best ice cream?

Looking for suggestions for great ice cream in Portland or nearby!

I%26#39;ll be there for 4 days in August and would love your ideas.

best ice cream?

when I was in Portland, I enjoyed Beal%26#39;s...located on Moulton Street in the Old Port.

best ice cream?

There are three main ';Maine-made'; ice cream brands. Giffords, Shaines of Maine, and Beals. Ice cream parlors usually offer one of those. All, IMHO, are comparable both in quality and flavors. Of course, I am talking scooped or ';hard-serve';. Expect to pay $1.75 and up for a kiddie cone.

There is a frozen custard stand on Route 1 in Freeport that is pretty good. Sorry I can%26#39;t remember its name. But if you%26#39;re going to Freeport from the south, just take the first Freeport exit off Route 295 and it will be on the left (after around a mile), next to a classic cars place.

I am embarrassed to say I%26#39;ve never been there, but my friends absolutely rave about Hodgman%26#39;s Frozen Custard in New Gloucester. Its address is 1108 Lewiston Road. (Lewiston Road is Route 100.) This isn%26#39;t all that far from Portland if you happen to be out on the road.

Absolutely no contest: Kettle Cove Take Out in Cape Elizabeth. Can combine a visit there with several terrific spots in town (Portland Headlight and Fort Williams Park, Crescent Beach State Park, Two Lights State Park....)

I don%26#39;t recommend Hodgmans. IMHO, yuck.

MrNjori, what%26#39;s wrong with Hodgman%26#39;s? I%26#39;m going to be fairly close to there next week and I was thinking of stopping in, but now I%26#39;m wondering. As I said, my friends are big fans---also, there is a rave review in roadfood.com, which I normally trust. But ';yuck'; certainly gives me pause about whether I would be better off spending my time elsewhere. Anyhow, if you have a minute to post details, I%26#39;d appreciate it.

I just don%26#39;t like the texture of frozen custard. The location is not very nice either. If you are going by on Route 100, stop and try it, but I don%26#39;t recommend it as a destination. If you are passing by on the turnpike, get of in Auburn (exit 74?) go south on Rt 100. It is about 2 miles on the right. Then you can continue south on Rt 100 to Gray to pick up the trunpike again at exit 63(?). Again, this is just my opinion, I may be wrong.

Sorry about the exit numbers, I use them so often, I never learned the new numbers after the changeover.

Thanks for the additional info. Sounds like Hodgman%26#39;s is fine if you like frozen custard, which I do.

I know exactly what you%26#39;re saying about the renumbered turnpike exits. I always have to look up the new numbers if I want to give somebody directions. Of course, I find I can%26#39;t give directions very well off the highways either because I just know how to get places----I don%26#39;t know what the street names are!

What about Big Daddy%26#39;s on route 1 in Wells, or for more atmosphere, I%26#39;d choose Brown%26#39;s Ice Cream near Nubble Lighthouse.

I do not know about the Portland area specifically but I do like the frozen custard place near Lewiston. We used to go there all the time when I was a kid, now we generally go once a year when we are down for the hot air balloon festival. It seems it was better when I was younger in that there was more selection. The last time I was there there were only like four or five flavors of the custard but it was still oh so good.

For ice cream we always like the Gifford%26#39;s stands, the ones the company itself operates. There is such a large selection of flavors, many of which are quite different and there are special flavors that change throughout the year. Unfortunately there are none in the Portland area, the closest one is in Auburn and that one just opened a year ago. Here is a link to the Gifford locations.

www.giffordsicecream.com/OUROWNSTANDS.html

hand cream