Sundae Best: Gozaic Shares Favorite Ice Cream Shops

Looks like summer brings out the ice cream lover in all of us! In this, our third installment of great ice cream parlors, (Part 1 and Part 2) we took an informal survey of our colleagues at Gozaic and National Trust Tours, which yielded a treasure trove of favorite spots for sampling frozen delights. Break out your sampling spoon and indulge in a sweet treat when you’re in town – and don’t worry about the calories – after all, summer only comes around once a year!

Camden Cone
Camden, Maine
With a name like Treat, Hilary Treat’s suggestion in Maine is guaranteed to be a winner! Her family “has had a summer place right north of Camden for the better part of 20 years, and we are frequent visitors to the Camden Cone. It’s a bitty place with no seating, and the décor is very Maine oriented; there is a mural of the Camden hills in the back. The current state senator from Knox County, Christopher Rector, will often serve you ice cream. They also use Round Top ice cream, which is locally made in Damariscotta, Maine.”

Kate’s Seafood
Brewster, Massachusetts
While the Bubbling Brook remains my sentimental favorite, our annual vacation always involves several visits to Kate’s Seafood, a roadside shack off Route 6A (Old King’s Highway) in Brewster, Massachusetts. Don’t let the name fool you – the ice cream is even better than the food!

This is old Cape Cod at its best – window service, no bathrooms and lots of fried seafood in addition to the ice cream. New flavors pop up each summer, but the classics remain. Cape Cod is chock full of ice cream shops – ask a seasoned visitor or a native, and each will have his or her own recommendation and frankly, you can’t really go wrong with any of them. However, in my opinion, none can match Kate’s location. Grab your ice cream and head up the road to Paine’s Creek, hands down the best spot on the Cape for watching the sunset. Mocha chip and Mother Nature -- together they are a tough act to beat!

The Dairy Lodge
Traverse City, Michigan
Mary Billingsley visits family in Northern Michigan and shares the Dairy Lodge in Traverse City. This traditional, seasonal soft-serve ice cream shop has toppings galore – including a favorite cherry hard-shell dip. Another favorite is the cherry sundae. After all, Traverse City is home to the National Cherry Festival.

Uncle Eddy's Frozen Custard and 18-Hole Mini Golf
Buxton, North Carolina
Harriet Meyers and family have been visiting this North Carolina favorite for years. This quirky local landmark, Uncle Eddy’s, serves up the finest frozen custard on Cape Hatteras – and offers a side serving of mini golf! Flavor selections are constantly changing, so it’s the perfect spot to sample something new.

The Jigger Shop
Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania
The Jigger Shop is an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that's been around since 1895. Stephanie Ostroff fondly recalls, “My family was on vacation in the area, and there is a lake open to the public for swimming that we stopped at near Mount Gretna. The brightly colored, striped awning above the outdoor seating area is the first thing that comes to my mind, when I think of The Jigger Shop. It really draws your attention.” While Stephanie doesn’t recall exactly what flavor she last enjoyed, “it was probably some kind of sundae!”

The Strasburg Creamery
Strasburg, Pennsylvania
The Strasburg Creamery HAS to be good – it has two fans on our staff! Lisa Turgeon-Williams remembers, “This store is located in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. I have an uncle and aunt who live about a block from this ice cream shop, so I have been enjoying this tasty treat for many years. The shop is always packed in the summer with a blend of tourists and locals.” While Lisa recommends the peanut butter ripple or mint chocolate chip, Stephanie Ostroff prefers a “dusty road sundae” – your choice of ice cream topped with hot fudge and malt powder.

Merrymead Farm
Worcester Township, Pennsylvania
Sarah Gabriele “grew up going to Merrymead Farm (simply called “the Dairy” by locals) almost every weekend with my parents to buy milk (in a bag!) and sometimes during the week after horseback riding lessons. Every visit included an ice cream cone and a visit to the farm’s animals and whatever seasonal display the dairy had set up (pumpkin patch, corn maze, greenhouse, etc). Merrymead is one of Pennsylvania’s Century Farms and has been in the same family for more than 100 years. There are more than 30 hand-dipped flavors of ice cream to enjoy, including soft-serve!” Sarah’s favorite – a classic soft-serve chocolate and vanilla swirl in a cone with rainbow jimmies.

Amy Verdin is a Gozaic consultant and just returned from Cape Cod, where she again sampled ice cream at Kate’s.

Photos top to bottom: Camden Cone by Hilary Treat. The Dairy Lodge courtesy of Gene Turner.