Voted # 1 in New England

Posted on by

Speaking of Ice Cream, I turned on the news the other morning to hear that an establishment in Taunton, Ma (where I live) was voted #1 for Ice Cream in New England. Now that’s really cool! Someplace in my own town won out and it’s a category I love…Ice Cream. I have got to check this out!

How could I have lived in this town for 6 years and not know where this place is? According to NECN , Frates at 1423 Somerset Ave, Taunton is #1.

So the first time I went looking it was raining but I found out right away why I’d never noticed it before. It’s on RT 138 going south but I am usually going north so I turn the opposite way about a mile before I would have reached it.

I was pleased to see that it isn’t just ice cream. They have all kinds of food; hamburgers, fish and chips, fried clams, fish sandwiches and more. And, oh yes they have ice cream. Tons of ice cream, hard and soft, blizzards, sundaes, floats. Amazing!

I tried the Fish sandwich. Sooo good and polished my meal off with a small soft serve cone with “mix in’s”. Remember the days when there might be 28 flavors of hard  ice cream but only vanilla, chocolate or a “twist” for soft serve? Well that sure has changed.

Ok, so my 2nd visit to Frates was on a sunny day. The picnic tables on the patio were open and there was a steady stream of cars in and out of the parking lot.

This time I had the fish and chips. Excellent choice. Once again I finished up with a small soft serve cone. This time with Oreo cookies mixed in.

Since this is less than a mile from my home I can see it becoming an addiction. The whole atmosphere is good.

 The folks are really nice and friendly and I love the decor..cows…along with the rockin’ oldies they have playing. I was tapping my foot and trying to sing along between bites.

Although they are “seasonal” their season runs from March to late Oct or beginning of November…that’s  seasonal plus. 🙂

Summer Treats

Posted on by

I love summer. I love the sunshine. I love the heat. I love going to the seashore and the smell of sea breezes. But one thing I really love is all the ice cream stands that open up Memorial Day!

I guess people don’t eat enough ice cream in the winter to support all the different ice cream locations as so many of them close once the kids go back to school and the snow begins to fly.

I also love success stories. Last summer there was a little ice cream shop in one of the strip malls along RT 44 in Taunton. I’d stopped in a couple of times but there was never any line out the door or crowd so I wasn’t sure how their business was doing and of course, I wasn’t going to ask. That would be rude!

Recently I was at that mall again and the store front was empty. I wondered about it  and felt sad that another small business had bitten the dust in these uncertain economic times. Then Saturday was the BIG VOTE in Taunton. The vote is a yes/no non-binding referendum for a Casino so as I was tooling down RT 44 to my polling place to cast my vote I spotted a new ice cream stand.

Was this the same business from the little mall? Was it possible that it hadn’t closed but instead had enough success to move to this location? Looks to me like a prime spot with lots of visibility. The location also has a parking lot so folks looking for a tasty frozen treat can pull right in!

I went back today for a small soft serve and asked if this was the same ice cream shop. It is! I am so happy for them. I am thrilled to hear of a success story instead of the sad story I first thought.

I picked up their menu…WOW 24 flavors of Soft Serve and yes they have vanilla 🙂

There are toppings and hard ice cream too. Don’t want a cone? Have a dish or a sundae and wash it all down with Del’s lemonade.

This is not a paid advertisement. I’m just excited for a local business. I didn’t even tell them I was going to write about them. But stop by Tom & Jimmy’s, 337 Winthrop St, Taunton and have a cone and if you think of it, tell them you heard about them at aroundustyroads! 🙂

Unusual Day At Oliver Mill Park

Posted on by

I’ve been keeping an eye out for my friend, the Great Blue Heron, that hangs out at the herring run in Middleboro. Since there are actually 2 of the “herring runs” in Middleboro I like to refer to this one off Rt 44 as Oliver Mill Park. After all, there a sign there that calls it that.

A few days ago I saw a large number of photographers all running around with their gear and tripods trying to get pictures of “Blue”. Since then “Blue” hasn’t been around. I figured he felt harassed by all the attention and was giving us the cold shoulder. Now with rain keeping all but the most intrepid away, he was back.

I couldn’t pass up the chance for a couple of shots even though I didn’t have the big telephoto with me. He watched me as I made my way down to the sandy part of the river bank.

 Once there we were eye-ball to eye-ball, mono a mono so to speak when I got dive bombed by something! My first reaction was to swat it away which I now regret. I wish I’d tried to grab it instead because it was a little bird. A few minutes later one zoomed over  “Blue’s” head so close he ducked!

The birds reminded me of the swallows I see at Daniel Webster but they didn’t have the “V” tail like a swallow. They were swooping all over the place. I took my pictures and left “Blue” alone. I stopped on one of the little bridges and took a picture of the miniature waterfall. Then I headed back to the car.

I was almost in the parking lot when I saw one of the Canada Geese families. They were paddling around the upper part of the river were the water appears to be smooth.

As I watched they swam really close to the top of the fish ladder and sure enough, one of the little goslings got sucked over the edge. Now he could have just continued to float down the ladder and he would have ended up on the sand where the family could reunite but these aren’t people and all they could think to do was get back together.

So the little gosling struggled and the parents honked. Finally one of the parents went over the edge too and swam  to the gosling as if to push it up but that didn’t work. It took the adult goose several tried to get back above the ladder and the baby was still stuck.

About then we humans had seen about all we could take. One guy headed for his car to get a golf club to try to push the baby up. I was getting a shovel out of my car when the men in the 3rd car yelled that the baby had finally made it.

Mama & Papa Goose wasted no time in getting everyone away from the top of the fish ladder then. We humans were relieved that the little drama had ended well.

That sums up my unusual day at Oliver Mill Park. It isn’t every visit that I get dive bombed by a tiny bird and get to see a life and death struggle play out right in front of me.