On the road again…

On my way back from playing golf in northeastern Connecticut, I stopped in the town of Killingly at a place that is celebrating their 20th anniversary Ra Ra’s ice cream shop. Ra Ra’s is situated near a sports complex in the town and seems to do a very good business even in the middle of the day when there were no ball games underway.

As I was solo, I had my usual… a coffee and chocolate milkshake that was made with Big Dipper Ice Cream. Big Dipper is a well known product from Prospect. They offer both hard ice cream and soft serve, in cups, cones Sundays, and shakes or floats. My shake was well prepared, thick and creamy and tasty to the last drop.

If you’re on a road trip looking for a place to stop in eastern Connecticut, we looking to check out a ballgame, stop and have some ice cream at Ra Ra’s. You won’t be disappointed.

Three for the money…

On a warm sunny afternoon I drove up to the town of Avon in west central Connecticut to meet my good friend Annette Fortin and her adorable daughter Jordan. Avon is known for many things including Avon Old Farms School, which two of my friends attended, and Dom’s. On the north side of Main Street is Dom’s Coffee, Dom’s Cheese, and Don’s Creamery.

Don’s Creamery is a craft ice cream establishment that has a wide variety of flavors, some standard and some rather unique. They offer cups, cones and shakes, along with cakes and pints. Their prices are on the higher side but it is fresh made in the store.

I had a honey latte milkshake which was well-made, tasty and with crunchy honey flakes! Annette had a cup with two scoops of honey vanilla and dulce de leche, while Jordan had a cup with pistachio, one of my faves, and honey latte. All of these flavors were simply delicious and breathtaking.

Next time you are passing by Avon stop by Dom’s whether you are looking for coffee, cheese or ice cream!

Finally, success!!!

I have tried a number of times to sample the ice cream at Wittemore’s but they always seem to be closed when we were passing by. From the outside, Whitmore is a very unassuming place. But once you get inside, they have a very interesting selection of ice cream products. They offer cups, cones, shakes, and sundaes.

We were the first customer for the day and I decided to go back to my old standard a coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. However, they didn’t have standard coffee, but had coffee caramel crunch, which made a very delicious milkshake with a scoop of chocolate.

The shop is under new management, and they do a great job of serving you. The facility is actually quite charming and feels somewhat historic. If you’re in the area, don’t hesitate to stop. You won’t be disappointed.

Something special…

It started off as a cloudy, raining Sunday so what else to do…we headed off to da valley for some ice cream. On the eastern side of the Housatonic River are a series of small town known for various industries that utilized the water power from the river. One of these towns, Ansonia, is well known for their high school football team that just wins and wins and wins.

On Main Street is an interesting place called The Sweet Eats Company that offers a wide variety of soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt and lots and lots of fixins. You pick your cup size and go to town on your choice of flavors and and enjoy the sweet, delicious dairy products that are made on the premises. Maureen had a mixed cup with chocolate and vanilla soft serve. Since they don’t make milkshakes, I opted for some chocolate soft serve with coconut flakes which made it just sparkle.

If you’re looking for something special, look no further. The Sweet Eats Company is the place for you!

Strike out!

Canterbury is one of those small charming towns in eastern Connecticut but part of that charm is very little commercialism.

On our way home from our mini-golf search, my buddy Jim and I stopped at a Cumberland Farms in Canterbury and you know what that means! Yup, I took the opportunity and purchased one of my favorite dairy products, a Klondike Bar.

There are a few towns in Connecticut that lack an ice cream parlor or general store. But luckily there is often a Cumby’s in many of these towns. Cumby’s has been around since 1939 and was founded in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

Let’s just hope we don’t strike out too often!

Fore!

After driving around looking a mini-golf place with my buddy Jim and striking out, we headed to the border town of Plainfield and an ice cream establishment that has been around since 1957. To say Hank’s Dairy Bar is a legend would be an understatement. We arrived around 1:00 pm on a Friday and the place was hopping with multiple people enjoying lunch and ice cream.

Hank’s is far more than just an ice cream place. They have a full compliment of hamburgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, fries, and more. They have a wide variety of ice cream choices with shakes, cones, cups and sundaes with all the toppings and offer a wide variety of hard ice cream flavors and soft serve. And they are very moderately priced.

Their staff is friendly and helpful. As the place was hopping we had to wait about 10 minutes for our ice cream but their staff was entertaining. I had a coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate and Jim (AKA Molesley) had a strawberry shake that was rich in color and fruit. Both were delicious!

Regardless of whether you missed your tee time or are just looking for a pleasant place to stop when exploring eastern Connecticut, Hank’s is your place. Fore!!!

50 years and still and going strong!

We have tried for years to make it to Popey’s and today was our lucky day! Popey’s is one of the older ice cream establishments in Connecticut. They began scooping in 1972!

On a cold, rainy afternoon we were heading toward Morris and made the decision to stop at Popey’s to warm up. Mighty Mo wanted some soup but was swayed by the fried cauliflower with a tasty ranch dressing. As the ice cream connoisseur of the family I went with my usual, a coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate.

Popey’s serves Gifford’s hard ice cream and an unknown soft serve product. They have a wide variety of flavors and toppings and offer cones, cups, sundaes and shakes. They have indoor and outdoor seating and have a grill attached for those needing fried cauliflower, burgers, fries and sandwiches.

If you’re heading to Litchfield County, don’t miss out on a stop at Popey’s. You can be part of the second 50 years!

No, George Washington did not have ice cream here but…

In beautiful northwest Connecticut the town of Washington that has several hamlets and villages. Washington Depot is the center of town with a dozen or so businesses including the local Washington Food Market that seemed to have everything anyone would want including a wide variety of ice cream selections

They offer ice cream in pints and half gallons and a variety of local products including Arethusa from neighboring Litchfield. They also offer a large selection of single serve flavors for those needing a fix when on the road.

Today I went with a small cup of Haagen-Dazs coffee while Mighty Mo had Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough. We had a guest with us today, our pup Sheldon Copper who enjoyed a small cup of Haagen-Dazs vanilla.

We met two very helpful staff at the check out counter and even though they can’t say George Washington sampled the ice cream here, they can say Sheldon Cooper did!

A great day for a safari!

Today we set off north in the Connecticut Valley to the town of Newington to a long-time Connecticut establishment, Mortensen Dairy & Ice Cream on the Berlin Turnpike. Mortensen’s is the real deal with their many homemade hard ice cream flavors and their own soft serve product. The establishment is on the smaller size but has four or five tables and a bench outside.

We were met by Cici, a very pleasant and helpful staff person at the counter. They have an abundance of flavors, and specials each day. I had my usual, a coffee milkshake, that was anything but usual. This was a Brazilian coffee milkshake with a scoop of dark chocolate and this was insanely good! Mighty Mo had a peanut butter, hot fudge sundae with vanilla soft-serve.

On our way home we stopped at one of our favorite places, Safari Mini-Golf. Maureen came out on top this time but I suspect we will be back for seconds at Mortensen’s and Safari this summer.

Fresh vegetables, honey and ice cream…what’s not to like!

On our way home from a riveting game at Matterhorn Mini-Golf, we searched the town of neighboring Burlington for ice cream. Not to be denied we stopped at a farmer’s market called Tonn’s Marketplace.

We have been to Tonn’s before for fresh vegetables but never tried the ice cream. Tonn’s sells ice cream pints from Arethusa, a creamery in Litchfield, ice cream sandwiches from Blue Chip Creamery from Glastonbury.

We opted for a “Thiq Mint” ice cream sandwich which was made with mint chip ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. Mighty Mo and I split the sandwich that was large, frozen solid and delicious.

If you are traveling around the western part of the state check out Tonn’s Marketplace for fresh vegetables and some ice cream.

A must see place!

On my way home from a nice meeting with the Earth Science faculty at Eastern Connecticut State University I felt an urging to stop at a novel ice cream establishment Farmer’s Cow & Calfe Creamery. Farmer’s is in the outskirts of Windham in a strip mall on Route 195.

Farmer’s is a charming place with pleasant staff. They have a nice mix of hard ice cream and soft serve products. In addition they offer a wide variety of outside products.

I had a cappuccino coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate, which I must admit was deliciousssss!!!!! The shake was very well made by Farmer’s manager Amanda. If you’re in the vicinity of Willimantic check out Farmer’s. It’s a must see place!

And here we go…

The 2024 season of The Connecticut Ice Cream Quest is off with a bang and a trip to Norwich in the southeast part of our state. We headed over to an old favorite Friendly’s, which at one time was fairly common in Connecticut. At one time Friendly’s was a staple in Connecticut and several other states. Now there are only ten Friendly’s left in the state.

Our pup Sheldon joined us today and enjoyed a cup with a single scoop of vanilla hard ice cream. Mighty Mo had a chocolate Fripple, while I had a coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate. No surprises as we have always enjoyed Friendly’s ice cream, which is consistently delicious!

We hope to visit about 20 spots this year. If you’re interested all are welcome to join us on our “Knights of the roundtable” quest.

And here we go!

Ching, Ching, Ching…

On our way home from our semi-annual visit to Mohegan Sun we took a diversion and traveled to the town of Preston in southeast Connecticut. We visited an active dairy farm by the name of Sweet Grass Creamery that makes many of their own products on site. Unfortunately, ice cream is not one of the products they make at the farm. But they do sell a very fine product from the Tulmeadow, a dairy in Simsbury.

They offered quarts and ice cream sandwiches and we went for a pumpkin ice cream sandwich with chocolate chip cookies with spicy pumpkin ice cream and big chocolate chips that was delicious!

If you’re heading home from the Casinos and want to enjoy a stop along the way, check out Sweet Grass Creamery…and you can enjoy all your earnings! Ching, ching, ching!

Inexpensive gas prices!

On our way home from brunch with our good friend Annette, her daughter Jordan and mom Lucy we stopped at a convenience store in Wolcott for ice cream. Wolcott is a town in west central Connecticut and known for many things. Perhaps one of the most interesting things of late is a meteorite fall that struck a house in 2013!

We stopped at a new place called Nouria, which is a convenience store that sells petro, coffee, drinks, snacks and ice cream! They have pints of Ben & Jerry’s, Good Humor products and one of my faves Klondike Bars.

If you’re passing through Wolcott stop at Nouria for ice cream and you might be surprise by the inexpensive gas prices!

Booze and pup cups here we come!

After a challenging morning Maureen and I headed north to the beautiful rural town of Brooklyn in northeast Connecticut. We were headed to an ice cream place called The Ice Box, which is owned by a wonderful couple that run the shop and the adjacent Hungarian restaurant Sütő.

The Ice Box has been opened for almost 40 years and recently was recently acquired by a lovely couple who is living their dream! They make their own ice cream on site and offer a wide variety of flavors. They offer cups, cones, malts, shakes and all the fixings including some boozy concoctions.

Maureen and I had shakes. Mo had chocolate and I had coffee with a scoop of chocolate. Both were rich, creamy and delish! Sheldon who joined us had a pup cup with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and a biscuit and boy was he happy! It smelled delicious.

Next time you’re in the mood for something sweet and different head to Brooklyn and The Ice Box! Just remember if you are going to have a boozy shake, bring your designated driver!