Ballyhoo!

Have you ever come across an amazingly unique, cafe or restaurant while on vacation and enjoyed the place so much you wished you lived nearby just to enjoy it? That's how I feel about Ballyhoo , an old fashioned ice cream parlor in West Pittston, PA. Except I do live nearby! The atmosphere inside is so wonderful that it does feel like a vacation spot. The decor reminds me, well not actually since I'm only 29, of a 1940's or perhaps even earlier ice cream parlor. It even has a vintage display case stocked with unusual candies, like licorice pipes, wax mustaches, and candy sticks, formally known as candy cigarettes. They also sell soda in glass bottles!
The lady who runs the place is extremely friendly and even gave me a bit of history on the building. While the ice cream parlor is quite small, it's part of larger building that was a  functioning store dating fairly far back. There's a picture of the building on the wall, dating back to I'd guess 1930.
Maybe it was the decor, but the last time I was there, I had the feel of being in a simpler, safer time. A group of teen boys walked in from basketball  game and ordered ice cream. Then a teen girl came in just to get $3.00 worth of candy. Cutest of all was a young boy coming in twice each time with a fistful of change for candy.
The prices are very reasonable; my two scoops in a dish was about $3.00, but I like to go for the whole experience. If you're in the area, check it out, talk to the owner, and get some amazing ice cream!

It's a good place to sit and write too!
Blueberry ice cream, yum!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What to Watch After Stranger Things

Image
         Anyone who’s watched the Netflix original series StrangerThings will find themselves nostalgic for the 1980’s, cassette tapes, arcades, big hair, and the now classic movies that influenced every kid who saw them.           Most of us 80’s and even early 90’s kids longed to find pirate gold, fly our bikes over town, and save the town from evil, yet hilarious witches. Stranger Things brought back all of those childhood adventures and the feeling that while being a kid was hard, it was also amazing, adventurous, and inspiring. Being an adult can be all of those things, even if we are not helping neighborhood kids defeat monsters.           So, if after watching all three seasons that Netflix has to offer leaves you wanting more of similar adventures then here are five suggestions for you. 1. The Goonies (1985) Much like Stranger Things , young kids and teenagers, often on bikes, save their town. They encounter bullies, escaped convicts, an unlikely friend, and
Read more

Robin Hood is one of the Best Disney Movies

Image
I’m attempting to watch through every Disney movie I own before my Disney vacation in September.   So far I’ve watched Brave, Cinderella, The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, Chicken Little, and the Aristocats.   Today I watched Robin Hood.             Robin Hood is one of my favorite animated Disney films. The animation, the characters, the songs are all wonderful. Also, it’s the legend of Robin Hood retold with animals, so that’s a winner right there.             While rewatching it today I noticed somethings.   Prince John reminds me a bit of a weaker, stupider Scar from the Lion King. In fact, he even reminds Hiss of a previous order never to mention his brother’s name, much like Scar banned any mention of his older brother, the former king’s name.   Could Scar have been loosely based off Prince John? It’s an interesting thought.             I gained a new found appreciation for Lady Cluck. She’s just so awesome and sassy. She doesn’t rely on othe
Read more

Renn Faire in the Rain

Image
My first trip to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire this season was a different experience for me. It rained; it rained a lot.   I’ve been there before in the rain light drizzles and even down pours. But this time the weather was tricky.   After the first down pour the sky lightened, tricking us into thinking the rain was over. I think we had a good fifteen minutes before the sky let loose again.    From the doorway of the bakery, we saw a show still carrying on, the actors soaked and the audience huddled under umbrellas.  Becosue that's what happnes in the shire, people come together not just to enjoy themsvles but to support eachother. And then the sun shone out from the newly blue sky, and while the humidity returned it was still a lovely day.   We still got to see some shows, and wonder the shops. As I like to say even a bad day at the renaissance faire is still better than a good day at work.   Once you enter the gates, the world shifts a bit, magic is re
Read more