© lavendercupcaker

What happened to all the old Ice Cream Shoppes? The ones where you actually sat down and were waited on? They'd have a whole menu of wonderful ice cream sundaes and other concoctions.

I suppose they followed the way of the Soda Shoppes and their counters. Sadly I can no longer remember having an ice cream sundae that I didn't make at home.

I have great memories of going to Swensen's as a kid and getting their Coit Tower. It was truly a party when you got to get the legendary Earthquake - eight scoops of ice cream with a ton of toppings. It was a great place to go to slow down and celebrate something, maybe even just being a family or being out on the town away from your folks.

What about Friendlies? Anyone remember the old restaurants at howard johnson's that put a cookie in with your sundae?

I love ice cream in just about every form from gelatos to homemade at the dairy. But there is no question to me that the art of creating ice cream as a dessert item has moved on to the quick mix-in custom ice cream places. I'm a regular at ColdStone Creamery but I'd still love to sit down at a table, look at a menu of fun creations and slowly enjoy them with my family.

I know that some are out there but with the high price of gas, I can't see any road trips to hunt them down.

ice+cream+shops