Tag Archives: ice cream

Day is Done…

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Back on dry land I had to get my land legs back to trudge up the hill to the car. From freezing to sweating . It was close to 90 degrees and humid! Maybe being cold out on the sea wasn’t so bad. 🙂

The first point of business was to track down my fellow traveler, JR. He hadn’t wanted to go on the boat so I’d left him exploring the town. Now as I pulled out my cell phone to call him I realized it was 5 pm. No wonder I was hungry.  I hadn’t had lunch and the “snack bar” on the rocking and rolling Islander consisted of peanuts , chips, candy bars, coffee and soft drinks. With the cabin filled with the suffering, I couldn’t even think of food but back on land my stomach was making its empty presence known.

JR was back at the motel so I headed over there to meet up with him. He had done a terrific job of checking out the town. One of the most interesting things to me was an island called Bar Island. It’s an island in the harbor just off Bar Harbor. You get to it by crossing a sand bar. The tricky part is that the sand bar is under water at high tide. Up in that part of Maine the tides can vary  10 – 12 feet between High and Low tide. So if you go out and the tide comes in..you could be stuck there for 6 hours or until the next low tide.

On the boat the tour guide said there was a joke that if a local tells you there’s parking on the island that means  they don’t like you very much. 🙂

But back to my hungry stomach…During his explorations JR had run across a pub style restaurant called The Thirsty Whale. I would have liked to go back to The Route 66  if only to bring the camera but JR had a point.  His  argument was that we should experience as much as possible in the short time we would be there and we’d already tried Rt 66.  The Thirsty Whale wasn’t far from the motel so we walked down.

It was typical pub food. JR had a pizza of some kind..maybe bar-b- q chicken or something like that. I stuck with the nautical theme enjoying a fish and chips plate that tasted as if he fish had just swum in..sooo fresh. That’s the beauty of ordering seafood right on the coast. The problem is that it spoils me for the rest of the year.

After dinner we wandered up to the main tourist part of town, did some window shopping and got an ice cream at one of the many ice cream shops.

I spotted the man with the cat on the leash again. I couldn’t believe how calm the cats was with strangers walking all around him. Rocky will walk on a leash too so that wasn’t the amazing part. The part that amazed me is that the cat was calm as could be in all the confusion and the crowds of people. While I talked with his owner he plopped down and started  giving himself a thorough kitty bath …the cat not the owner.(yoga poses to reach his private parts and all).

Leaving the hustle and bustle behind we walked back to the motel. JR wanted to photograph a church with beautiful stained glass windows. I did too  but my adventures of the day had taken their toll. I could hardly keep my eyes open on the walk back so I sent him on his way and I crashed.  I think my eyes were closed before my head hit the pillow. We had another busy day planned for the ‘morrow and I wanted to be alert enough to enjoy it.

Voted # 1 in New England

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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

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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! 🙂