on mini-golf but we will be back!

Sonny’s sells a wide variety of Gifford’s ice cream products and soft serve ice cream with all kind of toppings. Maureen went with her standard chocolate soft serve with chocolate sprinkles. I didn’t step to far from my standard either and had a coffee milkshake. Maureen described her soft serve as “ice milk”, a bit crystalline and not very creamy but delightful. My milkshake was thick and tasty and hit the spot on a hot summer day.

After our trip to Sonny’s we took a leisurely drive home through the Connecticut countryside on the east side of the state. One of the things we tracked was gas prices and the low price for the day was $4.11 for regular in Colechester. No doubt we will be back to Sonny’s this fall to enjoy this interesting establishment and to play 18 holes of mini-golf.

Something new!

Drove up to the quiet corner this morning and played a round of mini-golf at Tee Rex mini golf in Thompson and thoroughly enjoyed the course. After a riveting game we drove to the quaint farming town of Woodstock where we found a unique creamery at Valley Side Farm that has been in existence since 1819.

The Creamery is a vital part of an active dairy farm that produces on site a variety of products including beef products, bottled milk, cream, yogurt, sorbet and “sky” which are all available in the Creamery. The ice cream they sell is from two well-known local establishments…We-Lik-It from Pomfret and Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling.

Skyr is an Icelandic variety of yogurt that is strained and light and refreshing. I tried a half pint of amaretto chip skyr and Maureen had triple berry chip skyr and both were light, creamy and delicious!

Now I know what will be my first meal the next time I am in Iceland…Skyr!

The power of the Press?

Ended the holiday weekend with a trip to Rich Farm in Bristol, which is an interesting city that has a mixture of farm land, suburbia and industry. This is one of three Rich Farm ice cream farm stands around the state and the ice cream is every bit as good as the creamery in Oxford.

What made today special was the chance to see my good friend Annette, her husband Lew and their adorable daughter Jordan. Rich Farm has a wide variety of flavors including the basics and some genuine specialties. We chose a variety of flavors from Maureen’s German chocolate brownie on a hand pressed waffle cone. Annette had caramel swirl on a waffle cone while Lew enjoyed some sweet cream on a sugar cone.

Jordan and I went with coffee milk shakes although not without some hand ringing. I usually add a scoop of chocolate to my shake but at first they couldn’t do two flavors but after a few minutes the nice young lady Haley came back and said they would be happy to add the chocolate. I suspect they realized this was not a big challenge and not the mention of the ice cream quest that I blog about that persuaded them.

Like the mothership, Rich Farm makes an ice cream with 17 percent butter fat that makes it rich and creamy delight and worth the trip to Bristol.

Bristol is Annette’s home town and this was a place known then as Minor’s Farm, that she visited throughout her childhood and then recently with Jordan and Lew until they were recently acquired by Rich Farm. Judging by the traffic and location, I would say they are off to a good start!

An old school ice cream parlor

On a Sunday afternoon Maureen and I ventured north on a drive to central Connecticut in search of ice cream and discovered an ice cream parlor which is situated in the middle of an oxbow on the Farmington River.

Much to our surprise they have 18 holes of family friendly mini-golf. After a riveting round we enjoyed some tasty pleasures on the porch of the ice cream parlor.

The ice cream shop has the feel of an old school ice cream parlor with spinning stools overlooking the course with lots of flavors and delectables. They sell a commercial product called Bliss Ice Cream from Attleboro, Massachusetts. They have about 35 different flavors, a variety of cones, cups, shakes and malts. I had a thick and creamy coffee milk shake while Mighty Mo had Kahlua chocolate chip on a sugar cone.

If your looking for an enjoyable afternoon on a hot and steamy day or just about any other day, checkout Farmington Miniature Golf & Ice Cream. You won’t be disappointed!

Lots of lumps and bumps!

This afternoon Maureen and I went on a drive east to the small town of Bozrah to Knolls and Holes Mini Golf which is at the Odetah Camping Resort. It is early in the camping season and there were very few people in sight and we had the golf course to our selves. The course was surprisingly difficult and challenging with lots of lumps and bumps to carom our golf balls all over the place.

We got our game in despite the threat of rain and looked forward to some Icy delight. Unfortunately their dairy bar is not open for the season yet but their Camp Store had lots of Hershey’s ice cream products in their freezer. Hershey makes a variety of pre-packaged products from freeze pops, drum sticks, cups to ice cream sandwiches.

Mighty Mo and I both had Andes Creme de Menthe ice cream sandwiches which were light and refreshing and hit the spot. If you are looking for a nice spot for some fun with your family try Knolls and Holes. Just watch out for the Lumps and Bumps!