YES, IT IS HOT ... IT'S SUMMERTIME. SO EAT SOME ICE CREAM!!

YES, IT IS HOT ... IT'S SUMMERTIME.   SO LET'S EAT SOME ICE CREAM!!

I'm down here on Cape Cod, summer playground of ... well, of a whole bunch of people, and yes, it is hot ... it's summertime.  So let's eat some ice cream!!

In past posts I've related about the hot dog and root beer stands we had in Hyannis and West Harwich when I was a kid, but my immersion in the treats of summer continued long after that.  Making root beer floats set me off on a long journey through the world of frozen dairy products.

My first serious girlfriend's family was in the ice cream business, and in a very serious manner - they were (and still are) the proud owners of Four Seas Ice Cream in Centerville, right up the street from world famous Craigville Beach.  I loved her, I loved her Dad (God rest his soul) and I loved their ice cream, especially "Chip Chocolate", Cantalope, Ginger and Coconut.

Her Dad wasn't just any ice cream making dude, either - he was a professor of ice cream.  He wrote "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Homemade Ice Cream" and co-founded Successful Ice Cream Retailing, a seminar on ice cream entrepreneurship at Penn State.  He touched nearly every independent ice cream shop in the country.

In the Mid eighties my then wife and I moved to Dennisport, and across the street was the "Ice Cream and Muffin Shop" operated by Ed and Agnes Chatelain (now in real estate as the Cape Cod Chatelains).  Their ice cream was good, but right down the street we had The Sundae School, an ice cream showplace with excellent ice cream, phenomenal small batch whipped cream and bing cherries on their hot fudge sundaes. 

The Sundae School is located in an old barn (yeah, it's an historic old barn), and they transplanted a soda fountain from Parkway Pharmacy on Blue Hill Parkway in Milton to create an ice cream parlor.  They do some serious business.  Their "Sweet Cream & Nuts" is seriously good, and they make a great Chocolate Ice Cream Soda.

After that I moved on down Cape to Orleans, and we became friends with a descendant of Four Seas - The Ice Cream Cafe.  Greg and Terry run a very nice little shop with excellent ice cream made on the premises.  Their mint chip is really good, and they make sundaes for the dogs - that's a big deal on the Cape, where there are far more dogs than children.

There is a branch of the Sundae School in East Orleans, which we liked too - but somehow it wasn't the same as the Dennisport original.

Somewhere along there we lived in Dennis, on the Northside, and liked the Ice Cream Smuggler a lot - they have a "French Raspberry Truffle" that's pretty darn good.

So, now we're back in the Mid Cape area, in South Yarmouth.  We have a plethora of ice cream choices, and surprisingly, probably the BEST ICE CREAM ON THE CAPE can be found at a local spot, The Cape Cod Creamery.

Perhaps by this time you may have noted that I have what may be an unusually intimate relationship with ice cream and ice cream shops.  You may know that New England and Cape Cod both have long histories with ice cream, including corporate ice cream - Howard Johnson's (the second one in the world was in Orleans), Friendly's and Brighams were all from Massachusetts.  I even interviewed as marketing director for Ben & Jerry's in Vermont back in the Eighties.

So when I nominate the Cape Cod Creamery as the BEST ICE CREAM ON THE CAPE, I'm making my choice based on a lifetime of experience in eating cones, hot fudge sundaes, frappes and ice cream sodas.  Now, the Creamery isn't the best show - Sundae School is.  They don't have the best history - Four Seas does. They have their faults, the main one being that their selection of toppings is pedestrian, maybe even less.

But, as far as smooth, creamy ice cream enjoyment, Cummaquid Coconut or Dennis Double Chocolate are absolutely fabulous.  The consistency is different than from all the other shops - I believe thay are using a heavier cream, or more cream, or more likely, more butterfat.  The also do gelato - again, a very smooth, creamy gelato that is fabulous.

So, yeah, it's hot - but all that means is you need to eat more ICE CREAM!!

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