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My earliest ice cream memory starts with a full-on dash. It’s summer in North Carolina, I’m four years old, and only my front yard, a ditch full of sticker-burrs and a few inches of pavement lie between my bare feet and the ice cream truck. The rest of the neighborhood kids have the same goal, so within seconds of pulling to a stop, the truck is engulfed in a swarm of small bodies and outstretched hands. Everyone has their favorite; mine is a green-chocolate-coated, vanilla ice cream bar shaped like a frog’s head, complete with sugar-dot eyes. I tear off the cellophane wrapper and bite into the brittle chocolate, just as beads of sweat start to break out across the green shell.
For mysterious, grown-up reasons, my parents and the other adults in the neighborhood rarely partook of the truck’s bounty, though they’d gladly steal a bite or two off ours—the “ice-cream tax” they called it. They preferred “regular ice cream,” by which was meant the kind that came in a bowl or a cone and did not have eyes. We children weren’t so particular; if it was cold and sweet and could take our hands, face and shirts from clean to sticky in under ten minutes, it was heaven.
These days, ice cream trucks have gone the way of fireflies; they’re still out there, but they’re fewer and farrer between. And as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to agree with my parents that ice cream tastes better when it doesn’t come wrapped in plastic. I’ve also come to appreciate ice cream for more than its tangible qualities.
There is, for instance, the noise that accompanies ice cream: the jingle of the elusive truck; the “I Scream for Ice Cream” shouts and wails; the dramatized and desperate pleading; the “hmms” as people toy with sample spoons, deciding; the “mmms” when they find that special flavor; the lip-smacking; the flirtation; the laughter.
There’s also the way ice cream plays with our hearts. It wins us to it at an early age, so that we spend the rest of our lives associating it with the carefree days of childhood. When we take a lick or a spoonful we’re feasting on memories, whether our own or those we’ve borrowed from older generations, books and movies. It’s the taste of shiny, 1950s ice cream parlors, hot summer nights and the kind of youth that lasts well beyond adolescence.
Is it any wonder that when the days grow warm, our taste buds start yearning for that special treat? Plenty of beverages can cool you down, but only ice cream—so fleeting that we must focus on it intently to keep it from dripping away—can ground us in the moment, making us, momentarily, utterly happy.
Fortunately for readers, Pleasant Living has determined that ice cream destinations are alive and kicking in Virginia's River Country, and we’ve gone on tour to bring them to you.
From Richmond to Reedville to Yorktown, there are parlors and shops to escape to and indulge in this summer. And fortunately for kids, parents are still buying.
Short Lane Ice Cream
6721 George Washington Memorial Hwy
Gloucester, VA
(804) 695-2999
Just south of Gloucester Courthouse, at the intersection of Rt. 17 and Short Lane, stands a two-story, cream-colored farmhouse with a lot of history. Built in 1937, it’s been a country store, a post office and a gas station, with living quarters upstairs until the 1970s. Then in 2002, Kim and Jim Williams bought the property and decided to turn it into an ice cream shop. For Kim, the idea was the culmination of many passions. She had worked in the restaurant industry and wanted to continue; she lived on a farm and saw ice cream as a way of utilizing the fresh produce it yielded; and she loved renovating old houses. “Everything just came together,” she explains.
The renovation and preparation took two full years, during which time Kim traveled to Pennsylvania and Tuscany, Italy to study the art of ice cream making under the tutorship of small, established ice creameries. When the shop opened in 2004, Kim had the rights to 50-year-old ice cream recipes, and the house had been revived into the picturesque, airy establishment that patrons flock to today.
When you enter Short Lane Ice Cream, you’re struck first by the shiny wood floors, pressed tin ceiling and quaint atmosphere. A lofted second floor encircles ceiling fans that spin lazily, high above your head, and soft hues of country red, white and powder blue deck the booths and walls. Then you try your first sample and you’re hooked.
All the ice cream is made in back, in 10-gallon batches. No preservatives are used, and the dairy mix is obtained fresh from the dairy each week. Kim and her team use hormone-free milk products and only real ingredients. They puree and squeeze their own fruit, and while Kim no longer grows the fruit used in her ice cream, she now obtains it from her husband’s local produce stand.
The shop is open March through October, with around 24 flavors available at any time. During those hot months, one of the undisputed favorites is the lemon custard, which is out of this world. When the shop closes up for winter, Kim continues to make seasonal flavors like eggnog, peppermint, gingerbread and pumpkin, and sells them at the produce stand until Christmas.
In addition to ice cream, Short Lane offers coffee, tea, cocoa, sodas and their signature limeade. Customers often admit that they’ve traveled long distances to taste her ice cream, and Kim can understand. When she was little, she and her grandparents used to drive for an hour to a farm in Pennsylvania for ice cream. The difference, Kim notes, is that “We didn’t choose our flavor. We got whatever was in season.”
Bethpage Ice Creamery
4817 Old Virginia St
Urbanna, VA
(804) 758-4653
The sleepy harbor town of Urbanna is a destination for water-seekers in the summer months, but just outside of Urbanna proper is a tourist spot in its own right: the Bethpage Ice Creamery, part of the Bethpage Campground. Situated at the entrance to the camp, the creamery is open to the public and entices customers with its cool interior, bright geraniums and throwback tunes. For entertainment, the outdoor patio spills out onto an 18-hole mini golf course, so parents can relax in the shade with their ice cream while kids try their hand at putt-putt. Bethpage launched the opening of its new water park at the start of this season as well.
The entire outfit is owned by Walt Hurley, who grew up in the business and took it over from his father three years ago. A couple by the name of Lucy and Dominick Adamo now manage the creamery. The Adamos, who previously owned a grocery store for 16 years, say working in an ice cream shop has been fun because, as Lucy notes, “When people go to get ice cream and they’re upset or mad, they end up happy and smiling.” Lucy does her own part to that end; she’s acquired a case of silly spoons complete with faces and feet and gives one out to each child who orders a scoop.
Bethpage creamery is open seven days a week from the second week in June through Labor Day. It stocks 20 flavors of Hershey’s ice cream (no connection to Hershey’s chocolate), in addition to chocolate and vanilla soft-serve, shakes, smoothies, floats, sundaes, splits and cookies. Some of the favorite ice cream flavors with the kids include crazy ones like Playdough and bubblegum, while adults favor the still intriguing but less other worldly options like red velvet cake, strawberry cheesecake and Moose Tracks (ok, so that sounds strange, but you can’t go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate).
The Adamos’ favorite thing about their job is the children. Lucy says, “I love seeing little kids come in and they’re so excited they’re practically shaking.” Dominick laughs and adds, “Their eyes are bigger than their heads.”
Something Different Country Store and Deli
3617 Old Virginia Street
Urbanna, VA
(804) 758-8000
www.pine3.info
When you step out of your car and onto the gravel parking lot at Something Different, the last thing on your mind is ice cream. The first thing is barbeque. The air is filled with it, and if you weren’t hungry before, you are now. Then you go inside, where locals eat lunch at the counter or clustered around the three ‘tables’ (two are butcher blocks from the early days of country stores, the other an old, wooden turkey coop) and sit on padded milk crates, and it’s easy to forget there’s ice cream there at all. But it’s there, and it’s delicious.
The white, wood structure was built as a country store around the 1920s and continued in that capacity until the 60s or 70s when it morphed into a convenience store. It was in pretty sorry shape in 1999, when 21-year-old Sarah Gill proposed purchasing it to her parents. They ‘came around to the idea’ and Sarah ran it for a while until it became apparent that it wouldn’t be successful as a convenience store. They contemplated selling, but instead the family set to work transforming it into the deli and specialty foods shop it is today.
Sarah’s dad, Dan Gill, a life-long farmer who grew up a mile from the shop, remembers riding his bicycle to the store as a kid, picking up soda bottles along the road and exchanging them for candy money. Now he’s a self-proclaimed ethno-gastronomist with a passion for “anything real” Sarah claims.That’s why almost everything at the shop is as real as it gets, with tons of homemade, heritage foods like hoecakes and buttermilk pie.That’s why almost everything at the shop is as real as it gets, with tons of homemade, heritage foods like hoecakes and buttermilk pie.
The ice cream’s real too. The dairy products are all natural from cows that aren’t treated with hormones or antibiotics. And there’s no artificial ingredients, just the raw goods, like fresh peaches, pecans caramelized in butter and organic sugar, and coffee (which they roast themselves). Dan started making ice cream to sell at the shop around four years ago, and they’ve kept it simple as far as quantity goes, stocking only about eight flavors at a time in a small ice cream cabinet from the old Richmond Dairy. The flavors can get pretty unique; in addition to chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, peach and butter pecan, there’s Cappulattechinomocha (intense coffee-chocolate with the grinds mixed in), hot chocolate (chocolate with chili peppers) and grasshopper (alcoholic and containing creme de Menthe and Creme de Cocao). They do seasonal favorites like eggnog and Candy Cane at Christmas time as well.
All the ice cream is available in cups, cones or for take-out, and it’s all low on air content, making it dense and creamy. You can’t find ice cream quite like this elsewhere, making it worth the trip. Plus it’s the only place you can go to hang out in “downtown Pine Tree,” population 6; if you step outside and look across the road you’ll see the “entering” and “leaving” Pine Tree signs, on either side of the same post.
Moo’s Deli
16314 General Puller Highway
Deltaville, VA
(804) 776-7021
When you walk into Moo’s Deli and take in its signature cow-print décor, you might think you have the name of the place figured out. But Moo is actually the name of the woman behind the counter. Years ago when she was battling a series of health problems and surgeries, her children nicknamed her “Moose” for her strength and determination. Her grandchildren couldn’t pronounce the “s” though, dubbing her “Moo” forever after. “She is THE Moo,” her husband, J.D. Dodd explains.
Formerly located in Urbanna, the original “Moo’s” burned down in an electrical fire in November of 2008 after eight years of operation. At the Urbanna Oyster Festival a few days after the fire, J.D. and Moo scraped together what they could to set up a trailer to serve food at the event. Community members pitched in and showed up wearing T-shirts that read “Tough Times Go Away But Tough People Don’t.”
Neither do loyal followings. Moo’s has received continued support from a group dubbed The Urbanna Angels, and when the couple decided to reopen in Deltaville a year and a half ago, they stayed in the hearts of their long-time customers, many of whom still show up for a sandwich and a scoop of ice cream from time to time. J.D. marvels at the young customers who once couldn’t see over the counter and who now tower above him.
J.D. and Moo have been so well received in their new community that they opened a second location this spring at the Norview Marina in Deltaville. Now customers can choose to dine at the Rt. 33 location, with its indoor and outdoor seating, or at Moo’s Dock and Dine on the waterfront, where food and ice cream are served out of two trailers with a tented picnic-table area. Both locations serve Hershey’s ice cream with 12 regular flavors and 7-10 sugar free flavors available at any time. The Dock and Dine also makes Island Oasis fresh fruit smoothies and ice cream shakes (52 different shakes in all).
Both locations are open from 7am to 8pm in the summertime, and while Moo’s Deli is closed Sundays, the Dock and Dine is open seven days a week. In addition to the ice cream, Moo’s carries Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, and some of their most popular menu items include their seafood bisque and their New England style lobster roll. Yet while their customers love the food and ice cream, most come to be part of the Moo family. As J.D. says, “When you know the Moo, you know somebody. She’s a special lady.”
Gelati Celesti
8906 W. Broad St. #A
Richmond, VA
(804) 346-0038
For Gelati Celesti owner Peter Edmonds, ice cream is a family business. He, his father and all three of his brothers have owned ice cream parlors at some point (two of his brothers still do). He caught the bug when he was fresh out of college and went to visit his older brother’s ice cream shop in California. He fell in love with the ice cream and the lifestyle and decided he wanted to open his own place. When he told his parents of his plans, his recently retired father, John, suggested they go in on it together and fund it with his retirement money. Peter recalls, “I was grinning from ear to ear. We stood up and high-fived over the kitchen table.”
They opened on March 20th, 1984, under the name Gelati Celesti (which means Heavenly Gelato in Italian). Peter credits the venture with ‘saving his father’s life’ by giving him something to work for after retirement. He explains, “He’d tell people he’d never worked so hard and he’d never liked work so much.” When Peter’s dad passed on eight years ago, Peter continued the business on his own.
Peter notes that when they started, they thought they were making gelato, but realized over time that their product resembled homemade ice cream more than the Italian treat. Like gelato, though, Gelati Celesti contains almost no air and has a stronger flavor than run-of-the-mill ice cream. Peter uses high quality ingredients, like real vanilla and real fruit, and doesn’t skimp. The result of all of these factors is a dense, thick, intensely flavorful ice cream unlike anything you can find in the grocery store. There are 36 flavors at any time, including sorbets, sherberts and a seasonal, which is peach in the summer. The most popular flavor has always been Chocolate Decadence (think cold, creamy fudge).
Gelati Celesti is open year round, from 11:30 to 10pm Monday through Thursday, until 11pm on Friday and Saturday and from noon to 10pm Sundays. It has been named the best ice cream in Richmond 14 separate years by various media and is widely distributed at restaurants throughout the city. Peter’s shop is conveniently located near Regal Cinemas 10 on W. Broad St., making it an excellent stop for moviegoers. On the weekends, all the seats inside and out are filled, with people standing and eating in their cars as well. Peter says, “You look up and see about a hundred people eating ice cream.”
Chitterchats Ice Cream and Gossip Parlor
846 Main St
Reedville, VA
(804) 453-3335
Fortunately for Northern Neckers, there’s a way to get Gelati Celesti ice cream without making the long haul to Richmond. Chitterchats of Reedville is the Richmond ice creamery’s biggest customer.
Chitterchats’ owner Cheryl Moritz was a flight attendant for 20 years, but when 9-11 hit she decided to take a leave of absence. She and her husband had acquired a weekend home in Reedville with the intent of retiring there, and they seized the opportunity to reside in the waterside town full-time. Reedville’s previous ice cream shop had closed down and Cheryl took it upon herself to fill the opening. Chitterchats got its start on May 1st, 2004, and has been so successful that Cheryl’s leave of absence quickly turned into a career change.
For a time, Cheryl ran the business with her husband. He used to make the waffle cones himself, but when he passed away in 2008, the tradition was stopped in his honor. Community members rallied behind Cheryl with her loss and hung a sign out front that read, “To the World’s Greatest Waffle Cone Maker, We’ll Miss You.”
The shop is located in the town’s first post office, an old cinderblock building that has been transformed into a bright, red and white parlor with a 1950’s flair (they even use an antique milkshake maker from the 50s). It has indoor and outdoor seating and is situated right on the waterfront, so that when you sit on the deck you can see water on all sides, as well as the Victorian houses that line Main St.
Chitterchats is open from 11am to 9pm Monday through Thursday, and until 10pm on Friday and Saturday. In response to customer requests, they’ve started serving food this spring as well and now offer items like soups, sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers. When she was a child, Cheryl’s family had a tradition of driving out to a country service station for ice cream every Sunday, and she’s glad she now gets to be a part of other families’ traditions. “It’s so flattering to open a business that people love,” she says. “It’s just very fulfilling.”
Stevie’s Ice Cream
469 North Main Street
Kilmarnock, VA
(804) 435-2252
Amongst ice cream lovers there are soft-serve loyalists, for whom no other variety compares. Stevie’s Ice Cream has them covered. When Steve and Maxine Billmyre were living in Hampton, VA, where they owned a grocery store for 20 years, they would frequent a local ice cream stand and imagine running their own someday. Upon moving to Kilmarnock, they discovered that there was no place to get ice cream without driving a long distance, and decided to put that dream into action.
Stevie’s opened in 2007, serving the people of Kilmarnock soft-serve from a retro, red, black and white diner-like stand with a small boardwalk in front, where people order at the window and eat on benches and tables outside. They have vanilla and chocolate soft serve, as well as a flavor of the month and 39 different sundaes. They also have Bay Blasts, which are cups of soft-serve with toppings swirled in. In addition to ice cream they do smoothies, milkshakes, floats, shaved ice and lattes. One of their big sellers is the “Pup Cup,” which is a cup of vanilla ice cream with a bone-shaped treat on top for dogs.
Stevie’s Ice Cream is open seven days a week starting at noon, until 9pm during the week and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Maxine runs the stand, and Steve helps out in the evenings after his other job ends. It’s a lot of work, but Steve says the looks on the kids’ faces make it well worth it: “Ice cream puts people in a great mood. Everybody smiles when they’re eating ice cream.”
Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream
2911 West Cary Street
Richmond, VA
(804) 204-2387
Before Bev Mazursky graduated from the Culinary Institute of America at the age of 51, she was a homemaker of many years. When her husband passed away, Bev says, “I decided to change my life and invent a new person and a new life, and I did, and I love it.”
That new life was ice cream. She was drawn to the idea of making treats for families to enjoy and started out by opening several shops in Massachusetts in 1989. Then she moved to Richmond and opened her Carytown location in the spring of 1999.
All the ice cream is made right there from natural ingredients. In addition to 13 regular flavors of ice cream that are always available, there are four special flavors, as well as one flavor each of frozen yogurt, gelato, sorbet, sherbert and sugar-free ice cream. Some of the most popular flavors are the standard chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, but her famous Espresso Oreo keeps a lot of people coming back. And for folks looking for something even more out of the ordinary, keep your eye on the specials board for the Coffee Malted Stout (coffee ice cream with malted milk balls and a six pack of Guinness in every batch).
Bev’s is open from 11:30 to 10pm during the summer and from noon to 10pm Sundays. In addition to ice cream, Bev offers home-baked brownies, cookies, pies and cakes, as well as espresso drinks and her delicious, homemade hot-fudge topping. It’s the perfect place to stop and sweeten up before taking in a show just across the street at the historic Byrd Theatre.
Ben & Jerry’s
332 Water St. Building L
Yorktown, VA
(757) 969-1990
If you’re ever down at Yorktown Riverwalk Landing, be sure to stop in and grab a cup or cone at the Ben & Jerry’s, located just across the street from the York River. An attractive, brick and wood structure with indoor and outdoor seating, it’s owned by Bob D’Eramo, who designed the interior during its construction five years ago.
Ben & Jerry’s made its start in Vermont in 1978 and has earned the love of its consumers through interesting flavor combinations coupled with ethically and environmentally conscious business practices. Their ice cream is made with cage free eggs and hormone free milk, and many of their flavors are made from fairly traded ingredients. They support sustainable farming practices and a portion of their profits goes to the Ben and Jerry’s Foundation, which seeks to combat social, environmental and economic injustice.
The Riverwalk Landing location is open seven days a week, from 10am-11pm on the weekends and until 10pm during the week. It has shorter hours in the winter. In addition to the usual, oddly named favorites like Phish Food and Cherry Garcia ice creams, they also serve coffee, espresso and specialty drinks by Green Mountain Coffee, an organic, fair-trade brand. So whatever the season, you can stop in and enjoy the waterside view with your favorite treat in hand. pl
A condensed version of this article appears in the July/August 2010 edition of PL.
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