By Vicki Scott
As I sat at our table that faces Lake Martin last Friday afternoon, I heard ice cream man music. I looked out toward the lake and there it was – a pontoon boat with a yellow top selling ice cream! I felt like an uptown girl (when I say “girl,” I mean “child”). I ran out trying to catch the boat, along with several children running out of three other houses near us. I yelled as the kids rounded the corner away from our house.
I missed the boat, and I was devastated.
With today’s technology, however, I used my phone to find the phone number to call the ice cream boat and ask them to come back before it got too far away down the lake (the name of the shop, by the way, is The Yellow Top Ice Cream Shop). The music on the boat must have been too loud, because they did not answer my call, so I posted on their Facebook page what had happened. No response.
At that point, it was time to load up and travel to Beulah to watch Sweet Ava Jaymes play softball. As I settled down, I saw that I two missed calls. I then looked on Facebook and found that ice cream boat called back. They apologized and offered to come back down the lake. Of course, that made me a huge fan of The Yellow Top Ice Cream Shop!
It tuns out that the owners of the ice cream shop are grandparents like us and enjoy watching children’s faces light up as they get ice cream. The Yellow Top Ice Cream Shop has been very successful since it started back in March of 2021. In a few short years, the owners were awarded the superstar tourist award and are among the Who’s Who of Lake Martin. What an honor to have received a response from these precious people!
On Saturday, I again was at the outside table when I thought I heard the familiar music coming from the lake. I ran to the back door to holler for my husband Alan to give me some money. I did not know that he was talking to visitors who had just driven up, and he yelled back, “No1” He knows he did not really mean “no.” I yelled again for him to hurry up while I ran to the lakeside and started down the steps to flag down the ice cream boat.
When I got to the pier, I motioned and yelled for Alan to hurry up. The ice cream boat was at our neighbors so I tried to meet them there so they would not need to stop at our pier as well. I was too slow, however, and the boat started to leave.
I yelled and waved my hands, and luckily, they saw us and came back. I was very glad that they did, because we got to meet Yellow Top’s Grandma and Grandpop, no doubt the coolest grandparents on the lake!
Meanwhile, our company (who were longtime friends) were waiting on our porch. The wife yelled that their ice cream was not keto friendly
“Keto went out the window when I first heard the ice cream music,” I yelled back at her.
I then noticed that the boat offered sugar-free ice cream, which I yelled back. The wife took a picture of me and Alan buying ice cream from the boat and posted it on the Facebook.
On their Facebook page, The Yellow Top Ice Cream Shop has a Google Maps ID that shows where they are on the lake during the day. I can watch it and sit at my table listening for the ice cream music when the boat is close. Just wait until our grandchildren get here – talk about making memories!
Vicki Scott may be contacted at lily200383@yahoo.com.
Contact Vicki Scott at lily200383@yahoo.com.