Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself!

Last week I made a pledge to myself that I was going put a hiatus on my ice cream consumption. However, on our way home from visiting my aunt in Stafford, we were driving through the town of Tolland and I saw an Xtramart that was serving soft-serve. This wasn’t a normal route that we take, so I said the hell with my hiatus and jumped at this chance to get some soft-serve in a new town.

This is an Exxon gas station with an XtraMart convenience store that serves their own soft/serve product. They have chocolate and vanilla and offer cones, cups, shakes and ice cream sandwiches. Much to Maureen’s, my soft serve specialist, shock their machines were not operating. But much to my surprise they have a nice selection of pre-made mixes and ice cream sandwiches.

I went for a chocolate-vanilla sandwich with a nice cake-like cookie that was well made, firm ice cream with a soft, tasty cookie.

On our way home we stopped at one of my favorite places in Connecticut..Safari Mini-Golf in Berlin. Maureen and I play several times a year and track our scores for the season and the winner gets a prize. You guessed it…ice cream.

Some times you just have to laugh at yourself!

Our bracket is complete!

On our Sunday drive we enjoyed the countryside in the town of Sharon in the far northwest corner of Connecticut. Sharon is a rural town rich in farm land but not a lot of commerce and I suspect the locals wouldn’t change a thing.

We ended up in the Sharon Farm Market which is surprisingly large and diverse for a rural community. I even found a jar of the spice Garam Masala I have been looking for. I found a wide variety of various ice cream products from Hood, Turkey Hill, and Friendly’s to Arethusa and Ben & Jerry’s. But what caught our eye was a pint of ginger ice cream from a company called SoCo Ice Cream from Great Barrington, Massachusetts. SoCo uses dairy products from a farm in southern Vermont and most of their ingredients are either grown locally or baked on site in their creamery in Great Barrington.

The ginger ice cream was in a pint and once we found some spoons we dove in. SoCo’s ginger ice cream has a very light, smooth taste not the least bit overwhelming as some ginger products can be. In fact it has such a faint ginger taste it’s hard to recognize unless you really think about it. SoCo offers a wide range of exotic and somewhat standard products. They also have a shop in Great Barrington I would love to check out some day.

Sharon was the last town we had to visit to complete the four corners of Connecticut or our bracket. Over the rest of the year we hope to find some new creameries and continue to fill in our bracket.

Billions and billions served!

On a beautiful, warm Sunday afternoon we took off for the northwest corner of the state and visited the small, quaint town of North Canaan. North Canaan has been in the news a lot lately as it is one of the few places in Connecticut that has had any significant snow fall this winter. One would think with all that snow, there might be ice cream…but not really. The only option for ice cream in North Canaan is a place known for those addictive French fries, McDonalds.

I admit it. I have had a McDonalds burger in most of the countries I have visited over the years but I have largely limited my ice cream selection to chocolate milk shakes, and today was no different. McDonald’s sells a soft serve ice cream product and contrary to popular folklore there is no “plastic” used in their ice cream products.

The chocolate shake I had was consistent with all the other McDonald’s shakes I have had over the past 50 years…thick, thick, thick with a slightly granular texture and rich chocolate flavor.

If you are looking for a quick ice cream fix don’t hesitate to have a shake or soft serve cone from Ron’s Steak House, MickyD’s, or the Golden Arches! Just remember billions and billions served, which is how I am beginning to feel on this quest!

On the way home…

On my way home from a very enjoyable trip to Eastern Connecticut State University, I was enjoying a peaceful ride when Meyer’s Crazy Hollow Creamery popped up in front of me in North Franklin. Well you know me and you know I can’t pass up ice cream, especially when it is raining on a 48-degree day!

Meyer’s is a friendly establishment with a large selection of flavors that are produced by a local farm, Wildowsky’s Dairy. I had a coffee shake with a scoop of chocolate which was thick, creamy and had a strong chocolate kick to it. I can’t wait to come back with Maureen and try their other flavors. They serve cups, cones, shakes and sundaes and have an enormous list of toppings.

Whether you are on your way home or just out for a Sunday drive head to Franklin and stop at Meyer’s Crazy Hollow Creamery. You won’t be disappointed!

The real deal.

With more than 50 flavors to choose from the Main Street Creamery & Cafe in Wethersfield is an ice cream oasis. Open seasonally, we stopped by on opening weekend and were not disappointed.

The shop was packed inside with lots of smiling faces, no doubt filling their bellies with these sweet concoctions. Main Street Creamery offer a wide selection of standard and not-so-standard hard ice cream flavors. Their hard ice cream and frozen yogurt is made locally just for them, and they even have a custom, home made soft serve. They offer cups, cones, shakes, floats, pies and ice cream sandwiches made on the spot.

I went back to basics and had one of the best coffee-chocolate milkshakes I have had in a long time. It was rich, creamy and just the right thickness to be drinkable yet frozen delicious. My compliments the ice cream scooper! Maureen, despite her love of soft serve passed on this creamy deliciousness.

No doubt we will be coming back to Main Street Creamery for some further sampling but if you are looking for a nice ride this year check out the real deal Main Street Creamery in historic Wethersfield.

A gold medal type of place!

On my way home from the Passport Office in Stamford, I took a diversion to the town of New Canaan down in the panhandle of Connecticut. I have some good friends who grew up in New Canaan and I have wanted to stroll around this beautiful Connecticut town. New Canaan is well known for the architect Philip Johnson’s glass house and was the childhood home of Bill Toomey, the 1968 gold medal decathlon winner in Mexico City.

Gelatissimo is a nice establishment on a side street off Main Street in New Canaan. I was met by a very nice, kind gentleman who is very passionate about their gelato. Gelatissimo makes their gelato on site. They offer 20 or so flavors of a wide variety, toppings, cones, cups and cakes and make a special flavor daily.

I had a cup of their stracciatella alla menta or mint chocolate chip. But honestly their was about ten I wanted to try. Their gelato is delicious…sweet, smooth and very tasty. Their prices seem a bit high but believe me it is well worth every penny.

If you are looking for a gold medal gelato or ice cream, try Gelatissimo. You won’t be disappointed.

Baby on board!

After a trip to the Passport Office in Stamford, Maureen and I met my good friend Matt Walsh and his wife Kristi and son Parker for lunch at Sally’s Apizza and then ice cream at Milk N Cookies. I have known Matt since he was about six years old and it has been fun to watch him grow from a curious, fun loving kid, to a high school and college football star, to an owner of his own company in Stamford.

After a nice lunch with traditional New Haven style pizza at Sally’s in Stamford we walked up the street to a novel ice cream establishment called Milk N Cookies. They are in a nice location in a row of shops on one of the main shopping areas of Stamford.

Milk N Cookies offers only the three traditional ice cream flavors…chocolate, vanilla and strawberry from the New Jersey creamery Jack and Jill Ice Cream…and they mix various varieties of breakfast cereal in the ice cream with a number of traditional toppings. I had a thick, rich and creamy chocolate milk shake. Maureen passed on ice cream and had a large, chocolate chip cookie. Big surprise there! While Matt had a cup of chocolate with Heath Bar candy topping and Kristi had vanilla ice cream with Heath Bar candy topping too. Sounds like two peas in a pod there all right!

Much to my surprise Kristi is quite the ice cream aficionado and she had lots of good suggestions on places to visit. We are looking forward to our next trip to Fairfield County and the chance to have ice cream with Matt, Kristi and their growing family.

The West End

After a couple days of frigid temperatures it was time to get out and check out another part of the state and today we ended up in the state capital, Hartford. After a nice visit to the Connecticut Historical Society we stayed in the West End of Hartford and checked out Frisbie’s Dairy Barn at Parkville Market.

A multi-cultural market with numerous restaurants with various cuisines was alive and hopping on a Sunday afternoon. Nestled toward one end is Frisbie’s.

Frisbie’s has an interesting menu with about 15 different hard ice cream flavors plus soft serve. They make their own waffle cones, and offer sugar cones, floats, shakes and sundaes.

Maureen passed on ice cream today but I went with a chocolate milk shake thAt was amazingly rich and creamy in flavor and thick and smooth in texture. All in all a great shake.

If your looking for something to do this winter head to the Connecticut Historical Society in the West End and top it off with a trip to Frisbie’s. You won’t be disappointed.

The final corner of the puzzle!

Today we traveled to the southwest corner of the state to Greenwich to check out the novel place Van Leeuwen in the heart of town. Van Leeuwen began as a ice cream truck in New York City in 2008 and gradually expanded with franchises in eight states.

Van Leeuwen’s is craft ice cream made according to traditional French standards, following a specific recipe. The shop is adorned with signage with multiple quotes from the founders vision and core values of making ice cream and enjoying life!

Van Leeuwen has multiple flavors and offers them in cones, shakes, floats and ice cream sandwiches. And there are vegan options as well. For those that can’t get enough in the shop you can purchase pints to take home. It seems like there prices are on the high side but this shouldn’t be surprising considering the location and craft nature of the product.

Today, I’m back to my old standard, a milkshake with hard ice cream. Chocolate today as they were out of coffee ice cream. The shake was well made, thick and creamy and the ice cream was rich and delicious! Mighty Mo went off plan today and indulged her sweet tooth with a large, glorious chocolate chip cookie.

Today was our first visit to an ice cream establishment in Fairfield County and completed our winter task of traveling to the final corner of the state. If you are in this neck of the woods, stop by. You won’t be disappointed!

A place of firsts…

On our way home from Stafford after visiting my aunt, we drove through the Town of Vernon, which brought back a flood of memories and we stopped at Carvel on route 30. Maureen had her standard chocolate soft serve on a wafer cone and I had a kiddie scoop of mint chocolate chip on a wafer cone as well. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this place is the plastic cone grabbers the wafer cone sat in to catch drips.

Carvel is a well established franchise known for their own ice cream product, ice cream cakes and shakes, floats and sundaes. They were established in Athens, Greece and has been around since 1929. The first location in the states was in Hartsdale, New York.

I gave a lot of nice memories from Vernon. I visited my first McDonald’s in Vernon in 1973 and recall a notorious food fight after a bunch of us saw Bruce Lee: Enter the Dragon movie at the 99-cent movie theatre in town. I played golf for the first time at a very nice par 3 course at Golf Land.

Nightcrawlers and Worms anyone?

Nestled on the Rhode Island border and close to Foxwoods Casino, Voluntown has an interesting history and a place I urge you to check out if you get the chance. There appears to be many businesses but unfortunately no ice cream shop or creamery. There is however Sunny’s Supermarket that seems to have a little bit of everything including a wide variety of ice cream choices.

There are multiple coolers filled with half-gallons, pints and single serving sizes. Maureen passed again but I went back to an old favorite, a Popsicle, or so I thought! What I had was a Sponge Bob Square Pants fruit punch and cotton candy cream sickle with gumball eyes that was oddly delicious and refreshing on a cold, rainy November afternoon.

Whether you are looking for nightcrawlers or ice cream, Sunny’s is your place!

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!