Before the big Valentine’s Day storm hit this past weekend, my wife and I were in the Nashua area when she received a text from my mother in law that Hayward’s Ice Cream was open. Since we didn’t have far to go, we headed on over to check out the early season offerings. We almost forgot that they would be opening this weekend and we plan to make it a yearly tradition for us. We think this is the first true ice cream stand to open this early in the area and we couldn’t have been more excited.
You may be thinking like we did that the place wouldn’t be very busy because who besides us would be so crazy to eat ice cream on such a cold day. We turned into the parking lot and there were at least 10 cars and a line of seven people deep. "You've got to be kidding me" I thought to myself. Then we stood in line with all the other ice cream lovers teeth chattering. One man commented "this is going to warm us up" and we all had a good frozen laugh.
After going here for years and tasting their ice cream I have finally realized a few things. First, the ice cream is a lot better than I originally thought and second, in our opinion, the best option in New Hampshire. What epiphany did I have? Well, last year I tried their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for the first time and I think it’s one of the best if not the best that I’ve eaten. I could eat a whole gallon!
This is a little soft and not so cold that you get the infamous ice cream headache when something cold hits your teeth. It is sweet with just the right amount of cookie dough sprinkled throughout and has definitely become one of my top picks in New Hampshire. They certainly don't skimp on the portion - this was a kid size if you can believe it. There are plenty of other flavors to choose from as you can see from this list.
So next time you are in the Nashua take exit 4 and head for Hayward’s for some of their delicious ice cream. You will be glad that you did.
