There are things you do in the summertime that stick with you in the colder months and fill you with aching nostalgia. Summer for me is the acrid scent of chlorine and sunscreen, the sticky heat down the small of my back, the rush of back road rides with all the windows down, Springsteen on the stereo. When I think of summer, I think of watermelon and chili dogs, of barbecue and ice cream—mostly ice cream.
Dairy Kastle, at 575 Eastern Parkway, is only open during the late spring and summer. If you're driving down Eastern parkway and see a crowd of people in flip flops and shorts waiting in front of a little white building, you've found it. Dairy Kastle is dirt cheap, independent and utterly deserving of your patronage. Dairy Kastle has been around since 1974, and after visiting this weekend I can see why. This kind of deliciousness has staying power.
My best friend lives right around the corner, and we ended a tough work week by shimmying down to the Dairy Kastle. Flip-flopping down the street in our summer skirts and shorts. There were people sitting on the steps across the way from Dairy Kastle, enjoying their butterscotch dipped cones, Fat Elvis milkshakes (peanut butter, bananas, vanilla) and some patrons had brought their puppies out for an evening jaunt. The wafts of cold air emanating from the open window of the Dairy Kastle made our humid, sticky wait a little more bearable. My friend got an orange cow: orange sherbert, vanilla ice cream and sprite; and I got a cherry cordial milkshake. Even the small milkshake was large and thick, studded through with chips of chocolate and maraschino cherries. My beautiful best friend sipped her orange cow and told me it was summer in a cup; indeed, the orange cow is fresh and cold, zesty and creamy. Dairy Kastle also offers the black cow (chocolate and root beer) and the brown cow (vanilla and root beer). Go, wear your flip flops. Get an orange cow and a chili dog. Enjoy the summertime.
photos: Elizabeth Orrick