Dairy Freeze

The term "Dairy Freeze" has become a generic name-brand these days, with most shops independently owned and many of them never having been part of the original Ohio franchise to begin with. The variations seem endless - some are still the classic roadside cone stand, while others have morphed into actual sit-down restaurants and even barbecue joints.

Above: East Main Dairy Freeze, Lebanon, KY. Below: Dairy Freeze, Georgetown, KY.



Below: Middleburg Dairy Freeze, Middleburg, KY. According to Lady of the Woods, the elephant statue in their yard was a frequent victim of "elephant tipping" from local teens, and so is now mounted to a concrete base.





Previously here, we've also reported on two now-defunct Kentucky Dairy Freezes: Red River Dairy Freeze in Clay City, and the Cree-Mee Drive-in Dairy Freeze in Stanford.

Kentucky Ice Cream

Sadly, a remnant of a now-departed ice cream store at the also-now-departed Midway Cafe in Horse Cave, KY.

Ice Cream Corner

In keeping with our fetish for our fair state's rapidly vanishing mom-n-pop ice cream stores, here's one from our Whitewashed Windows and Vacant Stores blog.

The Ice Cream Corner sits dead at 2100 W. Broadway in Russell, KY (on the outskirts of Louisville).

It's been dead as far back as whenever the Google Maps Street View images were taken.

The Twin Still Going Strong

After recently learning that the great old ice cream stand Cree-Mee has bitten the dust, I started worrying about my favorite retro snack stand of them all, The Twin, which we discussed just last week. So, I trekked out to Irvine and was relieved to see that it's still among the living, and that their cones are as uniquely delicious as they ever were. As you can sort-of see in the above image, their cones are a custardy, vanilla-beany, off-white color.

The Twin

Here's another installment in our ongoing obsession with old retro ice cream stands.

Still hanging in there since the 1950's without changing its appearance hardly at all in the intervening years, The Twin is a breath of fresh air that you'll find on River Drive in Irvine, KY. Their soft-serve tastes unlike any other I've ever had.

The other major 1950s ice cream stand in Irvine was The Zesto and sadly no longer exists, having closed down many years back. (There are still a few other Zestos still surviving out there, like in Indiana and South Dakota.)

The Twin is about 60 seconds walk from Irvine Cemetery, incidentally, so have a cold frozen treat while you go grave-spotting.

Red River Dairy Freeze

Here's another installment in our ongoing obsession with old retro ice cream stands.

The Red River Dairy Freeze, as its name would imply, is near the Red River Gorge in Clay City, KY. 4990 Main Street, to be precise.

Down the road a piece in Stanton, there used to be this place called Danny Boy's, but I'm not sure it's still there. I haven't been out that way in awhile and I wasn't able to find any mention of it in a Google search. Any of our readers able to confirm?

Note that both places use the same fluorescent tube bug-light.

Cree-Mee

Old-school retro ice cream stands, while not quite as endangered an American species as the Drive-in theater, are nevertheless gradually vanishing from the landscape. May the iconic resonance of the walk-up ice cream stand continue to survive in the 21st century.

This one, Cree-Mee, can be found in Stanford, KY and is highly recommended. Last time I was there, I had a banana shake and some french fries that tasted strangely like buttered corn; in other words, amazing.

Dairy Queen Monster Feet

This pair of tridactyl feet made of cement fascinated me for years and has been the subject of much speculation, much like the mystery four-toed stone foot on ABC's Lost. Whatever this statue was, it once stood in front of the Dairy Queen in Versailles, KY. Now even the base with the feet are gone, leaving only this photo and many unanswered questions, not the least of which is, who was this Elmer?

The Inflatable Cone

This portable ice cream stand sets up for business every year at the Kentucky State Fair. The cone part is a metal building with an inflated ice cream balloon that twists in the wind.