It’s no secret that New Englanders are in love with ice cream.
Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts have too many ice cream stands to depend. And it’s the seasonal ice cream stands that separate the Northeast from many different components of the nation – it’s virtually a ceremony of passage for individuals within the area to hit their favourite roadside spots for a candy deal with as quickly because the climate begins getting hotter and return simply earlier than they shut down for the season (with a number of visits in between, in fact).
Very like the countless debates about regional meals akin to bar pizza, steak ideas and roast beef sandwiches, an enormous subject facilities round favourite ice cream stands, not only for the ice cream itself however for the environment and even the experience out to the locations. Effectively, one spot that always will get talked about is Kimball Farm in Carlisle, a beloved spot that has every thing you can presumably need from an ice cream stand.
For individuals who grew up within the northwest suburbs of Boston, a typical custom was thriller rides to ice cream stands that dot the area, a lot of which stays rural and whose mixture of farms, fields and deep woods makes for scenic drives the place attending to the stands is half the enjoyable.
Within the case of Kimball Farm, the drive from Boston correct is especially attention-grabbing (in the event you take Massachusetts Avenue) through which each neighborhood from Boston to Carlisle will get progressively smaller and extra rural till you end up on a twisty street with virtually no streetlights. In the summertime, temperatures can typically be 10 levels cooler than within the coronary heart of town. And but Kimball’s is just about 20 miles from downtown Boston, making it very doable actually from virtually anyplace inside Route 128.
There are some nice ice cream outlets in and across the metropolis and so they play an enormous position with those that don’t have vehicles and should depend on strolling, biking or public transportation, however there actually is one thing particular about an ice cream stand located in a quiet, pastoral space, and the Carlisle location of Kimball Farm just about serves as a blueprint for such a spot.
Whereas the flagship location of Kimball’s in Westford is a real vacation spot spot that has every thing from batting cages to miniature golf to bumper vehicles together with dwell music, an arcade, a grill and seafood shack and a rustic retailer, the Carlisle location — which is only some miles to the east — has a totally totally different really feel.
There’s the stand itself, some picnic tables on both aspect, an space put aside for livestock and, nicely, that’s about it. Carlisle is certainly all about ice cream and ice cream solely, being the quietest of the 4 Kimball’s places (the stands in Lancaster and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, embody meals shacks and nation shops however are additionally comparatively low key).
As a result of the Carlisle location of Kimball Farm focuses virtually completely on ice cream, it’s notably essential that the ice cream right here is high-quality, and there may be definitely no query about that. It’s usually ranked among the many finest inside Interstate 495 (together with the Westford location, which is just about 500 ft from that freeway).
Pictures: Ice cream and environment at Kimball Farm in Carlisle
The entire ice cream is produced from scratch in Westford and delivered to Carlisle and the opposite places a number of instances per week. It’s fairly a bit extra wealthy and creamy than what you may discover at your neighborhood ice cream store due to its excessive fats content material which, by the best way, could cause the ice cream to soften a bit sooner than you may count on on sizzling days. That’s factor, a real signal of high-quality ice cream.
On any given day, you may discover between 40 and 50 flavors of ice cream on the Carlisle location of Kimball Farm. A number of the hottest embody black raspberry (maybe their signature taste), maple walnut, mint chocolate chip, mocha chip, chocolate almond and naturally, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. A couple of extra uncommon flavors will be discovered right here as nicely akin to caramel cashew chip, kahlua fudge and vanilla blueberry crumble, but it surely’s actually only a matter of non-public desire as a result of all the choices are prime notch.
One factor to think about is that, like so many ice cream stands within the native space, the small measurement is admittedly extra of a big and the big is nearly an excessive amount of to eat except you might be extraordinarily hungry, so the kiddie measurement is definitely choice for many, whereas a mini measurement is appropriate for individuals who maybe simply need somewhat little bit of a style after an enormous meal.
The choices at Kimball’s do go a bit past your fundamental cups and cones, with the banana break up and the Kimball particular maybe being the standouts among the many specials. The previous is available in a small and a big measurement, and the big approaches belly-buster territory with its bananas, enormous parts of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, numerous toppings and sauces and a mountain of whipped cream with nuts on prime.
The Kimball particular is as a lot of a murals because the banana break up, and it is kind of a banana break up with out the bananas, so which one you select may rely upon whether or not you want bananas or not.
Sundaes, frappes and ice cream sodas spherical out the specials, and you may as well order frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet and sugar-free and dairy-free ice cream right here as nicely.
The North Shore and South Shore have their share of excellent ice cream stands (Benson’s, Cresent Ridge, Hornstra Farms and Richardson’s all come to thoughts), and Kimball Farm is only one of a number of nice ones west of town (Erikson’s, Dairy Pleasure and Effervescent Brook are all faves), but it surely actually is hard to beat Kimball’s in Carlise for its mixture of ice cream and environment.
For those who’ve by no means been, do your self a favor and head up Route 225 to present it a strive, and since the place sometimes stays open till early October, there’s nonetheless loads of time left to test it out.
Kimball Farm, 343 Bedford Highway, Carlisle, MA, 01741. kimballfarm.com/location/carlisle
