Niko’s Ice Cream and Confectionary

June 23, 2018

Niko’s  Ice Cream and Confectionary Company, Orange, Connecticut

Walking into Niko’s Ice Cream and Confectionary gave me a good feeling – bright, beautifully and spaciously decorated, with adorned walls, clean comfortable tables  (one of which had a checkers set up and a lady teaching her young grandson how to play), and a large ice cream case (the best part).  They had chocolates and other candy, but really featured Hershey’s ice cream with a wide choice of toppings.  I had Magical Unicorn ice cream (sweet cream ice cream with sweet-and-sour- cherry and blue raspberry swirls with lemon candy flakes) with whipped cream.  This was my favorite Hershey ice cream flavor so far – and that is saying something!  Don had chocolate chip ice cream with peanut butter sauce.  This is a delightful shop with friendly service and a comfortable atmosphere.

In the area (sort of) -Today we went to the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport – always a fascinating place.  It covers a large array of topics relating to sea-faring history.  There are very knowledgeable and enthuastic employees stategically located to answer all questions.  Today I learned that lobsters in New England used to be 4 feet long,   Ships’ epoxied wood layers set better under vacuum,  that captains on cargo ships had really, really nice quarters and that the Mayflower II was a gift from England and is presently being refurbished at Mystic.   This place is awesome!

Cookie Monstah

 

June 9, 2018

Cookie Monstah, Boston, Massachusettes

When in Boston, speak as Bostonians speak, or more correctly spell as Bostonians speak .. Cookie Monstah is an ice cream truck and cookie truck – their specialty is the convergence of the two – cookie topped ice cream.  – Renee and I both had Green Monster ice cream (mint ice cream with oreo and fudge swirl) with a double chocolate chunk cookies.  The cookies were large and the ice cream tasty.  Since there was no seating available, we ate as we walked toward the harbor so I had a difficult time giving the treat a valid taste test – I can say service was amazingly fast,, the product was attractive and was perfect for our walk today.  But I will never really be able to speak as a Bostonian.  The ice cream cookie truck was located in downtown Boston where a gay pride parade was taking place – there were rainbows and a lot of people everywhere!

In the area:  walking along a waterfront park we found the coolest playground with the best slide and merry-go- round ever!

We also caught an open house of the Portuguese naval ship Sardis – this huge three mast ship is used for training Portuguese military and included modern computers and automated stuff  as well as all the ropes sails and other scary associated with historic ships like the Mayflower.  I would rather cross the ocean on the Sardis than the Mayflower.

 

 

Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner

May 21, 2018

Mr.D’z Route 66 Diner, Kingman Arizonia

Walking into Mr. D’z Diner gave us a great feeling – it was 1950s style  – bright and  fun-looking with a casual, relaxed atmosphere welcoming to both visitors (like us) and regulars (like most everyone else).  Like most diners there were tables and a counter

to eat at –  we went with the counter for the whole effect.  The menu  was “comfort food” that looked and smelled appealing, but we were just there for ice cream, so we resisted.  I got a  Tin Roof Sundae (hot fudge and peanuts) with mocha ice cream – a totaly enjoyable treat in a great diner.

 

In the area:  we started out the morning visiting the Hoover Dam. Fascinating, especially for nerds like us. The amount of planning and engineering involved in this project was amazing:  developing a crane system to get the concrete where it needed to go;  new technology to cool the concrete quickly and evenly using refrigerated pipes; over-sized railroad tunnels to transport goods . The size of the dam, the technology and the politics were all a tribute to the men and women involved.

We then drove through north-western Arizona, much of which was a desolate, mountainous desert.  We stopped at Willow  Beach in  the be Lake Mead National Recreation Area  to hang out dipping our feet in the Colorado River and visit the fish hatchery with rainbow trout and endangered Razorback sucklefish.

We then continued on to Kingman, where we got ice cream sundaes, visited their Route 66 museum and locomotive park.   We then had to experience that famous  Route 66 – the road used to cross  the United States before inter state 40 was built. Driving to Oatman, Arizona was as an adventure of hairpin turns with steep drop offs – no guard rails, intriguing landscapes – we even had to stop for s few burros in the Road.

I cannot imagine this road with traffic jams when it was a major throughfare.  We enjoyed walking around the small, charming town of Oatman, Arizona before continuing on to Ludlow California.

 

Carvel, Yonkers

May 13, 2018

Carvel, Nepperhan Avene, Yonkers, New York

Today is Mother’s Day, and to celebrate we made to trek to Yonkers to take my mother-in-law for an outing, which included ice cream (of course).  Carvel ice cream shops are not uncommon in  New York State, but they do vary tremendously.  We found this Carvel on Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers to be on the lower end of the Carvel spectrum.

Entering the Youkers Carvel, we observed floors in desperate need of sweeping and three uninterested people “working” behind the counter .   One was serving ice cream, two were doing nothing.  We waited in line as the one working employee was dealing with a customer whose order was wrong.  When the customer finally got her order corrected, I inquired about sugar free ice cream for my mother-in-law, which they did not have (she is not so passionate about ice cream, so she did not care).  I  ordered a Banana Foster Sundae, which was actually quite good (every cloud has a siilver lining).  The shop had both hard and soft ice cream including seasonal flavors such as Kit Kit (hard ice cream) which I sampled, and many different delicious-looking cakes and sundaes.  I would say I would have to come back to try them, but I think I will try a different Carvel location.