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.
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!!!
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!
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.
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!
The 2024 season of TheConnecticut 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.
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!
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!
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!
On my way home from a nice lunch with a good friend in Granby I stopped for fuel at a place called Sam’s Food Store in East Granby. I have been researching the town of East Granby for a couple years and haven’t been able to find any place that serves ice cream. But much to my surprise when I entered Sam’s food store I found a freezer with various ice cream products.
Today I chose a Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar with vanilla ice cream, and a milk chocolate covering, which hit the spot. This may not be a Creamery or a Dairy Bar, but a Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar was just what I needed for the ride home.
Häagen-Dazs ice cream began in 1960 in the Bronx, New York but it wasn’t till the 1980s that Häagen-Dazs began to sell ice cream bars, commercially through a variety of different stores. The moral of the story, when in doubt look for Häagen-Dazs. You can’t go wrong.
Just off the Western Connecticut State University campus is the Dubl Twister ice cream shop that is celebrating 50 years in operation! We were lucky to meet the owners, an Albanian couple who have owned the shop since 2014, and operate two Dubl Twister locations, Danbury and New York City.
Lucy, who has worked at Dubl Twister for several years was on call and quickly found The Connecticut Ice Cream Quest online and we enjoyed some playful banter about ice cream and our Knights of the Roundtable Quest!
I had the usual…a medium coffee milkshake with a scoop of chocolate. Maureen had her fave, chocolate soft serve with chocolate sprinkles on a wafer cone. The shake was good and thick and very tasty while Mo’s soft serve was some of the best she has had. But there are many, many options and some might say “99 flavors of ice cream on the wall.” We will definitely try something different next time
They have a long list of hard ice cream flavors and multiple toppings but the long counter showing the ice cream is very impressive. They offer cups, cones, shakes, floats, sundaes, cakes and ice cream sandwiches. Their ice cream is made on site and transported to NYC and offered at Candlewood Creamery in New Fairfield.
Dubl Twister is a pleasant, nostalgic shop and has a long history in Danbury. This won’t be our last time here and should be on your bucket list when visiting western Connecticut. Congratulations on 50 years of keeping WestConn students tummies filled with ice cream and cheers to the next 50 years!
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!
