 We drove State Highway 301 yesterday, taking the longer route from the Fayetteville, NC area, east of Raleigh, towards the Virginia border. As we drove through the town of Selma, I saw a truck parked on a corner with a sign on the side that said "Old-Fashioned Ice Cream." Mark asked "Do you want to stop?" He could have saved those five words for some other use; of course I wanted to stop! The ice cream is great, worth a detour if you are anywhere nearby. I like a chewy ice cream, and the owner and his son work together to develop a wide range of flavors. (I encouraged him to always keep a lot of flavors that don't have add-ins on the menu and he said that issue was an ongoing debate between him and his son. His son is on my side.)  Old-Fashioned Ice Cream is black-owned, and the owner's pride in that fact is clear.  The story of how he started this shop was funny. His real goal was to open "Appliance Boot Camp," a school for people who want to open their own appliance-repair businesses.   When he picked up the keys for the facility, the owner gave him the key for "the other building." "What other building?" Well, the ice cream shop! So now, he teaches many different appliance-repair courses, both in-person and online, owns a fine ice-cream store, and even teaches his secrets to running an ice cream shop!   Selma has only about 6,300 residents, but it is doing a very nice job of renovating its small downtown. There are three or four antiques stores, which I will shop next time we visit, and we'll see the Bentonville Civil War Battleground and the Tobacco Farm Life museum.
5 Comments
Marian Yamaura Frazier
9/23/2022 11:18:14 pm
I enjoyed seeing this blog with all of its ice cream connections.
Judy
9/24/2022 08:48:59 pm
Lovely story! I heard a similar story from our neighbor. When she purchased her home, she didn’t realize it came with the empty lot next door!
Cheri
9/25/2022 09:17:26 pm
That would be a nice surprise!
Nancy Callahan
9/27/2022 08:15:03 pm
My next door neighbor grew up in NC and subscribes to Our State Celebrating North Carolina magazine which she passes along to me. The July issue this year mentions Andia's homemade ice cream in Cary and Dairy Palace in Washington. Also John's Drive-in in Kitty Hawk for milkshakes.
Cheri
9/28/2022 08:33:37 pm
Oh Nancy, you are my heroine! I have made notes, and in the case of Washington and Kitty Hawk, looked to see where they are. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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