It's been a long week since the family trip to NH in the outdoors of New England with Scott and Holly and Chace just enjoying each other and all that is great about New England in the summer….Storyland, outdoors, and ice cream. I had intended to upload some ice cream pics as we enjoyed it but wherever we were service was spotty so now i get to showcase it all and more.
So we were on our way to North Conway, NH for a family vacation, described in tourism magazines as the shopping mecca of NH which makes me snicker quite a bit. Many of you know that it's a quick ride up there but with two kids in tow it's never that way but we somehow managed to get up there rather quickly and only stopped for ice cream once along the way. It was a good old rest stop novelty item had by Holly. Anyways, on our way up Rt 16 heading towards Conway we saw the cutest shop, The Dam Ice Cream Shop, located amazingly on a dam. We took a mental note and continued on.
Well our first night didn't consist of ice cream but it did entail stopping at the local grocer to stock up on a half gallon for the week(great thing about renting a condo instead of a hotel…a fridge for cocktails and ice cream!) which my daughter chose the Hannaford's store brand, Overloaded Peanut Butter Cup Infusion. It was actually not so bad. Day one….called for clouds so the hubby took the kids to an indoor water park and well I shopped at the "mecca" with my BFF and the highlight of the day was our last stop to Molly B's Ice Cream. Located on Rt 16 just past the center of town in what seemed to be an old storefront. And when I say old probably 1800s old. Upon walking in it was sort of cute and really bright pink but definitely needs some TLC in the decor department. There are a couple small tables inside and some picnic tables outside. Regardless I was there for ice cream and I immediately saw a flavor I had to have….Peanut Butter Caramel Cookie Dough. Seriously what else could be in this. It was exactly what it sounds like…vanilla base with mini peanut butter cups, swirls of caramel and chunks of cookie dough. Yes it was very sweet but awesome and then because I always have to try two flavors, I chose Maine Wild Blueberry. Some fruit to balance out the sweetness. Both were awesome and I would take seconds any day. The ice cream isn't homemade but made by Gifford's which is a great New England brand. Portion sizes were quite good too. I ordered a small with two flavors and it was more than enough.
Next stop and one we also had our eye on when we drove in was Lickety Splitz, this too located on Rt 16 in North Conway but before the main part of town. I think it was the playground that did it for me knowing i could enjoy my ice cream while the kids played. This is more of your typical ice cream shop but pretty neat decor with all vintage decor and lots of seating. They had these old phones lined up against the wall and my son who is just starting to talk found it amusing to pick up every phone and scream "heeewwwwwooooooo!" which entertained the whole place. Too cute! So ice cream time…my choices of the evening were Cake batter and Mint Chocolate chip. My daughter chose Chocolate Lovers (or something like that) which I was quite jealous of after the fact and Scott's Strawberry looked suuper refreshing.. The Mint was what I expected nothing special but still good and the cake batter was the traditional yellow cake batter and was really good and nice and smooth. Always a favorite. They also had a sundae bar with tons of toppings which Holly of course had to get and smothered her ice cream with homemade whipped cream and sprinkles. It was late but we had plenty of time for the kids to enjoy the small playground as we enjoyed our ice cream. Oh and my guess is they too serve Gifford's ice cream.Next day, next stop…back to Molly B's and only because it was closer to the condo and late and my daughter was growing many heads at the thought of not getting ice cream before bedtime so we made a quick stop. I had to go back for seconds of that Peanut Butter Caramel Cookie Dough and it was as good this time as it was the first. But three days in a row of ice cream was getting excessive so one flavor in a very small dish did it. The family…they had Rum Raisin (Scott's all-time favorite) and the kids had Oreo Cookie and Vanilla. Poor Chace gets vanilla wherever we go..less to stain!
And then we saved the best for last on our drive home, the Dam Ice Cream shop. This is the true New England ice cream shop on a charming little dam serving homemade Bobby-Sue's ice cream. And it was right on our way home on Rt 16 in Chocorua, NH about 20 minutes south of Conway NH. It has two little take out windows on a deck with some seating and and cute little eat in area but also picnic tables and seating by the dam. They also have a little gift shop but it was all way too little trinkety country things for me so we just enjoyed the ice cream. I have a laundry list of flavors we all tried. I had Kahlua Brownie and Black Raspberry and the rest tried Cappuccino Crunch, Peanut Butter, Cookie Dough and Vanilla. I have to say I was impressed by them all. I loved the Kahlua Brownie. Just the right touch of Kahlua flavoring to not be too strong and the brownie pieces were sweet and just the right amount distributed throughout. The Black Raspberry was quite good but again nothing too out of the ordinary. It was the Peanut Butter that stood out to me. It was just a smooth peanut butter flavor with no mixins. You might have thought it was vanilla had you seen it but it was super smooth and creamy. Scott is lucky I only had one bite. I didn't try his Cappuccino Crunch but he said he really liked it and said it wasn't strong at all which is what his concern was when ordering it. I loved the atmosphere, the service and the ice cream and the serving sizes were very good too. Apparently Bobby-Sue's has been a local homemade ice cream for 29 years and is located in Freedom, NH serving local restaurants and shops. I had never heard of them before but glad I had the chance to try it. I know we will definitely be back.
And finally….home where I finished off the Ciao Bella Fat Free Mango Sorbet! No guilt since the days prior did enough damage!
as a kid except for when they were swirled into ice cream to make Cookies 'n' Cream, or maybe it's the Cookies 'n' Cream that makes me nostalgic, but Oreo Ice Cream/Cookies 'n' Cream is one of my all time favorite flavors.
