1. Annabelle’s Natural Ice Cream
Step into this shop in an alleyway by the tugboat wharf for over-the-top combos like caramel ice cream with cashews and chocolate chunks. 49 Ceres Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 603-436-3400, annabellesicecream.com
2. Big Daddy’s
Homemade waffle cones add pizazz to old-time Maine flavors like grapenut and frozen pudding. 2165 US Route 1, Wells, Maine, 207-646-5454, bigdaddysicecream.net
3. Canteen Creemee Company
Maple creemee (soft serve) goes extreme, with maple cookie crumbs and a nest of maple cotton candy on top. 5123 Main Street, Waitsfield, Vermont, 802-496-6003, canteencreemee.com
4. Four Seas
Four generations of beach-goers have flocked to this Cape Cod legend for hand-crafted ice cream. 360 South Main Street, Centerville, 508-775-1394, fourseasicecream.com
Advertisement
5. Gray’s Ice Cream
Gray’s has anchored the crossroads of Tiverton Four Corners since 1923. Ask for any of the homemade flavors whirled with syrup and milk into a “cabinet” — Rhode Island-speak for a frappe. 16 East Road, Tiverton, Rhode Island, 401-624-4500, graysicecream.com
6. Kellerhaus
Pile on the toppings at the sundae buffet just uphill from Weirs Beach. 259 Endicott Street North, Laconia, New Hampshire, 603-366-4466, kellerhaus.com
7. Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe
Seasonal fruit flavors shine; late-summer peach is worth the wait. 34 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, Connecticut, 860-434-6942, oldlymeicecreamshoppe.com
8. Richardson’s Ice Cream
On a working dairy farm, this ice cream stand makes more flavors than you can shake a hoof at. 156 South Main Street, Middleton, 978-774-5450, richardsonsicecream.com
9. Smiling Hill Farm
This 1720 family spread has a barnyard petting area as well as more than 40 flavors of ice cream. 781 County Road, Westbrook, Maine, 800-743-7463, smilinghill.com
10. SoCo Creamery Scoop Shop
Go sophisticated with lemon poppy seed or old-school with rocky road (with handmade marshmallows). 5 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, 413-644-9866, sococreamery.com
Send comments to magazine@globe.com.