chuckography

Ice cream visitor to the Holy City...

 Douglas Quint was in good humor Sunday when he brought his Big Gay Ice Cream truck to town.

Charleston is part of his Southern Tour 2014. 

His brick and mortar stores are in New York City but he likes to hit the road

He was in Raleigh before here and heads to Atlanta next.

After that, the ice-cream-on-wheels heads to Birmingham, Alabama and Oxford, Mississippi.


 Crowds formed early and the line stayed long during his scheduled 3pm to 10pm stay.

I got there a little after five and the line was out of the parking lot of the sponsor Butcher & Bee and around the corner.

It was a younger, smiling crowd and conversations centered on what new clubs, bars and eateries had opened downtown.
 I stood on line for about an hour and stuck around to eat and enjoy my soft-serve Pecan Gobbler.

My buddy had the green-tinted Goodzilla cone, peppy and
covered with Wasabi pea dust.

The link above to the BGIC truck has pages that describe the different treats and the ingredients.

I also learned that "hard" ice cream is served at 0 degrees, while "soft" is presented at 20 degrees.

Being warmer has an impact on what you sprinkle or dip. Also it would be hard to form that little loop on top unless it's a softie.

I chatted with the young couple in front of me and stood behind Trevor Wagner long enough to memorize the tour route of the group he had enjoyed in Fayetteville, NC,  back in August.

Wilson, a hard rock group from Detroit, Michigan, should not be confused with another group named Wilson, Trevor advised.

I didn't. This is the correct link.

(Wasn't the ball Tom Hanks befriended in Cast Away named Wilson? That was the brand name stamped on the football  - his only companion while he was marooned.)

But - I digress.


Saw a few people doing a cone balancing act while trying to take photos with their phone cameras.

My point & shoot Canon sx260 is designed to fit in a tight grip as I take photos one-handed.

Himanshu Trivedi was snapping a shot of his son and not even a drop of ice cream was harmed in the making of this photograph.

I was still standing in line and did not have to cope with juggling camera and cone.

This was a good enough reason to come downtown on an Autumn Sunday afternoon.

Met some nice people and, after finishing my cold treat, wandered into The Daily, recently opened by Butcher & Bee, and chatted with the young manager.

She explained it was more than just a coffee shop.

The link goes into detail but what I caught was they sell beer and wine and Butcher & Bee allows BYOB so it's a win-win situation for both.

I took a peek inside the ice cream truck as Douglas was adding what looked like sea salt to a cone.

I would have asked him for details but the crowd of eager customers came first and I did not want to add any delay.

Besides, the sun was setting and it was getting cooler.

He did tell me he figured they had served about 250+ people that afternoon.

(Click on the photos for more details.)

Yes, I am still on my diet.

How much could ONE cone matter?

Labels: age 8 months to 108 years old treat, big gay ice cream truck, Douglas Quint, former bassoon-player, soft serve cones or cups, Southern Tour 2014, The Daily, Tom Hanks, Wilson

posted by chuckography @ 5:39 PM