The Second-best Sundaes We Ever Ate

They were absolutely the best sundaes we every ate. Forty-two years ago, at Cabot’s Ice Cream in Newton, Massachusetts.

Lynn and I had moved to Newton at the end of the summer so that I could attend seminary in Newton. Lynn was teaching English at Lexington Christian Academy.

We didn’t have much money, so we did not often indulge ourselves. But, some seminary friends invited us to go to Cabot’s, an ice cream store with fabulous sundaes, and we joined them.

The menu offered 32 favors of ice cream and 42 kinds of toppings. When the sundaes arrived, we were speechless. They were huge. They were magnificent. Each one included two very large scoops of freshly made Cabot’s ice cream, topped with a thick gooey hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. The sundae was so large that the topping ran down the side of the glass.

When the sundaes arrived, all conversation stopped. We didn’t know what to do first. Spoon off the whipped cream on the top of the sundae? Catch the topping that was dripping down the side of the glass before it hit the table? Sample one or both of the scoops of ice cream we had ordered?

We immediately tried to do all three. Then when we had finished the whipped cream, salvaged the dripping sauce, and made a dent in the ice cream, we passed the glasses around so that others could sample our ice cream and appreciate the fact that we had selected the most delicious options.

Finally, the bottom of the glass appeared. Then, it was time to eat the cherry, carefully protected for this final moment. When the cherry was gone and the last drops of ice cream and chocolate sauce were carefully scraped from the bottom of the glass, we gave a big sigh and looked up. Now, it was safe to talk again. 

During our recent trip to the Boston area, we visited the town of Newton to see where we had lived and where I had gone to seminary. And, somehow, we found our way to Cabot’s.

When we arrived, we were so pleased to see that it was still there, 42 years later. There were the same booths and the same round tables. Most important, the menu at Cabot’s said it still served the same sundaes.

We don't eat many sundaes anymore. Too much sugar, too many calories, too much fat for people our age. But, when we returned to Cabot’s after 42 years, we simply had to try the sundaes again. 

With some uneasiness, we sat down and ordered our sundaes. Would they be as good as we had remembered? Maybe they’d be less flavorful, smaller, generic?

We ordered two sundaes. One with Death by Chocolate and Coffee Almond Fudge ice cream topped with hot peanut butter fudge.  The other was Cherry Vanilla and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream topped with hot bittersweet chocolate. Both sundaes had whipped cream, and, of course, both came with a cherry on the top.

When we started on our sundaes, we stopped talking. Time seemed to stand still. All we could focus on was salvaging the hot sauce dripping down the side of the glass and enjoying the richness of the ice cream we had chosen.

When we had gotten things under control and the chocolate and ice cream was at about the mid-point in our glasses, we did the traditional sundae exchange. "Wow," we said, "this is truly as good as we remembered it.”  Exchanging sundaes again, we resumed eating and didn't stop until we had carefully spooned out the last drops of ice cream and chocolate sauce from the bottom of the glass.

The first sundaes we had at Cabot’s 42 years ago were the best we had ever eaten. With the passage of time, they have taken on a larger-than-life, almost mythical presence in our memories. Nothing could top them.

But, the sundaes we had on our recent visit to Cabot were really, really good. They truly had to be the second best sundaes we ever ate.