Whether you are traveling to the shore in the Garden State or to the city of brotherly love, we have you covered when it comes to ice cream. Ice cream is a Summer staple that both kids and adults can never get enough of, especially during the hot and humid months. During our road trip from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, we made it a point to stop at some of the most unique bakeries and ice cream shops to get a taste of what all the buzz surrounding the locations that we visited had been about.
1.) D’ERCOLE DONUTS
Sitting in the borough of Northvale in Bergen County, New Jersey is D’Ercole Donuts, a family owned and operated donut shop and bakery. Don’t let the words bakery and donut shop fool you because they have a menu item that many haven’t heard of, donut ice cream sandwiches! The A La Mode ice cream that they serve for donut ice cream sandwiches, shakes, root beer floats and donut sundaes are nut, sesame and egg free for those who have such food allergies. During our visit, we indulged in the death by chocolate donut with vanilla ice cream along with the samoa donut with salted caramel ice cream in the middle and chocolate ice cream on the top. We didn’t know if their samoa donut would live up to the Girls Scouts samoa cookies, but it surpassed our expectation!
As we were dining at a poke restaurant in Old Bridge, New Jersey, the last thing that we expected was to learn that they also specialized in dessert! Towards the back of their restaurant sits the ice cream station, with various stuffed ice cream flavors to shaved ice cream and Thai ice cream with a multitude of toppings and bases. We went with the traditional stuffed ice cream stack along with the Ferrero Rocher and chocolate flavored ice cream atop an egg waffle.
3.) CONEY WAFFLE
The Jersey shore is known for the unique food and games that families can enjoy while walking the boardwalk. Coney Waffle, originally established in 1946 in Coney Island is an ice cream sweet shop that defines one of a kind, over the top ice cream that can be found alongside boardwalks in New Jersey. Coney Waffle currently has 4 locations in the Garden State, sitting in Asbury Park, Long Branch, Red Bank and Belmar. What we indulged on at its Belmar location isn’t something that words can even describe. From an ice cream cone to an ice cream sandwich intertwined with mouth watering candy atop a milkshake with cotton candy is something that we didn’t know could ever exist until we saw it for ourselves.
Right in the historic district of Philadelphia sits an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and soda fountain, Franklin Fountain. Every detail in the parlor, from its décor to the outfits of staff takes you back to the 1920’s. Lines continuously circle around the corner to this parlor because customers can’t seem to get enough of their one of a kind, home-made ice cream. A visit to Philadelphia will not be complete without stopping at Franklin Fountain!
5.) GOOD LIFE
At Good Life Ice Cream & Treats, we didn’t know what to expect when we tried two of their most popular flavors this Season. The sweet pickled ice cream and sweet corn ice cream topped off with Old Bay seasoning. The only time that we have ever used Old Bay seasoning has been for our seafood! The thought of it on ice cream had us so intrigued that we had to give it a try, which was one of the best decisions we made this Summer. The savory flavor atop the sweetness of the ice cream was the perfect topping. If you or your family and friends find yourselves in or around the Lancaster area this Summer, you must give one of these two flavors a try!
