Stratford Ice Cream Scene Trumps Heat

I looked down at the floor of my un-air-conditioned, black Volkswagen on Thursday afternoon in hopes of finding relief in an old bottle of water or a lone mint hiding beneath a notebook.

There was nothing.

All I could spot were some scattered sunflower seeds that had fallen from the package. After driving around all day and losing body weight by the fluid ounce, I could barely even muster enough energy to lift my head off of the door while waiting for the light to change.

I think I blacked out at a traffic light. Several car horns spun me back to reality. There was nothing left to sweat out.

It was time for some ice cream. 

I crawled first into Marge’s on 400 East Main St. Marge’s, in Stratford four years this month after 17 in Georgetown, Conn., are purveyors of most things deli -- Boar’s Head meats, coffee, cookies, chips, etc. Most importantly, they had the creamy prescription I was seeking in the name of Dr. Mike's ice cream.

Purchased from nearby Bethel, Conn., Dr. Mike’s is homemade ice cream at its finest and is made daily. I selected Chocolate Lace, one of their most popular flavors. This might have been the heaviest ice cream I have ever consumed. And the vanilla ice cream was interspersed with chunks of Chocolate Lace candy from Bethel’s own Hauser Chocolates -- crunchy, caramel infused nuggets of flavor.

The history buffs of Stratford might also be interested in checking out the first ice cream scoop. Seriously. You can pick it up. The scoop was soldered together by Marge’s great grandfather, George Clewell.

Something in that ice cream scoop made me snap. I don’t know what it was -- maybe a shot in the arm from the ghost of the old man haunting the scoop, but I needed more. Fast.

I left Marge’s and hurled myself back into the suffocating heat, and made my way straight for Main Street. The heat was appalling. It took me three T-shirts just to make it to Goody Bassett’s. I tore open the door and stumbled in.

The woman behind the counter introduced me to the plethora of flavors available in the ice cream shop. I stopped her immediately when she mentioned Cookie Monster ice cream, but they were out. Temporarily. So I chose the next best option -- Cookie Jumble. Cookie Jumble is an amalgamation of Oreo, cookie dough, graham crackers and oatmeal. Basically, it’s the grown-up version of Cookie Monster -- the same thing without the blue vanilla.

Like Dr. Mike’s Chocolate Lace, the Cookie Jumble was spread out very nicely amongst the vanilla ice cream. There was enough negative white space to balance such a large quantity of items in the cup. This was ice cream I could navigate.

It was a hearty blend, not too soft and not too firm. There were gobs, but not globs. And the grandmotherly presence of oatmeal kept me company all the while until the very last bite was scraped out of the bottom of the cup.

Goody Bassett’s offers, in addition to traditional flavors, seasonal favorites peach and blueberry. Lemon ice is available for purchase. Two frozen yogurts, raspberry chip and peanut butter chip, are offered as well as sugar-free and soy ice cream. Goody Bassett’s also offers ice cream cakes, shakes and floats.

My favorite aspect of this parlor was the K-9 Krunch, for the pups, who are welcome in the store so as long as they can be carried. A dog bowl is set up by the benches outside. Goody Bassett’s is in their fifth year of operation.

Perhaps it was the lingering taste of oatmeal, but when I left Goody Bassett’s I was then hit by a strong craving for peanut butter. And I was tiring of ice cream, so I traveled next to Zack’s Famous Frozen Yogurt. Zack’s, in their 25th year of business, was able to give me a peanut butter flavored frozen yogurt with a peanut  butter cup topping.

The smooth soft serve approach available at Zack’s was a nice break from the hard stuff I had been abusing all afternoon. And the peanut butter cups sat on top like boulders. I was given a generous amount for a small size of this ice cream alternative, and I was impressed by their candy selection as well. In addition to peanut butter soft serve, Zack’s offers pistachio, peach, French vanilla and chocolate, as well as non-fat and sugar-free yogurt, sundaes, cookies, shakes and hard packed flavors to go.

Naturally, all of that peanut butter made me very thirsty. My final stop was the old standby, Carvel, on Barnum Avenue, for one last sugary, brain-freezy assault on my overloaded pancreas. I ordered a raspberry smoothie. It was easily the sweetest of all the items I had tried, and it washed away all remnants of peanut butter left lurking in my mouth. 

I expected all of the sugar and cream to make me very ill by the end of this journey, but I was feeling ill to begin with. Now I feel fantastic. I think I’ll be eating ice cream all weekend. After all, its summer, Stratford. You can’t hide in your homes forever. Step outside into the sweltering air and back into the wide world of local frozen treats available for your consumption. It’s practically winter again anyway. Let’s embrace this heat wave while it lasts.