It was a beautiful weekend here in Happy Valley as summer slowly meanders into September and the impending fall. Mild temperatures, sunny skies, no rain, tolerable humidity. All the ingredients for a perfect segue right into the first day of school, and then thank goodness, the Labor Day weekend in three days. Nothing like kicking off back-to-school with a holiday in the second week.
And as long as it was a beautiful weekend, I did engage in a few household chores, one of which was mowing the lawn on Sunday. Which is then always immediately followed by the disposal of the clippings. (I tip my hat to those local municipalities that provide easily accessible dumping locations for grass which is then turned into mulch.) After loading the bags of freshly-cut grass into the back of our SUV, I got in, turned on the car stereo and was greeted by a song that reminds me of the happy summer weekends of my childhood – “Pleasant Valley Sunday” by The Monkees.
The local rock group down the street is trying hard to learn their song
They serenade the weekend squire who just came out to mow his lawn
Another pleasant valley Sunday, charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same, and no one seems to care…
Coincidentally, as soon as I returned home my next task was to fire up the grill – propane though, not charcoal – and cook some beef for dinner. So the song was even more prescient. And if you know where we live, well, the houses aren’t all exactly the same, but there are some striking similarities. And considering that just last month, on July 10, that song celebrated the 50th anniversary of its release, well, it was almost as if I was back in the ‘60s.
Which made me crave one youthful summer food that I wish was more accessible in Happy Valley. Soft-serve ice cream.
Yes, we do have the DQ on North Atherton, Rita’s downtown sells it as well, Sheetz has introduced self-serve machines in a few stores, and there are probably a few other I’ve missed. But that classic summer roadside stand, or a dedicated Twistee Freez, is nowhere to be found within the confines of State College. The last bastion of soft-serve availability on the west side of town – the little convenience mart on the edge of Pine Grove Mills – was sold and became a very nice little breakfast eatery a few years ago.
So as summer winds down, what is a dedicated local to do when he gets a craving for that soft ice cream containing less milk-fat and a little more air and also needs a true-blue soft-serve drive-up roadside experience? Well, here are my favorite places for that wonderful soft-serve ice cream.
At the top of my list, but unfortunately impossible for most locals to get to quickly, is the Twistee Treat on West Colonial Drive in Ocoee, Fla. This is the measuring stick against which all other soft-serve vendors must compete. Their large Twirl with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pieces is 32 ounces – 32! – a full quart of warm-weather deliciousness. Quantity and quality – that’s the benchmark.
My second favorite is The Little Ice Creamer on Route 522 just north of Orbisonia. This is the only place I’ve found near Happy Valley that also sells a full quart of soft-serve. A very basic, family-run stand by the side of a two-lane road, miles away from anything that could be considered “populated,” this is a great place to stop when using the short way to or from anywhere directly south of State College. I’ve already marked my next visit on the calendar – Tuesday, Sept. 5.
If you find yourself driving to or from the Middleswarth Potato Chip factory in Middleburg, make sure to stop at my third favorite soft-serve store – Amy’s Frosty Freeze on the west side of Mifflinburg, at the intersection of Routes 45 and 104. Although their large cup serving is not quite a 32 ounce colossus, they will top it off so you’ll have plenty of soft-serve and blended-in flavor pieces to eat before you get to the product in the actual cup. And they get extra credit for the sheer size of the menu for a roadside eatery. Someday I will stop there when I have an hour of spare time and eat a full meal before finishing it off with soft-serve for dessert.
Finally, when making a weekend trip to our commonwealth’s capital or on to the metropolis of Philadelphia, stop at the Red Rabbit on Route 22/322 in Clarks Ferry north of Harrisburg. It will have to be a weekend trip because the Red Rabbit is only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As one of the last surviving non-Sonic curb service drive-ins in the state – that’s right, the servers will come directly to your car to take your order and deliver your food for in-car dining – it’s a throwback to an earlier era. Hint: if all you are getting is the soft-serve, go ahead, get out of your car, and walk up to the window – the servers will be happier.
Lastly, I will give an honorable mention to the soft-serve stands in Vermont. Again, these are not locally accessible places, but on a day trip into Burlington a few weeks ago we discovered Vermonters had created their own name for soft-serve ice cream – they call it a Creemee – and for that I give them bonus points for originality. Although, after we took the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour – where the video presentation gets in a plug for Penn State – sampled their latest flavor and spent time at the Scoop Shop (tip: don’t try eating a “Vermonster” sundae alone) unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of room left for multiple creemees.
So as the dog-days of summer wind down, the grass goes into hibernation, the charcoal on the grill turns into logs in the fireplace, take a few minutes on your next little road-trip and get yourself a soft-serve. Pleasant Valley Sunday awaits!
