Dairy Palace, New Castle, Delaware

I earlier mentioned that after our great lunch at Cafe Carmela with Barry Zukerman of BZMaestroEats, the conversation turned to some outstanding soft-serve ice cream opportunities close to I-95 on our way back to Washington. Barry is a font of wisdom. That put paid to the possibility of a second cheesesteak. We said our farewells and hopped onto 95 headed for New Castle and the Dairy Palace.

Could the Dairy Castle be more alluring? There’s something about the architecture that draws you in, that turns you back into the child riding in the back seat and shouting, “Stop here! Stop here!” Of course, you never yell these days, except at other drivers. What remains is the excitement.

Nancy ordered a small soft-serve cone dipped in butterscotch, possibly a homage to the vanilla-butterscotch at Bassett’s.

I repeat, Nancy ordered a small cone. She thought it was too much ice cream, especially since it was so rich and creamy, extraordinarily so for soft serve, but she was polite enough to eat it all.

I hate to see anyone eat alone, so I ordered a small chocolate sundae.

Nancy was startled by the amount of chocolate on the sundae, although it didn’t seem like a problem to me. It’s an art to finish the chocolate sauce and ice cream with balance spoonfuls together, but one at which I am well practiced. The ice cream was indeed rich and creamy, and the chocolate was delightfully traditional, utterly without sophistication. This is the chocolate sauce that had you shouting, “Stop here!”

We headed toward the car and were approached by a man who’d noticed our DC tags, He had grown up in the Anacostia section of Washington back in the day, and we had a pleasant conversation about then and now, and themes in between. An ice cream sundae and a pleasant conversation with a cheerful person is a wonderful break from the tolls, toils, and terrors of I-95.

Driving on I-95 is not an unalloyed pleasure, even when it’s not collapsing, as the stretch we used did two days later. I wonder of my Philadelphia trip weight gain was a factor. You really do need to take a break, and not just any break. You need to take the sort of break that restores your soul, a locally owned place that recalls the era before fast foods. I’ve created a list of such places, locally owned restaurants close to I-95 from Washington all the way to Key West, and I’ve started another list covering I-40. If I can ever create a list northward through the various rivers of traffic that flow grudgingly into I-95 — the 195s, 295s, turnpikes, and their ilk — it will feature the Dairy Palace. If you’re one of the drivers on I-95 in Delaware, definitely take a break at the Dairy Palace. It will soothe you and your passengers for a good two hours.

***

And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box.  Or bookmark us and check in from time to time.  If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event).  Comments, questions, and suggestions of places to eat or stories to cover are very welcome.  And check our Instagram and Twitter pages, johntannerbbq.