The Art of the Ice Cream Cone

I took Natalie with me yesterday when I went to the doctor to have some stictches removed from a spot on my back (benign, thank you, Lord!). We left Michaela Byrd home with Mimi because the afternoon is not pleasant if she misses naptime.

Natalie did so well at the doctor's office, that I told her I'd take her to Carl's.

Carl's is a local ice cream institution, and was even featured on a PBS documentary. Pairing the ice cream with the fun art deco/moderne style signage makes for a memorable afternoon. My family moved to the 'Burg in the early 80s, and I have fond summer memories thanks to Carl's.

As you can see, it's a walk-up place. On nice summer nights, the line wraps around the building, but it moves quickly. It's always worth the wait, and I always see at least one person I know. Today was no exception!

Don't you love the cone sign?

Lit up at night like a beacon of deliciousness!

(night photo from Flickr)

The menu is basic: chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream...but they offer shakes, floats, and sundaes. Prices are much different now than when I was a kid...isn't that the way of it.

Even Natalie didn't complain about standing in line. She knew what was coming!

The service, coming from local teens, is somewhat Soup Nazish. For those of you who are fellow Seinfeld fans, you'll remember this:

Like I said, the line moves quickly, mostly due to the ice cream Nazis inside and their lightning quick skills.

The machinery inside is real, 1940s Electro-Freeze! It was hard to get a good picture, but check out all that silver!

Know what you want when you get to the window! You'll see lots of eye rolling from the other patrons if you hem and haw.

I got a shake (chocolate, duh!) and Natalie begged for a vanilla cone. I tried to convince her that she wanted vanilla in a cup, but she insisted.

This is a small sugar cone!

We ran into my friend K and her two little boys. K committed the sacrilidge and picked up a pina colada (virgin!) smoothie from the coffee spot next door. Although she's been under so much stress with the sale of her house, I wouldn't have blamed her if she'd asked for a little shot of rum...

Her boys hopped around so much and so quickly that I couldn't get a good shot of them. Their quick movements helped their cones not to melt too quickly.

Natalie couldn't say the same thing.

The girl likes to savor her dessert...I've seen her take 15 minutes to eat one scoop of chocolate ice cream, and she scrapes every. last. spoonful.

The cone got the best of her.

I finally grabbed the cone and took care of the melty parts for her.

It's okay...I can sacrifice and take one for the team.

Any time.